Linkin Park

Mike Shinoda, Rob Bourdon and Brad Delson began playing together as high school friends at Agoura High School, first calling the project Xero. After graduating they recruited Joe Hahn, Dave Farrell and Mark Wakefield and started recording in a makeshift studio in Shinoda's bedroom in 1996, laying the groundwork for the band that became Linkin Park.

Their debut album, Hybrid Theory, arrived in 2000 during nu metal's commercial peak and went on to be certified Diamond, driven by the singles 'One Step Closer', 'Crawling' and 'In the End', the last of which reached number two on the Billboard Hot 100. Meteora followed in 2003, extending that success.

Later albums kept shifting the balance between styles: Minutes to Midnight in 2007 marked a turn away from nu metal, A Thousand Suns in 2010 leaned further into electronics, Living Things in 2012 folded earlier eras together, The Hunting Party in 2014 returned to heavier alternative metal, and One More Light in 2017 pushed toward pop. From Zero, released in 2024, drew on all of these phases at once. Across their catalogue the band has sold more than 100 million records and won two Grammy Awards.

Chester Bennington's death by suicide in July 2017 halted the band for seven years, during which founding drummer Rob Bourdon chose to leave. Linkin Park announced their reformation in September 2024 with Emily Armstrong joining as co-vocalist alongside Shinoda and Colin Brittain taking over on drums, returning the band to touring and new recording.