Linkin Park
Encyclopedia
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. 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. 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
. Billboard ranked Linkin Park #19 on the Best Artists of the Decade chart.
Having adapted the nu metal
and rap metal
genres to a radio-friendly yet densely layered style in Hybrid Theory and Meteora, the band explored other genres in their next studio album, Minutes to Midnight
, which was released in 2007. The album topped the Billboard charts
and had the third best debut week of any album that year. 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
. 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.
, Rob Bourdon, and Brad Delson. After graduating from high school, the three 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. Tensions and frustration within the band grew after they failed to land a record deal. 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. Farrell also left to tour with Tasty Snax and other bands.
After spending a considerable time searching for Wakefield's replacement, Xero recruited Arizona vocalist, Chester Bennington
, who was recommended by Jeff Blue
, the vice president of Zomba Music in March 1999. Bennington, formerly of a post-grunge
band by the name of Grey Daze, became a standout among applicants because of the dynamic in his singing style. The band then agreed on changing its name from Xero to Hybrid Theory. The newborn vocal chemistry between Shinoda and Bennington helped revive the band, inciting them to work on new material. 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. 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.
on October 24, 2000. The album, which represented half a decade’s worth of the band’s work, was edited by Don Gilmore. 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. Additionally, other singles from the album were featured in films such as Dracula 2000
, Little Nicky
, and Valentine
. Hybrid Theory won a Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance
for the song "Crawling" and was nominated for two other Grammy Award
s: Best New Artist
and Best Rock Album
. MTV awarded the band their Best Rock Video and Best Direction awards for "In the End
". 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. The band also formed its own tour, Projekt Revolution
, which featured other notable artists such as Cypress Hill
, Adema
, and Snoop Dogg
. Within a year’s stretch, Linkin Park had performed at over 320 concerts. 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. Reanimation debuted on July 30, 2002, featuring the likes of Black Thought
, Jonathan Davis
, Aaron Lewis
, and many others. Reanimation claimed the second spot on the Billboard 200
, and sold nearly 270,000 copies during its debut week. Hybrid Theory is also in the RIAA's Top 100 Albums.
in Greece, where numerous monasteries
have been built on top of the rocks. 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. Linkin Park's second album debuted on March 25, 2003 and instantly earned worldwide recognition, going to No.1 in the US and UK, and No.2 in Australia.
Meteora sold more than 800,000 copies during its first week, and it ranked as the best selling album on the Billboard charts
at the time. The album's singles, including "Somewhere I Belong
", "Breaking the Habit
", "Faint
", and "Numb
", received significant radio attention. By October 2003, Meteora sold nearly three million copies. The album's success allowed Linkin Park to form another Projekt Revolution
, which featured other bands and artists including, Mudvayne
, Blindside
, and Xzibit
. Additionally, Metallica
invited Linkin Park to play at the Summer Sanitarium Tour 2003, which included well-known acts such as Limp Bizkit
, Mudvayne and Deftones
. The band released an album and DVD, entitled Live in Texas
, which consisted of audio and video tracks of some of the band's performances in Texas during the tour. In early 2004, Linkin Park started a world tour titled the Meteora World Tour. Supporting bands on the tour included Hoobastank
, P.O.D.
and Story of the Year
.
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". Linkin Park also received significant recognition during the 2004 Radio Music Award
s, winning the Artist of the Year and Song of the Year ("Numb") awards. Although Meteora was not nearly as successful as Hybrid Theory, it was the third best selling album in the United States during 2003. 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.
Following Meteoras success, the band postponed working on a new studio album for the next few years. Instead, Linkin Park continued to tour and work on many side projects. Bennington appeared on DJ Lethal
’s "State of the Art" and other work with Dead by Sunrise
, while Shinoda did work with Depeche Mode
. In 2004, the band began to work with Jay-Z
to produce another remix album, entitled Collision Course
. The album, which featured intermixed lyrics and background tracks from both artists' previous albums, debuted in November 2004. Shinoda also formed a new band, Fort Minor
, as a side project. With the aid of Jay-Z, Fort Minor released its debut album, The Rising Tied
, to critical acclaim. At the same time, the band's relationship with Warner Bros. Records
was deteriorating rapidly on account of several trust and financial issues. After months of feuding, the band finally negotiated a deal in December 2005.
