Chester Bennington Had To Pay His First Wife Half Of His Linkin Park Royalties Long After His Death,

September 2024 ยท 6 minute read

Highlights

During Chester Bennington's incredible life, he had a pivotal role in his band Linkin Park releasing music that meant the world to fans all over the world. Since Bennington and Linkin Park are so talented, unreleased songs from their album "Meteora" became hits in 2023.

When the world learned that Bennington had passed away, the outpouring of sorrow was palpable among fans. Now that it has been years since Bennington's passing, fans are still enjoying his music which is profitable for his first wife now that she receives half of the singer's royalties.

Why Does Chester Bennington Get Half Of His Royalty Payments?

After Linkin Park released their album "Hybrid Theory" in the year 2000, the band became an absolute sensation. Far from a one-hit wonder, Linkin Park would release seven albums and a long list of their songs would become massive hits.

On top of releasing so many albums, Linkin Park became known for their amazing live performances which highlighted how talented they were. Thanks to how much success Linkin Park enjoyed and how much many fans adored them, Chester Bennington will always be remembered as the band's vocalist.

While it seems abundantly clear that Bennington was very proud of everything Linkin Park accomplished, he also worked with other artists. During Bennington's life, he recorded music with bands like Stone Temple Pilots, Grey Daze, and Dead by Sunrise. Bennington also collaborated with many other musical artists including Jay-Z and Chris Cornell.

As a result of all the bands and artists that Bennington worked with over the years, his estate has many revenue streams. With that in mind, it begs an obvious question, where does the money that Bennington's estate bring in go?

Related: Philip Seymour Hoffman Refused To Give His Children Any of His Humongous Estate After His Death, Here's Who Got It Instead

In 2019, the public learned who receives Bennington's royalty payments after an agreement was reached.

When Bennington passed away in 2017, the beloved singer sadly left behind a lot of people who loved him dearly. While it is impossible to list the names of everyone who adored Bennington here, the most obvious people are the singer's children and wives.

In 1996, Bennington became a father for the first time when his girlfriend Elka Brand gave birth to his son Jaime Bennington. Bennington also adopted Brand's child from a previous relationship.

Bennington would then go on to marry Samantha Olit in 1996 and the pair would be married until their divorce was finalized in 2005. During his first marriage, Olit gave birth to Bennington's third child, Draven Bennington.

A year later, Bennington married Talinda Bennington in 2006. Together until Bennington's tragic passing, the rock star and his widow welcomed three children into the world including their twins who were born in 2006.

When Bennington passed away, it seemed very clear that he wanted to make sure his children were all loved. According to TMZ, Bennington's will stipulated that he wanted his six children to spend time together regularly after he was gone.

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Given the success Bennington enjoyed, he also left behind a lot of money which easily could have spawned a bitter legal battle. Thankfully, there were never any headlines about his loved ones taking each other to court.

However, it was revealed that Bennington's first wife filed a claim with his estate seeking part of his royalty payments and child support. From the outside looking in, it seems that Bennington's ex-wife and widow quickly came to an agreement without any fighting.

In 2019, it was announced that Bennington's ex-wife and widow reached an agreement over his royalty payments. That agreement stipulated that Bennington's ex-wife would get half of all royalty payments that the singer's estate would receive. Bennington's ex-wife also dropped any attempt to also receive child support as part of the deal.

One thing remains unclear for Bennington's fans who are interested in how his children will be taken care of. As of the time of this writing, it is unclear if Bennington's two children from his relationship with his ex-girlfriend Elka Brand receive part of his royalty payments.

How Has Chester Bennington's Widow Kept His Legacy Alive?

Since Chester Bennington passed away, his Linkin Park bandmates have been very respectful of his legacy. Before making it clear they would never use a hologram to perform with Bennington again and putting together a tribute concert to him, Linkin Park has honored their former bandmate.

Related: David Lee Roth's Van Halen Royalty Checks Are Pathetic, But Does It Have Anything To Do With The Feud With His Former Bandmates?

As wonderful as it has been to see how respectful Linkin Park has been, the way Bennington's widow has behaved is truly marvelous. Even as Talinda Bennington has moved on with her life by being a mother and getting engaged to her new partner, she has used Bennington's legacy to help others.

During Bennington's life, he spent much of his time traveling the world and performing for fans. Given that Bennington's career took him away from his wife and family, it is easy to imagine how much Talinda Bennington would have valued the time she had with her husband.

In 2019, Talinda Bennington shared one of the last precious private moments she had with her husband on Twitter. In the photo that Talinda Bennington shared on Instagram, she could be seen with her husband and their children as he has a huge smile on his face.

In the photo's caption, Talinda Bennington revealed the photo of her husband looking so happy was taken only days before he passed away. With that post, Talinda Bennington was attempting to show the world that depression doesn't look the way that many people think it does.

On many other occasions, Talinda Bennington has attempted to use social media to reach out to people grappling with the kind of thoughts that took her husband's life. Talinda Bennington has often used hashtags like #MakeChesterProud, #ChangeDirection, and #320ChangesDirection as part of these posts.

Talinda Bennington has also given interviews as part of her attempts to reach out to people in need. In short, when Talinda Bennington isn't raising her children and rebuilding her life, she has dedicated herself to trying to help anyone who was in the sad place that her husband was.

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