Just three days before his death of an apparent suicide on Thursday, Linkin Park singer Chester Bennington sent a text to radio veteran Matt Pinfield, asking to get together.
That day never came, and 24 hours after news broke of Bennington’s death, Pinfield is still trying to process why.
“I was devastated,” Pinfield tells Variety. “When I went into treatment in January, he was one of the first people to call me. Chester was a lovely, positive guy. He cared about people, and all the success never went to his head. He was great to his fans. It is an incredible loss.”
Pinfield, who had gotten to know Bennington through stints at MTV, New York’s WXRK, and SiriusXM, says many in the industry saw no clues that anything was amiss. “He was Facetiming with friends and seemed to be doing great. It was a shock to every single one of us.”
“People who deal with depression like that, these decisions are made on the fly,” offers Pinfield, a recovering addict.
Pinfield said Bennington’s death made him think of Chris Cornell and Scott Weiland, who were also his friends. Weiland died in December 2015 and Cornell died in May 2017.
“People can find financial success at their vocation, but depression can inflame it,” he says. “It doesn’t fill the hole created by depression. It is still there and it must be treated. Sometimes it can make things worse.”
“We have lost so many great people,” he says. “All three of them were my friends. They left an incredible legacy of music. They had so much more to do, and it breaks my heart.”