Linkin Park also participated in numerous charitable events, most notably raised money to benefit victims of hurricane Charley
in 2004 and later hurricane Katrina
in 2005. The band donated $75,000 to the Special Operations Warrior Foundation
in March 2004. They also helped relief efforts for the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami
victims by staging several charity concerts and setting up an additional fund called "Music for Relief". Most notably, however, the band participated at Live 8
, a series of charitable benefit concerts set up to raise global awareness. Alongside Jay-Z, the band performed on Live 8's stage in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to a global audience. The band would later be reunited with Jay-Z at the Grammy Award Ceremony 2006
, during which they performed "Numb/Encore", en route to winning a Grammy for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration
. They were joined on stage by Paul McCartney
who added verses from the song "Yesterday
". They would later go on to play at the 2006 Summer Sonic music festival, which was hosted by Metallica
in Japan.
Linkin Park returned to the recording studios in 2006 to work on new material. To produce the album, the band chose producer Rick Rubin
. Despite initially stating the album would debut sometime in 2006, the album was delayed until 2007. The band had recorded thirty to fifty songs in August 2006, when Shinoda stated the album was halfway completed. Bennington later added that the new album would stray away from its previous nu metal sound. Warner Bros. Records
officially announced that the band’s third studio album, entitled Minutes to Midnight
, would be released on May 15, 2007 in the United States. After spending fourteen months working on the album, the band members opted to further refine their album by removing five of the original seventeen tracks. The album’s title, a reference to the Doomsday Clock
, foreshadowed the band's new lyrical themes. Minutes to Midnight sold over 625,000 copies in its first week, making it one of the most successful debut week albums in recent years. The album also took the top spot on the Billboard Charts.
The album's first single, "What I've Done
", was released on April 2, and premiered on MTV and Fuse
within the same week. The single was acclaimed by listeners, becoming the top-ranked song on the Billboard
's Modern Rock Tracks
and Mainstream Rock Tracks
charts. The song is also used in soundtrack for the 2007 action film, Transformers. Mike Shinoda was also featured on the Styles of Beyond
song "Second to None" which was also included in the film. Later in the year, the band won the "Favorite Alternative Artist" in the American Music Awards
. The band also saw success with the rest of the albums singles, "Bleed It Out
", "Shadow of the Day
", "Given Up
", and "Leave Out All the Rest
", which were released throughout 2007 and early 2008. The band also collaborated with Busta Rhymes
on his single "We Made It
", which was released on April 29.
Linkin Park's touring and live shows have, among other things, included a performance at Live Earth Japan on July 7, 2007. and headlining Download Festival
in Donington Park, England and Edgefest
in Downsview Park
, Toronto
, Canada. The band completed touring on its fourth Projekt Revolution
tour before taking up an Arena tour around the United Kingdom, visiting Nottingham
, Sheffield
and Manchester
, before finishing on a double night at the O2 arena
in London. Bennington stated that Linkin Park plans to release a follow-up album to Minutes to Midnight. However, he stated the band will first embark on a United States tour to gather inspiration for the album. In an interview with Rolling Stone
, Bennington said that the band had already begun writing new material for the album, and Shinoda too stated that the album could well be released in late 2009. Mike Shinoda also announced a live CD/DVD entitled Road to Revolution: Live at Milton Keynes
, which is a live video recording from the Projekt Revolution gig at the Milton Keynes Bowl
on June 29, 2008, which was officially released on November 24, 2008.
that the new album would be 'genre-busting,' while building off of elements in Minutes to Midnight. He also mentioned that the album would be more experimental and "hopefully more cutting-edge." Bennington also addressed the media to confirm that Rick Rubin
would return to produce the new album. The band later revealed the album would be called A Thousand Suns
.
