Chester Bennington dead: Linkin Park frontman dies aged 41

Chester Bennington, the mercurial lead singer of celebrated Nu-metal band Linkin Park has been found dead at his home in California after apparently taking his own life.

The 41-year-old was discovered inside his residence in the Palos Verdes Estates in Los Angeles. The Los Angeles' coroner office confirmed a report from TMZ that originally reported that Bennington had taken his own life.

The band had embarked on their One More Light world tour, the next scheduled stop being the Xfinity Center on July 27 in Mansfield, Massachusetts.

A spokeswoman for the Palos Verdes Estates police declined to answer questions about whether Bennington had been found dead. She told The Independent: "At 8.56am officers were called to the 2800 block of Via Victoria"

The Los Angeles County coroner's office confirmed there was a death on Bennington's Palos Verdes block on the morning of Thursday, July 20.

Bennington, who had long struggled with addiction to drugs and alcohol, married Talinda Bentley in 2006, having previously been wed to Samantha Olit from 1996 until 2005.

The singer had six children from both of those wives, as well as a previous relationship with Elka Brand. One of the children is adopted.

Reports said that word of Bennington’s suicide came on the day of his late friend Chris Cornell’s birthday.

The Soundgarden rocker killed himself in May and Bennington performed at his funeral. Cornell would have turned 53 on Thursday.

Born in Phoenix, Arizona, Bennington achieved notable fame with Linkin Park in 2000 following the release of Hybrid Theory, an album that would sell almost 5 million copies thanks to stand-out singles "Crawling" and "One Step Closer". The album was Grammy nominated, the song "Crawling" winning the award for Best Hard Rock Performance.

Following numerous festival appearances and the remix album, Reanimation, the band once again ruled the charts with Meteora, solidifying themselves as a leading band around the world. The album's singles "Faint", "Numb" and "Lying from You" were all released to critical acclaim, attracting the attention of Jay-Z who worked on an album of remixes with the band. Their collaboration "Numb/Encore" went on to win a Grammy.

Their next three albums, Minutes to Midnight, A Thousand Suns, and Living Things, released between 2007 and 2013 all reached number one in the United States, 2014's The Hunting Party reaching number three.

One More Light, which reached record stores in March earlier this year, reached number one once again, proving the band retained an incredible fanbase.

​Bennington performed at fellow rocker Chris Cornell's funeral earlier this year, writing an open letter to the singer, personally addressed to his friend.

Just weeks ago, Bennington performed with the band at the Brixton Academy, local Grime rapper Stormzy joining on stage.

For confidential support on mental health call Samaritans free from any phone, at any time, on 116 123 (UK & RoI) or email jo@samaritans.org.