Linkin Park

Linkin Park is an American band from . The band's current lineup comprises vocalist/rhythm guitarist , lead guitarist , bassist , DJ/keyboardist and drummer , all of whom are founding members. Vocalists Mark Wakefield and and bassist Kyle Christner are former members of the band. Categorized as , Linkin Park has experimented with their music throughout their career by incorporating , , , , and .

Formed in 1996, Linkin Park rose to international fame with their debut studio album, (2000), which became certified by the (RIAA). (2003), continued the band's success, topping the , and was followed by extensive touring and charity work. and to a radio-friendly yet densely layered style in their first two albums, the band explored other genres on their third album, (2007), which also topped the Billboard 200. (2010), layering their music with more sounds. The band's fifth album, (2012), combined musical elements from all of their previous records. Their sixth album, (2014), returned to a heavier rock sound, and their seventh album, (2017), is a more electronic and pop-oriented record.

Linkin Park is among the best-selling bands of the 21st century and the , having sold over 100 million records worldwide., six , two , four , 10 and three . In 2003, named Linkin Park the sixth-greatest band of the music video era and the third-best of the new millennium. ranked Linkin Park No. 19 on the Best Artists of the Decade list. In 2012, the band was voted as the greatest artist of the 2000s in a Bracket Madness poll on . In 2014, the band was declared as "The Biggest Rock Band in the World Right Now" by .

Linkin Park has been on an indefinite hiatus since longtime lead vocalist Bennington committed suicide in July 2017, leaving the band's future uncertain.

1996–2000: Early years

Linkin Park was founded by three high school friends: , , and . The three attended in , a suburb of Los Angeles. After graduating from high school, the three began to take their musical interests more seriously, recruiting , Dave "Phoenix" Farrell, and Mark Wakefield to perform in their band, then called Xero. Though limited in resources, the band began recording and producing songs within Shinoda's makeshift bedroom studio in 1996, resulting in a four-track demo tape, entitled Xero. Tensions and frustration within the band grew however after they failed to land a record deal. and band.

After spending a considerable time searching for Wakefield's replacement, Xero recruited Arizona vocalist , who was recommended by , the vice president of Zomba Music in March 1999. Bennington, formerly of a band Grey Daze, became a standout among applicants because of the dynamic in his singing style., which they circulated across internet chat-rooms and forums with the help of an online 'street team'.[18]

The band still struggled to sign a record deal. They turned to Jeff Blue for additional help after facing numerous rejections from several major record labels. on three previous reviews, Blue, who was now the vice president of Warner Bros. Records, helped the band sign a deal with the company.. The band changed their name to Linkin Park, a play on and homage to 's Lincoln Park, They initially wanted to use the name "Lincoln Park", however they changed it to "Linkin" to acquire the internet domain "linkinpark.com". Farrell returned in 2000, and the band released their breakthrough album, , that same year.[15]

2000–2002: Hybrid Theory and Reanimation

Linkin Park released on October 24, 2000. The album, which represented half a decade's worth of the band's work, was edited by Don Gilmore." and "" established themselves as staples among radio play lists during the year., , and . for the song "Crawling" and was nominated for two other : and .". success.

During this time, Linkin Park received many invitations to perform on many high-profile tours and concerts including , , and . The band worked with Jessica Sklar to found their official fan club and , "Linkin Park Underground", in November 2001. Linkin Park also formed their own tour, , which featured other notable artists such as , , and . The experiences and performances of the precocious band were documented in their first DVD, , which debuted in November 2001. Now reunited with former bassist Phoenix, the band began work on a remix album, dubbed , which would include works from Hybrid Theory and non-album tracks., , , and many others., and sold nearly 270,000 copies during its debut week.'s Top 100 Albums.[32]

2002–2004: Meteora

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 their saturated schedule, spending a sliver of their free time in their tour bus' studio. in Greece, where numerous have been built on top of the rocks. features a mixture of the band's and style with newer innovative effects, including the induction of a (a flute made of bamboo) and other instruments. going to No. 1 in the US and UK, and No. 2 in Australia.[13]

Meteora sold more than 800,000 copies during its first week, and it ranked as the best selling album on the at the time.", "", "", and " By October 2003, Meteora sold nearly three million copies., which featured other bands and artists including , , and . invited Linkin Park to play at the Summer Sanitarium Tour 2003, which included well-known acts such as , Mudvayne and ., which featured some audio and video tracks from the band's performances in Texas during the tour., , and .[39]

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"., winning the Artist of the Year and Song of the Year ("Numb") awards. 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. was deteriorating rapidly on account of several trust and financial issues.

2004–2006: Side projects

Following Meteora's success, the band worked on many side projects.'s "State of the Art" and other work with , while Shinoda did work with . to produce another remix album, titled . The album, which featured intermixed lyrics and background tracks from both artists' previous albums, debuted in November 2004. Shinoda also formed as a side project. With the aid of Jay-Z, Fort Minor released their debut album, , to critical acclaim.

Linkin Park also participated in numerous charitable events, most notably raised money to benefit victims of in 2004 and later in 2005. in March 2004. victims by staging several charity concerts and setting up an additional fund called ., a series of charitable benefit concerts set up to raise global awareness., Pennsylvania, to a global audience., during which they performed "", en route to winning a Grammy for . who added verses from the song "". They would later go on to play at the 2006 music festival, which was hosted by in Japan.[50]

2006–2008: Minutes to Midnight

Linkin Park returned to the recording studios in 2006 to work on new material. To produce the album, the band chose producer . Despite initially stating the album would debut sometime in 2006, the album was delayed until 2007. Bennington later added that the new album would stray away from their previous nu metal sound. officially announced that the band's third studio album, titled , would be released on May 15, 2007 in the United States., foreshadowed the band's new lyrical themes.

The album's first single, "", was released on April 2, and premiered on MTV and within the same week.'s and charts.. Mike Shinoda was also featured on the song "Second to None", which was also included in the film. Later in the year, the band won the "Favorite Alternative Artist" in the .", "", "", and "", which were released throughout 2007 and early 2008. The band also collaborated with on his single "", which was released on April 29.[60]

Linkin Park embarked on a large world tour titled "Minutes to Midnight World Tour". The band promoted the album's release by forming their fourth Projekt Revolution tour in the United States which included many musical acts like , , , , and many others. They also played numerous shows in Europe, Asia, and Australia which included a performance at on July 7, 2007. in Donington Park, England and in , Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The band completed touring on their fourth tour before taking up an Arena tour around the United Kingdom, visiting , and , before finishing on a double night at in London. Bennington stated that Linkin Park plans to release a follow-up album to Minutes to Midnight. Linkin Park embarked on another Projekt Revolution tour in 2008. This was the first time a Projekt Revolution tour was held in Europe with three shows in Germany and one in the United Kingdom. A Projekt Revolution tour was also held in the United States which featured , , , and many others. Linkin Park finished the tour with a final show in Texas. Mike Shinoda announced a live CD/DVD titled , which is a live video recording from the Projekt Revolution gig at the on June 29, 2008, which was officially released on November 24, 2008.[63]