Linkin Park is an American rock band from Agoura Hills, California. Formed in 1996, the band rose to international fame with their debut album, Hybrid Theory, which was certified Diamond by the RIAA in 2005 and multi-platinum in several other countries. Its following studio album, Meteora, continued the band's success, topping the Billboard 200 album chart in 2003, and was followed by extensive touring and charity work around the world. In 2003, MTV2 named Linkin Park the sixth greatest band of the music video era and the third best of the new millennium behind Oasis and Coldplay. Billboard ranked Linkin Park #19 on the Best Artists of the Decade chart.
Having adapted the nu metal and rap metal genres to a radio-friendly yet densely layered style in Hybrid Theory and Meteora, the band explored other genres in their next studio album, Minutes to Midnight, which was released in 2007. The album topped the Billboard charts and had the third best debut week of any album that year. The band has collaborated with several other artists, most notably with rapper Jay-Z in their mashup EP Collision Course, and many others included on Reanimation. The band's most recent work, the concept album A Thousand Suns, was released on September 8, 2010. Linkin Park has sold over 50 million albums worldwide and has won two Grammy Awards.
History[]
The band began as Xero in 1996, a post high-school project for rapper Mike Shinoda, drummer Rob Bourdon, and lead guitarist Brad Delson, who soon recruited bassist Dave “Phoenix” Farrell, turntablist Joe Hahn, and lead vocalist Mark Wakefield. Wakefield and Farrell both departed 2 years later, replaced by Chester Bennington and Kyle Christener respectively. The band then changed their name to Hybrid Theory, then Linkin Park. As the band began work on their debut album, Christener left, and Farrell briefly returned before leaving again a few months later. Delson played bass on the album. “Hybrid Theory” dropped in 2000. It was an eclectic mix of rap & rock, and spawned 4 hit singles; “Papercut,” “1 Step Closer,” “Crawling,” and “In The End.” Farrell returned again for the tour that followed. In 2002, the band released the remix album “Reanimation,” which featured remixed and reworked songs from their debut. Guests included Korn’s Johnathan Davis, Staind’s Aaron Lewis, Deftones’ Stephen Carpenter, Sneaker Pimps’ Kelli Ali, Taproot’s Stephen Richards, and rappers Pharaohe Monch and Black Thought. Their sophomore album, “Meteora” came out in 2003. It was just as successful as Hybrid Theory, and featured the hit singles “Somewhere I Belong,” “Lying From You,” “Faint,” “Breaking The Habit,” and “Numb.” The band then went on a co-headlining trek with Metallica, Limp Bizkit & Deftones, with one of the band’s performances on the tour being released on CD/DVD as “Live In Texas.” The next year, they collaborated with Jay-Z on the mashup album “Collision Course.” The band then went on hiatus to pursue other projects; Shinoda formed Fort Minor with 2 members from the rap group Styles Of Beyond, and Bennington formed Dead By Sunrise with former Orgy guitarists Amir Derakh & Ryan Shuck. The band returned with “Minutes To Midnight” in 2007. The band explored other genres on this album, but the heaviness remained. It featured the smashes “Bleed It Out,” “Leave Out All The Rest,” “Shadow Of The Day,” and “What I’ve Done,” the latter being featured on the Transformers soundtrack, and “Leave Out All The Rest” being featured on the “Twilight” soundtrack. In 2009, the band contributed “New Divide” for the soundtrack to ”Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen.” The band’s 4th album, “A Thousand Suns,” dropped a year later. It was their most experimental album, but fans still loved it. It featured the singles “Blackout,” “Iridescent,” “Waiting For The End,” and “The Catalyst.” It was followed by “Living Things” 2 years later. This album was a techno-rock inspired album, and spawned the hit singles “Lost In The Echo,” “Burn It Down,” and “Castle Of Glass.” 2 years later, the band returned to form on “The Hunting Party.” It brought back their old sound and featured guests including rapper Rakim on “Guilty All The Same,” and System Of A Down guitarist Daron Malakian on “Rebellion.” It also featured 2 more hit singles; “Wastelands” and “Until It’s Gone.” Later that same year, the band went on the Carnivores tour with 30 Seconds To Mars & AFI. The band went on another hiatus, while Shinoda reformed Fort Minor and released the single “Welcome,” and Bennington replaced Scott Weiland in Stone Temple Pilots, which he claimed to be one of his favorite bands. The band returned in 2017 with the single “Heavy,” featuring pop singer Kiiara. The single was slammed by critics, who disliked the band’s new Top 40/Pop sound, but was still massively successful. The band’s 7th album, “1 More Light” recieved similar reviews, but was still a commercial success, spawning 4 more hit singles with the title track, “Battle Symphony,” “Talking To Myself,” and “Good Goodbye,” the latter featuring guest appearances from rappers Pusha T & Stormzy. However, tragedy soon followed. On July 20th, 2017, Bennington commited suicide, he was 41 years old. Out of respect for Bennington, The band cancelled the North American and Japanese legs of the 1 More Light tour, which was to have support from ONE OK ROCK & Machine Gun Kelly. 3 months later, the band held a tribute concert for him, during which Shinoda premiered some new solo songs, and the audience sang Chester’s parts on “Numb” and “In The End.” The band is currently on hiatus following his death, but do have plans to continue. Meanwhile, the band released the live album “1 More Light Live,” which was taken from one of the stops on the European leg of the 1 More Light tour. It was dedicated to Bennington. Also, Shinoda recently released his 1st solo album, “Post Traumatic,” which was an entire album also dedicated to Bennington. It featured the hit single, “Crossing A Line.”
Band members[]
Current members[]
- Mike Shinoda – vocals, rhythm guitar, keyboard, production (1996–present)
- Brad Delson – lead guitar, backing vocals (1996–present); bass (2000)
- Dave "Phoenix" Farrell – bass guitar, backing vocals (1996–1998, 1999, 2001–present)
- Rob Bourdon – drums (1996–present)
- Joe Hahn – turntables, keyboard, samples, backing vocals (1996–present)
Former members[]
- Mark Wakefield – vocals (1996–1998)
- Chester Bennington — vocals (1998-2017)
- Kyle Christener – bass (1999)
___Discography___
*Hybrid Theory (2000)
*Meteora (2003)
*Minutes To Midnight (2007)
*A Thousand Suns (2010)
*Living Things (2012)
*The Hunting Party (2014)
*One More Light (2017)
Songs In Rock Band[]
- Crawling (2000)
- In the End (2000)
- Numb (2003)
- One Step Closer (2000)
- Somewhere I Belong (2003)
- Waiting for the End (2010)
- What I've Done (2007)
- Burn It Down (2012)
- New Divide (2009)
- Shadow of the Day (2007)
- Breaking the Habit (2003)