Rap Icon Opens Up About Chris Cornell & Chester Bennington: ‘I Was Gonna Jump’

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Run DMC’s Darryl ‘DMC’ McDaniels discussed Chris Cornell and Chester Bennington, along with his own mental health struggles, in a new WAAF interview.

Relating his previous struggles to those of both Chris Cornell and Chester Bennington, who both died by suicide this year, DMC said, “I want these young people to not be afraid to speak up. Because one hundred percent of the time, two things happen. The people that hear that do this: ‘Oh my god, me too,’ or ‘my daughter.[etc.]’”

He also shares his own story, saying, “I was gonna jump.” In 1993, just after Down With The King had resurrected Run DMC’s popularity, he says he “woke up the next morning and I didn’t want to live no more.” He says he became suicidal, alcoholic, and a “metaphysical, spiritual, and emotional wreck,” and that “If you don’t reveal how you feel, you never heal.” It rhymes because he’s one of the greatest rappers ever, in his words. He credits therapy for setting him back on the right path.

Equally important, he says, is for people to be understanding and accepting to their depressed friends, citing prior experiences being advised by his bandmates that he shouldn’t have been depressed due to their success. “I can’t tell you, ‘Don’t feel hungry! Don’t feel cold!’” He reiterates that “The things you hold in will destroy you” if you don’t express them, and finishes with a quick eight bars of a rhyme to drive the point home.

You can call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255.