While working on the new album, Linkin Park worked with successful film composer Hans Zimmer
to produce the score for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
. The band released a single for the movie, entitled "New Divide
". Joe Hahn created a music video for the song, which featured clips from the film. On June 22, Linkin Park played a short set in Westwood Village after the premier of the movie. After completing work for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, the band returned to the studio to finalize their album.
On January 19, 2010, Linkin Park released a new song entitled "Not Alone" as part of a compilation from Music for Relief called Download to Donate for Haiti
in support of the Haiti Earthquake crisis
. On February 10, 2010, Linkin Park released the official music video for the song on their homepage.
On April 26, the band released an app for the iPhone
, iPod Touch
, and iPad
, a game called 8-Bit Rebellion!
It featured the band as playable characters, and a new song called "Blackbirds" which was unlockable by beating the game. The song was also later released as an iTunes
bonus track on A Thousand Suns.
A Thousand Suns was released on September 14. The album’s first single, "The Catalyst
", was released on August 2. The band promoted their new album by launching a concert tour, which started in Los Angeles on September 7. Linkin Park also relied on MySpace to promote their album, releasing two additional songs, "Waiting for the End
" and "Blackout" on September 8. Furthermore, a documentary about the album's production, entitled A Thousand Suns: The Full Experience, was available for streaming on the band's MySpace page. On August 31, 2010, it was announced that the band would perform the single live for the first at the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards
on September 12, 2010. The venue of the debut live performance of the single was Griffith Observatory
, an iconic location used in Hollywood movies. "Waiting for the End" was released as the second single of A Thousand Suns.
Linkin Park reached No.8 in Billboard Social 50, a chart of the most active artists on the world's leading social networking sites. In other Billboard Year-End charts, the band reached No.92 in the "Top Artists" chart, as well as A Thousand Suns reaching No.53 in the Year-End chart of the Billboard Top 200 albums and No.7 in the 2010 Year-End Rock Albums, and "The Catalyst" reaching No.40 in the Year-End Rock Songs chart.
On January 11, 2011, an updated version of Download to Donate for Haiti was launched, called Download to Donate for Haiti V2.0, with more songs to download. For the updated compilation, the band released Keaton Hashimoto's remix of "The Catalyst" from the "Linkin Park featuring YOU" contest. "Burning in the Skies
" was released as the third official single of A Thousand Suns on March 21, 2011.
Shinoda designed two t-shirts, in which the proceeds will go to Music For Relief to help the victims of the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami
disasters. Music For Relief released Download to Donate: Tsunami Relief Japan, another compilation of songs, in which the proceeds will go to Save the Children
.
On April 13, 2011, Shinoda confirmed that the album's fourth single will be "Iridescent
". He also confirmed that there will be a new, slightly shorter version of the song, which will be part of the soundtrack of the upcoming film Transformers: Dark of the Moon, continuing the streak of Linkin Park songs being the theme songs of the Transformers films
(after "What I've Done" and "New Divide"), as well as the fact that a music video will be shot for the single. The video was directed by Joe Hahn, who directed the videos for both of the previous songs.
The band were nominated for six Billboard Awards in 2011 for Top Duo/Group, Best Rock Album for A Thousand Suns, Top Rock Artist, Top Alternative Artist, Top Alternative Song for "Waiting for the End" and Top Alternative Album for A Thousand Suns, but did not win any award.
that Linkin Park has begun working on new material for their next album. He explained, "We've been working on a new record for the past two months. The music is great and we're well ahead of where we're expecting to be. There aren't a whole lot of noises going on, but there are a lot of good songs. It will probably get a very polarized reaction. Which pleases me. As an artist, I want a reaction." The singer added that the band would be looking to tackle controversial topics on their new album, rather than the more personal subjects of their older material. "We've learned how to write serious songs and serious lyrics. We've learned how to deal with politics, faith and other things. Those are things that can get preachy really quickly, which we don't want to do. So you need to learn to talk to people and not at people", he said.
Rick Rubin will be a producer on the new album. "Typically we'll have a once-a-week meeting to go listen to the songs that they're coming up with and talk about them. For so early in the project, they are much further along than they have been on the last two albums we did. On A Thousand Suns there were still a lot of irons in the fire. We knew, 'OK, we can't do this forever. Let's leave this batch and we'll come back and address it when we start up again'", Rubin said.
