Korn Guitarist Brian Head Welch Slammed For Calling Father Of Six Chester Bennington A ‘Coward’ After Suicide

Korn guitarist Brian Head Welch is being blasted for his social media comments about the suicide death of Linkin Park frontman Chester Bennington. In a lengthy Facebook post, Welch wrote that he is sick of hearing about the recent suicides in the rock star world and he called the late singer “cowardly” for killing himself and leaving his wife and six kids behind. Chester Bennington was found dead by his housekeeper in his Los Angeles area home after hanging himself in his bedroom.

In an angry Facebook rant, Welch wrote:

“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*it! 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!!!”

Welch, a devout Christian, went on to acknowledge that drugs and alcohol may have played a part in Chester’s death and he offered up a prayer for the late Linkin Park frontman.

Welch also took to Instagram to write that he had spent “some fun hours” with Bennington in the studio over the years and that he was “disgusted” by his decision to end his life.

“Horrible shocking and sad,” the Korn guitarist wrote.

“We spent some fun hours together inside studios over the years, helping to promote your music and proudly knowing how your band helped so many get into this music in the first place. But disgusted [with] how you ended it. It didn’t have to be this way. “

The Korn guitarist received plenty of backlash for his insensitive comments, with some social media followers outraged over the post and threatening to boycott Welch and his band.

Brian Head Welch is a disgrace for being so insensitive so soon after Chester's death. For someone who goes through it he should know better

— Daniel Falconer (@DanielJFalconer) July 20, 2017

Absolutely disgusting to hear @brianheadwelch views on chesters death! Clearly the issues you had with depression were never as severe ?

— Sammy DiCarluccio (@xSammyD69x) July 21, 2017

Thanks to @brianheadwelch my Korn CDs are burning in the garbage #getaclue #korn @Korn

— Nah Here (@Zhero_Nhine) July 21, 2017

After the expected onslaught of backlash, Welch posted an apology, telling fans he didn’t mean to sound insensitive about Chester Bennington’s death. The Korn guitarist explained that he is just angry that Bennington checked out and added that this could have been him back in his days as a drug addict. There has been no confirmation that drugs or alcohol played a part in Bennington’s suicide.

“I didn’t mean to sound insensitive about Chester,” Brian wrote in his apology post. “Just dealing with a range of emotions today. Love you Chester. I’m pissed that you did this, but I know this could have been me back in the day after getting wasted one night.”

Brian Head Welch also recorded an explanation of his reaction to Chester Bennington’s death, which you can see in the video below.

Chester Bennington was the father of six children, ranging in age from 21 to six years old. According to Heavy.com, Chester has a grown son named Jamie (with former girlfriend Elka Brand), adopted son, Isaiah, son Draven Sebastian (with first wife Samantha Marie Olit), and son Tyler Lee and twin daughters Lily and Lila (with wife Talinda Bentley, whom he married in 2005).

The late Linkin Park frontman loved talking about his supersized family. In a recent interview with Billboard, Bennington recounted a story about playing a new song in front of a large group of radio programmers at a listening party. Chester said bandmate Mike Shinoda was a little nervous because Linkin Park hadn’t played the song, “Heavy,” in front of that many people before.

“And I go, actually, it’s kind of normal for me because this is just like being in a room with my kids,” Chester said. “You know Benihana? We get the whole table with two chefs. ‘Special occasion?’ They ask. No, it’s a f***ing Tuesday.”

In the same interview, Bennington talked about the Palos Verdes Estates neighborhood in California where he lived for 10 years, saying it was a great area to raise a family.

“School district up here is the best for your kid,” Chester told Billboard. “There’s not a lot of gated communities, which is nice. And you have neighborhoods where there’s middle-class families living across from the guy who’s got the $30 million estate. So there’s a lot of diversity, which I like. I feel like it’s good for my kids.”

[Featured Image by Rich Fury/Getty Images for iHeartMedia]