Formed in the mid-90's, the band started by Rob Bourdon, Brad Delson, Mike Shinoda, Dave Farrell, and Joseph Hahn was originally called Xero. They performed under this name until 1998 when the band changed its name to Hybrid Theory.
Then, a year later, singer Chester Bennington joined the group and the band settled on the final name of Linkin Park.
This completed the band lineup and the band performed many venues around the Southern California area until being picked up by Jeff Blue, Warner Brother's Vice President. The band signed to the record label in 1999.
Mixing an huge range of styles and sounds, the band has captivated millions of fans around the globe.
Their rap-rock attitude and precision blends of mixing have propelled the band to stardom. Even the bands line-up is unique as many other music professionals do not incorporate such a diverse mixture of musicians into their band.
Now-a-days it is rare to find a rock band with a DJ, however, Joseph Hahn does his job exceptionally well.
Another unique feature of this band is the use of two singers. Bennington and Shinoda often compliment each other vocals, resulting in the bands distinct sound and feel.
In 2000 the band released their debut album amply called Hybrid Theory and watched as their album hit Diamond status.
It included such hit's as "One Step Closer", "Crawling" and "In the End". "In the End" hit number 2 on the billboard charts and the album sold over ten million copies world wide. "Crawling" went on to win the group a Grammy in 2001 for Best Hard Rock Performance. The album also earned the group 3 other Grammy Nominations.
Meteora was their next album to hit the airwaves and included the hits "Breaking the Habit","Numb" and "Somewhere I Belong" the record sold well for them and their popularity grew substantially.
It was at this time that the band decided that they would tour more and embarked on a steady regiment of playing shows.
They began doing tours with other heavy hitting bands like Metallica and Limp Bizkit and also joined the 2nd Annual Projekt Revolution tour during this time. Also, to commemorate the event they released their Live in Texas album.
In 2004 the band decided to join with rapper Jay-Z on a group project called Collision Course. It was during this time that the band recorded re-mixes and re-dubs of their work.
Mike Shinoda also worked with Jay-Z on a solo project called The Rising Tied during this time that was a heavily rhythm and blues influenced album released in 2005. The band also won a Grammy in 2005 for best rap/sung collaboration for the song "Numb/Encore"; Jay-Z shared the honor with them.
2006, the band releases Reanimation an album that is a remix of their works done by other artists. Artists from KoRn, Jurassic 5, Orgy, Dilated Peoples, Staind and the Roots. It was during this time that the band began work on their 5th album entitled that was released in 2007.
Minutes to Midnight included such hits as "Shadow of the Day", "Bleed it Out" and "What I've Done" that awed fans from sea to sea. As of this year, the band has released their Songs from the Underground as well as their Road to Revolution Live at Milton Keynes. The future looks promising for the band as they always deliver raw, exciting performances both on and off stage.
The great thing about this band is how they have infused techy sounding music into a one of a kind sound. Some of their songs are very hip hop like and others are very solid rock sounding.
It’s very rare to find a band who can pull this kind of a thing off but they do it brilliantly. Hopefully, they will continue to make music for many years to come.