In July 2011, Bennington told Rolling Stone
that Linkin Park aims to produce a new album every eighteen months, and that he would be shocked if a new album did not come out in 2012. The band continues to record and produce new material even while touring. Bennington commented on Linkin Park's schedule, stating, "Touring for two years is excruciating. When we would tour for two years even the most resilient person in the band, at the end of that, was fucking miserable."
, nu metal
, and rap rock
sound with influences and elements from hip-hop
, alternative rock
, and electronica
, utilizing programming and synthesizers. William Ruhlmann from Allmusic regarded it as "a Johnny-come-lately to an already overdone musical style," whereas Rolling Stone
described their song "Breaking the Habit
" as "risky, beautiful art".
In Minutes to Midnight the band experimented
with their established sound and drew influences from a wider and more varied range of genres and styles, a process Los Angeles Times
compares to a stage in U2
's work. In it, only two of the songs feature rapping, and the majority of the album can be considered alternative rock. NME
magazine's Dan Silver criticized the band's approach, calling it the "sound of a band trying and failing to forge a new identity", and referring to the song "Hands Held High", a song about terrorist attacks and war, as "far and away the funniest thing you will hear all year".
The vocal interplay between Chester Bennington and Mike Shinoda plays as a major part within Linkin Park's music, with Bennington being the lead vocalist and Shinoda as the rapping
vocalist. On Linkin Park's third album, Minutes to Midnight, Shinoda sings lead vocals on "In Between", "Hands Held High", and on the B-side "No Roads Left". On numerous songs from band's fourth album, A Thousand Suns
, such as the album's four singles, both Shinoda and Bennington sing. On most of the record's tracks, the band notably used electronic drumbeats along with outro drumbeats. The album has been regarded as a turning point in the band's musical career by notable critics. James Montgomery, of MTV compared the record to Radiohead
's Kid A
, while Jordy Kasko of Review, Rinse, Repeat likened the album to both Kid A and Pink Floyd
's landmark album The Dark Side of the Moon
. Shinoda stated that he and the other band members were deeply influenced by Chuck D
and Public Enemy. He elaborated: "Public Enemy were very three-dimensional with their records because although they seemed political, there was a whole lot of other stuff going on in there too. It made me think how three-dimensional I wanted our record to be without imitating them of course, and show where we were at creatively". One of the record's political elements is its samples of notable speeches by American political figures.
Former members
Agoura Hills, California
Agoura Hills is a city in Los Angeles County, California, and has the ZIP code 91301. The population was 20,330 at the 2010 census, down from 20,537 at the 2000 census. It is located in the eastern Conejo Valley between the Simi Hills and the Santa Monica Mountains. This city on the Ventura...
, California. Formed in 1996, the band rose to international fame with their debut album, Hybrid Theory
Hybrid Theory
Hybrid Theory is the debut album by American rock band Linkin Park, released on October 24, 2000 through Warner Bros. Records. The album was a huge commercial success, having sold over 10 million units in the United States alone as of 2010 and peaking at number two on the Billboard 200 while also...
, which was certified Diamond by the RIAA
Recording Industry Association of America
The Recording Industry Association of America is a trade organization that represents the recording industry distributors in the United States...
in 2005 and multi-platinum
Music recording sales certification
Music recording sales certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped or sold a certain number of copies, where the threshold quantity varies by type and by nation or territory .Almost all countries follow variations of the RIAA certification categories,...
in several other countries. Its following studio album, Meteora
Meteora (album)
Meteora is the second studio album by American rock band Linkin Park. It was released on March 25, 2003 through Warner Bros. Records, following Reanimation, a collaboration album which featured remixes of songs included on debut studio album Hybrid Theory...
