James "Munky" Shaffer opens up about the difficulty of dealing with the death
KoRn guitarist James “Munky” Shaffer has opened up about the death of Linkin Park frontman Chester Bennington.
The singer died at his home in Palos Verdes Estates, California on July 20, with a coroner confirming that he took his own life. He was 41.
Shaffer explained that the death has been “really hard” for him and his bandmates. When asked what his reaction was when he first heard the news, Shaffer said: “Shock. Everybody was walking around in this cloud. Just frustration and shock and sadness, and there was all this mixed emotions for… still. It’s still the residual effects of a roller coaster of emotions going around. Because we’ve known him for a long time – all those guys, all the guys in [Linkin Park].
Chester Bennington was mourned by the music world
“I can’t imagine what his family and his band must be going through, and my heart sincerely goes out to him and his family,” he told Loaded Radio. “And their families – the whole band’s families. There are so many lives that are affected by this.
“I think there’s a statistic on Health.com where it shows musicians are number five in line for the most serious depression and they turn to drugs and alcohol to kind of make that go away, but it only worsens,” he said. “Drugs and alcohol always win; the person always fails.”
Shaffer added that it has been “sad to lose Chris Cornell and Chester all within such a short period. It should have never happened, but it did… It’s been really hard. It’s been hard for the guys in [Korn] to hear [about Chester’s death] and process it. And I can’t imagine — I can’t imagine what it’s [like] for him and his family and his band. So, yeah, my deepest, sincere condolences to him and his family and his band.”
FOR HELP AND ADVICE ON MENTAL HEALTH:
- YOUNG MINDS – The voice for young people’s health and wellbeing
- CALM – The Campaign Against Living Miserably for young men
- Time To Change – Let’s end mental health discrimination
- The Samaritans – Confidential support 24 hours a day
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