Mike Shinoda Responds To Reports On Chester Bennington’s Autopsy
Linkin Park’s Mike Shinoda has been busy spreading the word to counter after initial reports that bandmate Chester Bennington had drugs and alcohol in his system when he committed suicide in July.
Shinoda issued statements via social media saying, “Just clearing this up: TMZ erroneously printed CB had MDMA (ecstasy) in his system when he passed. That was incorrect, they misread the report. They have since corrected their piece…I hope other publications have the decency to do the same.”
TMZ’s clarification noted that while one test of Bennington’s blood tested “presumptive positive” for MDMA, “two subsequent tests did not detect the drug, and the ultimate conclusion was Chester was not under the influence of drugs when he died.” A bottle of the anti-depressive Zolpidem was found on Bennington’s dresser when his body was discovered.
Linkin Park will be releasing One More Light Live from its tour earlier this year on December 15. The group has not said if it plans to continue in the wake of Bennington’s death, which was also mourned by members of Stone Temple Pilots, which Bennington was part of from 2013-15.
Guitarist Dean DeLeo tells us that,
“Just yesterday I was brought to tears…my mind got the best of me. I started thinking about things. I started envisioning some times we had together when we were on the road and just what an extraordinary, beautiful person Chester was and it just, it bottomed me out, man…I’m still just really rattled by it and really saddened by it.”
Gary Graff is an award-winning music journalist who not only covers music but has written books on Bob Seger, Neil Young and Bruce Springsteen.