, continued the band's success, topping the Billboard 200
Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
album chart in 2003, and was followed by extensive touring and charity work around the world. In 2003, MTV2
MTV2
MTV2 is a cable network that is widely available in the United States on digital cable and satellite television, and is progressively being added to analogue cable lineups across the nation...
named Linkin Park the sixth greatest band of the music video era and the third best of the new millennium behind Oasis
Oasis (band)
Oasis were an English rock band formed in Manchester in 1991. Originally known as The Rain, the group was formed by Liam Gallagher , Paul "Bonehead" Arthurs , Paul "Guigsy" McGuigan and Tony McCarroll , who were soon joined by Liam's older brother Noel Gallagher...
and Coldplay
Coldplay
Coldplay are a British alternative rock band formed in 1996 by lead vocalist Chris Martin and lead guitarist Jonny Buckland at University College London. After they formed Pectoralz, Guy Berryman joined the group as a bassist and they changed their name to Starfish. Will Champion joined as a...
. Billboard ranked Linkin Park #19 on the Best Artists of the Decade chart.
Having adapted the nu metal
Nu metal
Nu metal is a subgenre of heavy metal. It is a fusion genre which combines elements of heavy metal with other genres, including grunge and hip hop...
and rap metal
Rap metal
Rap metal is a subgenre of rap rock which fuses vocal and instrumental elements of hip hop music with heavy metal.-History:Rap metal originated from rap rock, a genre fusing vocal and instrumental elements of hip hop with rock...
genres to a radio-friendly yet densely layered style in Hybrid Theory and Meteora, the band explored other genres in their next studio album, Minutes to Midnight
Minutes to Midnight (album)
Minutes to Midnight is the third studio album by American rock band Linkin Park. Released on May 14, 2007, through Warner Bros. Records, the album debuted at number one in the United States and in 15 other countries, including the United Kingdom and Canada. The album was produced by Mike Shinoda...
, which was released in 2007. The album topped the Billboard charts
Billboard charts
The Billboard charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs or albums in the United States. The results are published in Billboard magazine...
and had the third best debut week of any album that year. The band has collaborated with several other artists, most notably with rapper Jay-Z
Jay-Z
Shawn Corey Carter , better known by his stage name Jay-Z, is an American rapper, record producer, entrepreneur, and occasional actor. He is one of the most financially successful hip hop artists and entrepreneurs in America, having a net worth of over $450 million as of 2010...
in their mashup
Mashup (music)
A mashup or bootleg is a song or composition created by blending two or more pre-recorded songs, usually by overlaying the vocal track of one song seamlessly over the instrumental track of another...
EP Collision Course
Collision Course (album)
Critics were divided over Collision Course, with some praising the album, while others negatively received it.David Jeffries of allmusic praised the album, calling it "awesomely fun". K.B...
, and many others included on Reanimation
Reanimation
Reanimation helped the many underground hip-hop artists that it featured reach a larger audience, as well as changing the nature of the work so significantly that it could be considered an entirely new album...
. The band's most recent work, the concept album
Concept album
In music, a concept album is an album that is "unified by a theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, narrative, or lyrical." Commonly, concept albums tend to incorporate preconceived musical or lyrical ideas rather than being improvised or composed in the studio, with all songs contributing...
A Thousand Suns
A Thousand Suns
A Thousand Suns is the fourth studio album by American rock band Linkin Park. It was first released on September 14, 2010. The album was written by the band and co-produced by Linkin Park vocalist Mike Shinoda and Rick Rubin, who previously worked together to produce Minutes to Midnight...
, was released on September 8, 2010. Linkin Park has sold over 50 million albums worldwide and has won two Grammy Awards.
Early years (1996–1999)
The founding of Linkin Park began with three high school friends; Mike ShinodaMike Shinoda
Michael "Mike" Kenji Shinoda is an American musician, record producer, and artist. He is best known as the rapper, principal songwriter, keyboardist, vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the rock band Linkin Park, along with his co-frontman and lead singer Chester Bennington, and as a solo rapper in...
, Rob Bourdon, and Brad Delson. After graduating from high school, the three began to take their musical interests more seriously, recruiting Joe Hahn
Joe Hahn
Joseph "Joe" Hahn , better known by his stage name, Mr. Hahn, is an American turntablist and director best known as the DJ and sampler for the band Linkin Park.-Personal Biography:...
