Last year was really hard, with all the people who died before I was ready for them to go. Robin Williams, Scott Weiland, David Bowie, Prince, George Michael. Seismic shifts, all of them, and though I was shocked and saddened by them all, this one feels personal, if that makes any sense. It really doesn't help that Chester was so young. Seventeens years is literally half my life. They were always there, and always doing something interesting, and now...

I can't imagine a world without him. That sounds so childish and melodramatic, but my God. He was so gifted and so amazing and so full of life. The tributes pouring in from fellow musicians definitely goes to your point that he was a genuinely nice dude, and was well-liked and well-respected, even by people who though LP was some ridiculous fad. He stood up for what he believed in 100%.

I never saw this coming, even with his troubled past. It hasn't 100% sunk in for me yet, and probably won't until the band puts out a statement.