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.^[1] 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.^[2] 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.^[3] Billboard ranked Linkin Park No. 19 on the Best Artists of the Decade chart.^[4]

Having adapted the nu metal and rap metal genres to a radio-friendly yet densely layered style in Hybrid Theory and Meteora,^[5][6][7] the band explored other genres in their next studio album, Minutes to Midnight, which was released in 2007.^[8][9] The album topped the Billboard charts and had the third best debut week of any album that year.^[10][11] 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.^[6] 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.^[12][13][14]

History[link]

Early years (1996–1999)[link]

The founding of Linkin Park began with three high school friends; Mike Shinoda, Rob Bourdon, and Brad Delson.^[15] After graduating from high school, the three began to take their musical interests more seriously, recruiting Joe Hahn, Dave "Phoenix" Farrell, and Mark Wakefield to perform in their band, Xero. Though limited in resources, the band began recording and producing songs within Shinoda’s makeshift bedroom studio in 1996.^[15][16] Tensions and frustration within the band grew after they failed to land a record deal.^[15] The lack of success and stalemate in progress prompted Wakefield, at that time the band's vocalist, to leave the band in search of other projects.^[15][16] Farrell also left to tour with Tasty Snax and other bands.^[17][18]

After spending a considerable time searching for Wakefield's replacement, Xero recruited Arizona vocalist, Chester Bennington, who was recommended by Jeff Blue, the vice president of Zomba Music in March 1999.^[19] Bennington, formerly of a post-grunge band by the name of Grey Daze, became a standout among applicants because of the dynamic in his singing style.^[15] The band then agreed on changing its name from Xero to Hybrid Theory.^[17] The newborn vocal chemistry between Shinoda and Bennington helped revive the band, inciting them to work on new material.^[15] The band’s renaissance culminated with a change in name; from Hybrid Theory, the band once again changed its name, this time to Linkin Park, a play on and homage to Santa Monica’s Lincoln Park.^[15] However, despite these changes, the band still struggled to sign a record deal. After facing numerous rejections from several major record labels, Linkin Park turned to Jeff Blue for additional help. After failing to catch Warner Bros. Records on three previous reviews, Jeff Blue, now the vice president of Warner Bros. Records, helped the band sign a deal with the company in 1999. The band released its breakthrough album, Hybrid Theory, the following year.^[19]

[edit] Hybrid Theory (2000–2002)

Linkin Park released Hybrid Theory on October 24, 2000.^[20][21] The album, which represented half a decade’s worth of the band’s work, was edited by Don Gilmore.^[15] Hybrid Theory was a massive commercial success; it sold more than 4.8 million copies during its debut year, earning it the status of best-selling album of 2001, while singles such as "Crawling" and "One Step Closer" established themselves as staples among alternative rock radio play lists during the year.^[17] Additionally, other singles from the album were featured in films such as Dracula 2000, Little Nicky, and Valentine.^[17] Hybrid Theory won a Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance for the song "Crawling" and was nominated for two other Grammy Awards: Best New Artist and Best Rock Album.^[22] MTV awarded the band their Best Rock Video and Best Direction awards for "In the End".^[15] Through the winning of the Grammy for Best Hard Rock Performance, Hybrid Theory’s overall success had catapulted the band into mainstream success.

During this time, Linkin Park received many invitations to perform on many high-profile tours and concerts including Ozzfest, Family Values Tour and KROQ Almost Acoustic Christmas.^[17][23] The band also formed its own tour, Projekt Revolution, which featured other notable artists such as Cypress Hill, Adema, and Snoop Dogg.^[19] Within a year’s stretch, Linkin Park had performed at over 320 concerts.^[15] The experiences and performances of the precocious band were documented in its first DVD, Frat Party at the Pankake Festival, which debuted in November 2001. Now reunited with former bassist Phoenix, the band began work on a remix album, dubbed Reanimation, which would include works from Hybrid Theory and non-album tracks also.^[17] Reanimation debuted on July 30, 2002, featuring the likes of Black Thought, Jonathan Davis, Aaron Lewis, and many others.^[24] Reanimation claimed the second spot on the Billboard 200, and sold nearly 270,000 copies during its debut week.^[25] Hybrid Theory is also in the RIAA's Top 100 Albums.^[26]

[edit] Meteora (2002–2004)