, 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. Tensions and frustration within the band grew after they failed to land a record deal. 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. Farrell also left to tour with Tasty Snax and other bands.
After spending a considerable time searching for Wakefield's replacement, Xero recruited Arizona vocalist, Chester Bennington
Chester Bennington
Chester Charles Bennington is an American musician, singer-songwriter and actor. He is best known as the lead vocalist and songwriter of the rock band Linkin Park....
, who was recommended by Jeff Blue
Jeff Blue
Jeff Blue is a multi-platinum music producer, A&R executive, songwriter, and lawyer who is currently Artists and Repertoire consultant for Atlantic Records. He has worked as Sr. VP A&R/Staff Producer for Warner Bros. Records|Warner California, Interscope Records, Virgin/Capitol Music Group,...
, the vice president of Zomba Music in March 1999. Bennington, formerly of a post-grunge
Post-grunge
Post-grunge is a subgenre of alternative rock that emerged in the mid-1990s as a derivative of grunge, using the sounds and aesthetic of grunge, but with a more commercially acceptable tone...
band by the name of Grey Daze, became a standout among applicants because of the dynamic in his singing style. The band then agreed on changing its name from Xero to Hybrid Theory. The newborn vocal chemistry between Shinoda and Bennington helped revive the band, inciting them to work on new material. 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
Santa Monica, California
Santa Monica is a beachfront city in western Los Angeles County, California, US. Situated on Santa Monica Bay, it is surrounded on three sides by the city of Los Angeles — Pacific Palisades on the northwest, Brentwood on the north, West Los Angeles on the northeast, Mar Vista on the east, and...
’s Lincoln Park. 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
Warner Bros. Records
Warner Bros. Records Inc. is an American record label. It was the foundation label of the present-day Warner Music Group, and now operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of that corporation. It maintains a close relationship with its former parent, Warner Bros. Pictures, although the two companies...
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
Hybrid Theory
Hybrid Theory is the debut album by American rock band Linkin Park, released on October 24, 2000 through Warner Bros. Records. The album was a huge commercial success, having sold over 10 million units in the United States alone as of 2010 and peaking at number two on the Billboard 200 while also...
, the following year.
Hybrid Theory (2000–2002)
Linkin Park released Hybrid TheoryHybrid Theory
Hybrid Theory is the debut album by American rock band Linkin Park, released on October 24, 2000 through Warner Bros. Records. The album was a huge commercial success, having sold over 10 million units in the United States alone as of 2010 and peaking at number two on the Billboard 200 while also...
on October 24, 2000. The album, which represented half a decade’s worth of the band’s work, was edited by Don Gilmore. 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
Crawling (song)
"Crawling" is a song by the American rock band Linkin Park. It is the fifth track from their debut album Hybrid Theory. It was released in 2001 as their second single and won a Grammy for Best Hard Rock Performance in 2002...
" and "One Step Closer
One Step Closer (Linkin Park song)
"One Step Closer" is a song by the American rock band Linkin Park. It was released as the first single and second track of their debut album, Hybrid Theory. This song is also featured in the game Rock Band 2....
" established themselves as staples among alternative rock
Alternative rock
Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...
radio play lists during the year. Additionally, other singles from the album were featured in films such as Dracula 2000
Dracula 2000
Dracula 2000, also known internationally as Dracula 2001, is a 2000 horror film written and directed by Patrick Lussier. The film stars Gerard Butler, Christopher Plummer, Jonny Lee Miller, Justine Waddell, Omar Epps, Colleen Fitzpatrick, Jeri Ryan, and Jennifer Esposito.Dracula 2000, the...
, Little Nicky
Little Nicky
Little Nicky is a 2000 American comedy film directed by Steven Brill. It stars Adam Sandler as Nicky, one of Satan's three sons.-Plot:The story revolves around a struggle to determine which of Satan's three sons will succeed their father as ruler of Hell...
, and Valentine
Valentine (film)
Valentine is a 2001 horror film directed by Jamie Blanks, and starring Denise Richards, David Boreanaz, Marley Shelton, Jessica Capshaw, Hedy Burress, and Katherine Heigl. It is a slasher film with a Valentine's Day theme...
