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]
Having adapted the
nu metal and
rap metal genres to a radio-friendly yet densely layered style in
Hybrid Theory and
Meteora,
[4][5][6] the band explored other genres in their next studio album,
Minutes to Midnight, which was released in 2007.
[7][8] The album topped the
Billboard charts and had the third best debut week of any album that year.
[9][10] 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.
[5] 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
Early years (1996–1999)
Originally consisting of three high school friends, Linkin Park’s foundation was anchored by
Mike Shinoda,
Brad Delson, and Rob Bourdon.
[14] After graduating from high school, the California natives 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 make-shift bedroom studio in 1996.
[14][15] Tensions and frustration within the band grew after they failed to land a record deal.
[14] 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.
[14][15] Farrell also left to tour with Tasty Snax and other bands.
[16][17]
After spending a considerable time searching for Wakefield's replacement, Xero recruited
Arizona vocalist
Chester Bennington.
Jeff Blue, the vice president of Zomba Music, had referred him to the band in March 1999.
[18] Bennington, formerly of Grey Daze, became a standout among applicants because of his unique singing style. The band changed its name from Xero to Hybrid Theory.
[16] The newborn vocal chemistry between Shinoda and Bennington helped revive the band, inciting them to work on new material.
[14] 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.
[14] 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.
[18]
Hybrid Theory (2000–2002)
Main article:
Hybrid TheoryLinkin Park released
Hybrid Theory on October 24, 2000.
[19][20] The album, which represented half a decade’s worth of the band’s work, was edited by Don Gilmore.
[14] 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.
[16] Additionally, other singles from the album were featured in films such as
Dracula 2000,
Little Nicky, and
Valentine.
[16] 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.
[21] MTV awarded the band their Best Rock Video and Best Direction awards for "
In the End".
[14] 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.
[16][22] The band also formed its own tour,
Projekt Revolution, which featured other notable artists such as,
Cypress Hill,
Adema, and
Snoop Dogg.
[18] Within a year’s stretch, Linkin Park had performed at over 320 concerts.
[14] 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.
[16] Reanimation debuted on July 30, 2002, featuring the likes of
Black Thought,
Jonathan Davis,
Aaron Lewis, and many others.
[23] Reanimation claimed the second spot on the
Billboard 200, and sold nearly 270,000 copies during its debut week.
[24] Hybrid Theory is also in the
RIAA's Top 100 Albums.
[25]
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.
[26] 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.
[27] 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.
[14] Linkin Park's second album debuted on March 25, 2003 and instantly earned worldwide recognition,
[14] going to #1 in the US and UK, and #2 in Australia.
[15]
