Korn’s Brian 'Head' Welch apologises for saying Chester Bennington’s suicide was 'cowardly'
He insists he 'meant no disrespect'
Last updated 1st Aug 2017
Korn guitarist Brian ‘Head’ Welch has backtracked after slamming Chester Bennington’s suicide as ‘cowardly’.
Hours after news of Chester’s death emerged on Thursday 20th July, Head controversially wrote on Facebook: “Honestly, Chester's an old friend who we've hung with many times, and I have friends who are extremely close to him, but this is truly pissing me off!
“How can these guys send this message to their kids and fans?! I'm sick of this suicide s***! I've battled depression/mental illness, and I'm trying to be sympathetic, but it's hard when you're pissed! Enough is enough! Giving up on your kids, fans, and life is the cowardly way out!!!”
After being lambasted by many fans for his post, in a fresh interview with Detroit's WRIF, Head has expressed his regret at his choice of words and insists he “meant no disrespect.”
“It was unfortunate,” Head said. “I spoke from a broken heart, a shattered heart, devastation and grief. And I would have worded it different. But when in the history of rock music, or even the music business, have we ever seen anything like that?
“(Two men with) monster voices, such inspirations to so many. Chris Cornell ended his life (and I was) heartbroken. I wasn’t close to him, but it was just like (you would expect that from) people that are messed up in their lives — not this guy who has a family and is doing so well. And we heard stories, maybe it was the (anxiety drug) Ativan that did it. So tragic, right?”
Head continued: “So I started feeling okay after that, ’cause a couple of months passed, or whatever. We wake up and we all see this news of Chester hanging himself all over TMZ. I’m, like, ‘This has gotta be a hoax. It’s gotta be a hoax. It just can’t be real.’
“Then I find out that it’s actually true. And we were all devastated; you should have seen our faces. Just like the whole world, I bet, that knew of this guy. We were in shock. The whole band was talking about it.”
“What happened was I started grieving. I went and got alone. I went to my hotel room and just kind of was just in shock, thinking about reading everything. ‘Are they sure? Are they sure they got it right?’ And I was just over it. I’m, like, ‘No more, man. Stop!’ Two guys are dead now. They took their lives. And I hear that Chester took it on Chris Cornell’s birthday. I freaked out. I’m, like, ‘It’s gotta stop’.”
He added: “Slash said it best. As I was tweeting, he said… he tweeted, ‘An avalanche of emotions and feelings: sadness, anger, confusion, loss, heartbreak.’ He says, ‘I can go on, but loss and heartbreak reign here.’ And I think I was going through all that stuff, and I did it online. So I learned not to process grief online. And apologies to any of his fans — I meant no disrespect. I was shattered, I was heartbroken and so sorry for my good friends that have been so close to him. But it’s been over a week now. It’s just a sad thing all around.”
Head finished by saying he took responsibility for the comments “because it’s my fault. But I would have worded it differently. ‘Cause I’m honoured to Chester, and the Linkin Park guys are so amazing; they’re so cool, man.”
Chester was laid to rest at a private funeral ceremony on Saturday (29th July) in Palos Verdes, California.