My name is Jose Ignacio “Nacho” Reyes. I was born on July 2nd, 1988 and grew up in California my whole life I was always considered an outcast. When I was in grade school, I’d be picked on and being told that I would never be worth anything in life; I’d be picked on so much that I was a target to throw my name for me to go to the principal’s office for anything and everything under the sun. My own biological mother would hit me with anything she could get her hands on, she went as far as banging my head across a ceramic tub which left me bleeding from my head and nose. My mother and father got divorced when I was nine years old, my mother wanted nothing to do with her children. She has always been a jealous woman thinking my dad cheated on her with any and every woman he met, she even broke TVs due to thinking that he was cheating on her with Wheel of Fortune’s Vanna White and Mexican Singer Celia Cruz. When my father got divorced, my brother, my sister and I went to live with him in El Monte, CA with our grandmother. Still, through grade school, I was bullied and considered a big target. When I was in junior high is when Linkin Park came out with their first album Hybrid Theory and I started connecting my feelings and how I felt with my life. Before this album, I had thoughts of suicide but never acted upon it because I always felt what would God think if I were to do so. After Hybrid Theory, then came Reanimation and I loved both albums so much that I felt their music was saving my life for the better. While finishing junior high, I started to change my way of being. When I went to high school, my freshman year, the album Meteora came out. The song Somewhere I Belong spoke to me and I went on a Linkin Park craze just watching the music video over and over, I sang it like every day. I fell in love with every other album that Linkin Park did after that, Chester Bennington and Linkin Park inspired me not to think of suicide. I started to belong when I joined sports in high school, I sang Linkin Park daily with acknowledging that they saved my life from suicide. When I graduated high school, I joined the Marine Corps and was stationed at Marine Corps Air Station Yuma, AZ. While there at MCAS Yuma, Minutes to Midnight came out and I fell in deep love with that album and acknowledging the theme song to Transformers [What I’ve Done], and Transformers 2 Revenge of the Fallen [New Divide] and Transformers 3 [Iridescent]. Then, when SAW 7 3D Final Chapter Came out and Chester Bennington was in it, I was hooked even more so. Though I was in the Marine Corps, I still had people put me down and make me feel unwanted, but I knew listening to Linkin Park would help me remind me why I was still here. At this point in my life, I thank Linkin Park for everything I’ve done in my life because, without them, I’d be six feet under. I know that around 2004-2005, Mike Shinoda had his own band Fort Minor and I loved their music as well. I also loved Chester’s band, Dead By Sunrise. The song I fell in love with was Morning After. When One More Light came out, the song One More Light spoke volumes to me and I performed that song at my America’s Got Talent Audition. Due to Chester Bennington and the band Linkin Park saving my life, I’ve been able to become a U.S. Marine, become friends with folks from high school and grade school, audition for X-Factor, American Idol, The Voice and America’s Got Talent. I’m a singer, songwriter, and poet all before thirty years old. I have followed Linkin Park’s career through almost everything. On July 10th, 2017, I was extremely excited to buy a ticket to see Linkin Park in Phoenix, AZ as a birthday present for myself. Then came July 20th 2017 when Chester Bennington passed away and it broke my heart into a million pieces. I was extremely emotional, and I couldn’t stop listening to any Linkin Park music I had it on replay every day and every month. I was lucky to get a ticket to the Linkin Park Chester Bennington Tribute concert. I went by the little hairs on my neck and being there at the Hollywood Bowl was an experience I’ll never forget. I flooded my Facebook, Instagram with everything Linkin Park. I kept doing Linkin Park covers and I was extremely brokenhearted and then came Mike Shinoda with Post Traumatic which started to mend the pieces of my heart. I’ve even gone as far as to advocate for Talinda Bennington to help with Mental Health, promoting 320 Changes Direction and whenever someone says they are depressed; I refer them to 320 Changes Direction. For Halloween last year [2018], I had Custom made wrestling trunks made since I dress up each year as a Pro Wrestler for Halloween and I made a tribute to Chester Bennington. In conclusion, this is how the band Linkin Park and Chester Bennington changed my life forever.