Chester Bennington

LOS ANGELES — Linkin Park lead singer Chester Bennington, whose screeching vocals helped the rock-rap band become one of the most commercially successful acts in the 2000s, was found dead in his home near Los Angeles on Thursday, the Los Angeles County coroner said. He was 41.

Coroner spokesman Brian Elias said authorities are investigating Bennington's death as an apparent suicide at Palos Verdes Estates, but no additional details are available.

Band co-founder and producer Mike Shinoda said on Twitter he was “shocked and saddened.”

“Chester Bennington was an artist of extraordinary talent and charisma, and a human being with a huge heart and a caring soul. Our thoughts and prayers are with his beautiful family, his band-mates and his many friends,” Warner Bros. Records CEO and Chairman Cameron Stang said in a statement.

The Grammy Award-winning group sold more than 10 million copies of its 2000 debut, “Hybrid Theory,” which featured the megahit and anthem, “In the End.” They sold another 6 million with 2003's multiplatinum “Meteora.” Both albums explored feelings of frustration and fury.

Bennington struggled with drug and alcohol addictions at various times during his life. He said he had been sexually abused as a child and was homeless for months before the band found fame.

Bennington was close friends with Chris Cornell, who died by hanging earlier this year, and performed Leonard Cohen's “Hallelujah” at the Soundgarden singer's memorial in May.