Chester Bennington has left STONE TEMPLE PILOTS after being its frontman for two and a hald years, in order to concentrate on Linkin Park
November 09, 2015
Today, Chester Bennington has announced parting ways with Stone Temple Pilots. Linkin Park’s vocalist had been the frontman for Stone Temple Pilots since 2013. He first entered the band as a replacement for singer Scott Weiland. Now Bennington has chosen to focus on his main band, Linkin Park. LP’s last album, The Hunting Party, was released in June 2014, so it is obviously the time for the band to gather and work on new material.
Bennington and Stone Temple Pilots insist that the split was amicable, and there is no bitter aftertaste following the singer’s decision. STP hope to continue making music. In fact, the band says, “there is an abundance of new music written, some of which is already recorded”.
The rumors of Chester Bennington’s departure had been circulating since last Saturday after Weiland told Alternative Nation that Bennington was “not in the band anymore”, according to Rolling Stone. Weiland went on by adding: “[Chester’s] got a band where he gets paid $700,000 a night with, and with STP, the brand is kind of falling apart, which is a shame.”
Read the official statement from Chester Bennington personally, as well as the message from the rest of the band, Robert DeLeo, Dean DeLeo and Eric Kretzfrom, below.
Chester:
The last few years have been an amazing experience. I got to create and perform with one of the greatest rock bands of our generation, that had so much influence on me growing up. With the amount of time STP deserves, in addition to being in Linkin Park, and with the needs of my family, one of them always seems to fall short. Going in to this, the four of us… Robert, Eric, Dean and myself knew what we were up against. We decided in due fairness to friends, fans and the legacy of STP that it needs more than time was allowing me. And in all fairness to my bandmates in Linkin Park, as well as to myself and to my family, I’m going to focus solely on Linkin Park so I can contribute 100%. It’s been an amazing experience and a dream come true, and I look forward to the future of both STP and Linkin Park.
Stone Temple Pilots:
What an amazing and beautiful few years we’ve all had together. It was our honor to play and see all of you recently on tour. We have thoroughly enjoyed our time together with Chester not only professionally, but even more so on a personal level. Sadly, it was evident that scheduling and time was working against us. Within this, there is a new beginning. There is an abundance of new music written, some of which is already recorded. We have had the fortune of playing with some very talented singers over the last few months and will continue to do so until each of us feels and knows when the right person arrives.
What are your thoughts on Chester’s exiting the band? Would you prefer to see him as part of Stone Temple Pilots or are you happy he’s decided to focus entirely on LP? Leave us your comments below and stay tuned with Alterock Facebook and Twitter to never miss on the news about your favorite alternative music!
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