Following the success of Hybrid Theory and Reanimation, Linkin Park spent a significant amount of time touring around the United States. The band members began to work on new material amidst its saturated schedule, spending a sliver of their free time in their tour bus' studio.^[27] The band officially announced the production of a new studio album in December 2002, revealing its new work was inspired by the rocky region of Meteora in Greece, where numerous monasteries have been built on top of the rocks.^[28] Meteora features a mixture of the band's previous nu metal and rapcore styles with newer innovative effects, including the induction of a shakuhachi (a Japanese flute made of bamboo) and other instruments.^[15] Linkin Park's second album debuted on March 25, 2003 and instantly earned worldwide recognition,^[15] going to No.1 in the US and UK, and No.2 in Australia.^[16]

Meteora sold more than 800,000 copies during its first week, and it ranked as the best selling album on the Billboard charts at the time.^[29] The album's singles, including "Somewhere I Belong", "Breaking the Habit", "Faint", and "Numb", received significant radio attention.^[30] By October 2003, Meteora sold nearly three million copies.^[31] The album's success allowed Linkin Park to form another Projekt Revolution, which featured other bands and artists including Mudvayne, Blindside, and Xzibit.^[15] Additionally, Metallica invited Linkin Park to play at the Summer Sanitarium Tour 2003, which included well-known acts such as Limp Bizkit, Mudvayne and Deftones.^[32] The band released an album and DVD, entitled Live in Texas, which consisted of audio and video tracks of some of the band's performances in Texas during the tour.^[15] In early 2004, Linkin Park started a world tour titled the Meteora World Tour. Supporting bands on the tour included Hoobastank, P.O.D., Story of the Year and Pia.^[33]

Meteora earned the band multiple awards and honors. The band won the MTV awards for Best Rock Video for "Somewhere I Belong" and the Viewer's Choice Award for "Breaking the Habit".^[34] Linkin Park also received significant recognition during the 2004 Radio Music Awards, winning the Artist of the Year and Song of the Year ("Numb") awards.^[34] Although Meteora was not nearly as successful as Hybrid Theory, it was the third best selling album in the United States during 2003.^[17] The band spent the first few months of 2004 touring around the world, first with the third Projekt Revolution tour, and later several European concerts.^[17]

Side projects (2004–2006)[link]

Mike Shinoda interviewed with MTV Thailand in Bangkok

Following Meteora's success, the band postponed working on a new studio album for the next few years. Instead, Linkin Park continued to tour and work on many side projects. Bennington appeared on DJ Lethal’s "State of the Art" and other work with Dead by Sunrise, while Shinoda did work with Depeche Mode.^[17] In 2004, the band began to work with Jay-Z to produce another remix album, entitled Collision Course. The album, which featured intermixed lyrics and background tracks from both artists' previous albums, debuted in November 2004. Shinoda also formed a new band, Fort Minor, as a side project. With the aid of Jay-Z, Fort Minor released its debut album, The Rising Tied, to critical acclaim.^[35][36] At the same time, the band's relationship with Warner Bros. Records was deteriorating rapidly on account of several trust and financial issues.^[37] After months of feuding, the band finally negotiated a deal in December 2005.^[38]

Linkin Park also participated in numerous charitable events, most notably raised money to benefit victims of Hurricane Charley in 2004 and later Hurricane Katrina in 2005.^[17] The band donated $75,000 to the Special Operations Warrior Foundation in March 2004.^[39] They also helped relief efforts for the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami victims by staging several charity concerts and setting up an additional fund called "Music for Relief".^[40] Most notably, however, the band participated at Live 8, a series of charitable benefit concerts set up to raise global awareness.^[41] Alongside Jay-Z, the band performed on Live 8's stage in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to a global audience.^[41] The band would later be reunited with Jay-Z at the Grammy Award Ceremony 2006, during which they performed "Numb/Encore", en route to winning a Grammy for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration.^[42] They were joined on stage by Paul McCartney who added verses from the song "Yesterday". They would later go on to play at the 2006 Summer Sonic music festival, which was hosted by Metallica in Japan.^[43]

[edit] Minutes to Midnight (2006–2008)

