Linkin Park is an American rock band from Agoura Hills, California. They started making music in 1996. The band became very famous with their first album, Hybrid Theory, which was given a diamond certification by the RIAA for selling more than 10 million copies. It got multi-platinum certifications in many other countries. Their second album, Meteora, made the band even more popular. It reached number one on the Billboard 200 album chart in 2003. It was promoted with concerts and giving for charities around the world. In 2003, MTV2 called Linkin Park the sixth greatest band of the music video time and the third best band of the new millennium, only beaten by Oasis and Coldplay. Billboard ranked Linkin Park #19 on the Best Artists of the Decade (Past 10 Years) chart.
The band used the genres nu metal and rap metal to make it suitable for radio yet heavy in layers in Hybrid Theory and Meteora. The band used other types of music in their next studio album Minutes to Midnight, which was released in 2007. The album also reached number one at the Billboard and had the third best beginning at number one of any album that year. The band also worked with other artists and bands. The most famous would be rapper Jay-Z in their mash-up (mixing more than one song together) extended play Collision Course and many other people on their remix album Reanimation. The band's album, A Thousand Suns, was released on 2010. They further changed their sound again. Linkin Park have sold more than 50 million albums and have won two Grammys.
Band History
Starts as Xero and Hybrid Theory EP (1996–1999) The band was first made up of three friends from high school, Mike Shinoda, Brad Delson and Rob Bourdon. After high school, they started to get serious in music and added DJ Joe Hahn, bass player Dave "Phoenix" Farrell and singer Mark Wakefield to their band. They were named "Xero". Even though they have few materials, the band started recording and making songs in Shinoda's studio in his bedroom in 1996. The band started feeling uncomfortable and angry with each other after they were not able to get a contract from a major music company. Because they did not become successful, Wakefield quit so he could look for other music projects. Farrell also quit so he could perform in concerts with many bands including his old band, Tasty Snax.
After a long time without a lead singer, Xero added an Arizonan singer named Chester Bennington. Jeff Blue, the vice-president of Zomba Music in March 1999, insisted them to get Bennington. Bennington, who used to be in a post-grunge band called Grey Daze, became the most wanted among the people who wanted to be in Xero because of the strength in his voice. The band then soon changed their name from Xero to "Hybrid Theory" in 1999 and released their EP the same year. Since Shinoda and Bennington sound good together, it helped restart the band into making new music. The band restarting also led to the band changing its name again to "Linkin Park" in 2000, a tribute to Santa Monica's Lincoln Park. Even with this, they still could not get a music contract. After many record labels (music companies) rejected them, they asked Jeff Blue, now vice-president of Warner Bros. Records, to help. After not being able to sign with Warner Bros. three times, Blue helped the band finally get a contract with Warner Bros. in 1999.
Hybrid Theory LP and Reanimation (2000–2002)
Linkin Park released Hybrid Theory on October 24, 2000. It was the result of over four years of work. It was edited by Don Gilmore. Hybrid Theory was very successful in sales. It sold 4.8 million copies in the first year, and had the most sales of any album in 2001. The singles of the album are "One Step Closer", "Crawling", "Papercut" "In the End". It made them always appear on many alternative rock radios during 2001.
Other songs from the album were included in movies like Dracula 2000, Little Nicky, and Valentine. Linkin Park also worked with The X-Ecutioners for the song "It's Goin' Down". Hybrid Theory led them to win a Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance for the song "Crawling". They were also nominated for two other Grammy Awards: Best New Artist and Best Rock Album. MTV gave the band the awards of Best Rock Video and Best Direction for "In the End". Because of the band's Grammy win, the success of Hybrid Theory made them famous in the mainstream.