Linkin Park performing at 2007's Novarock Festival

Linkin Park returned to the recording studios in 2006 to work on new material. To produce the album, the band chose producer Rick Rubin. Despite initially stating the album would debut sometime in 2006, the album was delayed until 2007.^[8] The band had recorded thirty to fifty songs in August 2006, when Shinoda stated the album was halfway completed.^[44] Bennington later added that the new album would stray away from its previous nu metal sound.^[45] Warner Bros. Records officially announced that the band’s third studio album, entitled Minutes to Midnight, would be released on May 15, 2007 in the United States.^[46] After spending fourteen months working on the album, the band members opted to further refine their album by removing five of the original seventeen tracks. The album’s title, a reference to the Doomsday Clock, foreshadowed the band's new lyrical themes.^[47] Minutes to Midnight sold over 625,000 copies in its first week, making it one of the most successful debut week albums in recent years. The album also took the top spot on the Billboard Charts.^[11]

The album's first single, "What I've Done", was released on April 2, and premiered on MTV and Fuse within the same week.^[48] The single was acclaimed by listeners, becoming the top-ranked song on the Billboard's Modern Rock Tracks and Mainstream Rock Tracks charts.^[49] The song is also used in soundtrack for the 2007 action film, Transformers. Mike Shinoda was also featured on the Styles of Beyond song "Second to None" which was also included in the film. Later in the year, the band won the "Favorite Alternative Artist" in the American Music Awards.^[50] The band also saw success with the rest of the albums singles, "Bleed It Out", "Shadow of the Day", "Given Up", and "Leave Out All the Rest", which were released throughout 2007 and early 2008. The band also collaborated with Busta Rhymes on his single "We Made It", which was released on April 29.^[51]

Linkin Park's touring and live shows have, among other things, included a performance at Live Earth Japan on July 7, 2007.^[52] and headlining Download Festival in Donington Park, England and Edgefest in Downsview Park, Toronto, Canada. The band completed touring on its fourth Projekt Revolution tour before taking up an Arena tour around the United Kingdom, visiting Nottingham, Sheffield and Manchester, before finishing on a double night at the O2 arena in London. Bennington stated that Linkin Park plans to release a follow-up album to Minutes to Midnight.^[53] However, he stated the band will first embark on a United States tour to gather inspiration for the album.^[53] In an interview with Rolling Stone, Bennington said that the band had already begun writing new material for the album, and Shinoda too stated that the album could well be released in late 2009. Mike Shinoda also announced a live CD/DVD entitled Road to Revolution: Live at Milton Keynes, which is a live video recording from the Projekt Revolution gig at the Milton Keynes Bowl on June 29, 2008, which was officially released on November 24, 2008.^[54]

[edit] A Thousand Suns (2008–2011)

Linkin Park performing at Sonisphere Festival in Finland.

In May 2009, Linkin Park announced they were working on a fourth studio album, which was planned to be released on 2010. Shinoda told IGN that the new album would be 'genre-busting,' while building off of elements in Minutes to Midnight.^[55] He also mentioned that the album would be more experimental and "hopefully more cutting-edge."^[56] Bennington also addressed the media to confirm that Rick Rubin would return to produce the new album. The band later revealed the album would be called A Thousand Suns.^[57]

While working on the new album, Linkin Park worked with successful film composer Hans Zimmer to produce the score for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.^[58] The band released a single for the movie, entitled "New Divide". Joe Hahn created a music video for the song, which featured clips from the film.^[59] On June 22, Linkin Park played a short set in Westwood Village after the premier of the movie.^[60] After completing work for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, the band returned to the studio to finalize their album.^[61]

On January 19, 2010, Linkin Park released a new song entitled "Not Alone" as part of a compilation from Music for Relief called Download to Donate for Haiti in support of the Haiti Earthquake crisis. On February 10, 2010, Linkin Park released the official music video for the song on their homepage.

On April 26, the band released an app for the iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad, a game called 8-Bit Rebellion! It featured the band as playable characters, and a new song called "Blackbirds" which was unlockable by beating the game. The song was also later released as an iTunes bonus track on A Thousand Suns.

A Thousand Suns was released on September 14. The album’s first single, "The Catalyst", was released on August 2. The band promoted their new album by launching a concert tour, which started in Los Angeles on September 7.^[62][63][64] Linkin Park also relied on MySpace to promote their album, releasing two additional songs, "Waiting for the End" and "Blackout" on September 8.^{[65][66][67][68]} Furthermore, a documentary about the album's production, entitled Meeting of A Thousand Suns, was available for streaming on the band's MySpace page. On August 31, 2010, it was announced that the band would perform the single live for the first time at the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards on September 12, 2010.^[69] The venue of the debut live performance of the single was Griffith Observatory, an iconic location used in Hollywood movies.^[70][71][72] "Waiting for the End" was released as the second single of A Thousand Suns.