. Hybrid Theory won a Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance
Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance
The Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance was an award presented to recording artists at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, for works containing quality performances in the hard rock music genre...
for the song "Crawling" and was nominated for two other Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
s: Best New Artist
Grammy Award for Best New Artist
The Grammy Award for Best New Artist has been awarded since 1959. Years reflect the year in which the Grammy Awards were handed out, for records released in the previous year. The award was not presented in 1967...
and Best Rock Album
Grammy Award for Best Rock Album
The Grammy Award for Best Rock Album is an award presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for quality albums in the rock music genre...
. MTV awarded the band their Best Rock Video and Best Direction awards for "In the End
In the End
"In the End" is a song by American rock band Linkin Park. The song was released as the fourth single from their debut album Hybrid Theory....
". Through the winning of the Grammy for Best Hard Rock Performance, Hybrid Theory’s overall success had catapulted the band into mainstream
Mainstream
Mainstream is, generally, the common current thought of the majority. However, the mainstream is far from cohesive; rather the concept is often considered a cultural construct....
success.
During this time, Linkin Park received many invitations to perform on many high-profile tours and concerts including Ozzfest
Ozzfest
Ozzfest is an annual festival tour of the United States featuring performances by many heavy metal and hard rock musical groups. It was founded by Ozzy Osbourne and his wife Sharon Osbourne, both of whom also organize each yearly tour with their son Jack Osbourne...
, Family Values Tour
Family Values Tour
The Family Values Tour was created by the band Korn in 1998 to be an annual rock & rap tour.The tour began in 1998 and would take the year off in 2000, due to heavy competition from other tours, such as the Anger Management Tour and the Summer Sanitarium Tour. After a four year hiatus, the Family...
and KROQ Almost Acoustic Christmas. The band also formed its own tour, Projekt Revolution
Projekt Revolution
Projekt Revolution is a music festival hosted by Linkin Park, bringing artists of various genres of music together. Linkin Park started Projekt Revolution in the year 2002 with just one stage...
, which featured other notable artists such as Cypress Hill
Cypress Hill
Cypress Hill is an American hip hop group from South Gate, California. Cypress Hill was the first Latino hip-hop group to have platinum and multi-platinum albums, selling over 18 million albums worldwide...
, Adema
Adema
-2003–2004: Unstable, Mark Chavez's and Mike Ransom's departure:Adema's second album, Unstable, was released by Arista in August 2003. It was produced by Howard Benson, whose credits also include producing albums with P.O.D., Hoobastank and Cold....
, and Snoop Dogg
Snoop Dogg
Calvin Cordozar Broadus, Jr. , better known by his stage name Snoop Dogg, is an American rapper, record producer, and actor. Snoop is best known as a rapper in the West Coast hip hop scene, and for being one of Dr. Dre's most notable protégés. Snoop Dogg was a Crip gang member while in high school...
. Within a year’s stretch, Linkin Park had performed at over 320 concerts. The experiences and performances of the precocious band were documented in its first DVD, Frat Party at the Pankake Festival
Frat Party at the Pankake Festival
Linkin Park released their first DVD, Frat Party at the Pankake Festival, on November 20, 2001, more than one year after the release of their highly commercially successful debut album, Hybrid Theory. The release documented the band on its touring cycle to support Hybrid Theory...
, which debuted in November 2001. Now reunited with former bassist Phoenix, the band began work on a remix album, dubbed Reanimation
Reanimation
Reanimation helped the many underground hip-hop artists that it featured reach a larger audience, as well as changing the nature of the work so significantly that it could be considered an entirely new album...
, which would include works from Hybrid Theory and non-album tracks also. Reanimation debuted on July 30, 2002, featuring the likes of Black Thought
Black Thought
Tariq Trotter , better known as Black Thought, is an American hip-hop artist who is the lead MC of the Philadelphia-based hip hop group The Roots and occasional actor...
, Jonathan Davis
Jonathan Davis
Jonathan Houseman Davis is the lead vocalist and frontman for the nu metal band Korn. Davis was ranked 16th on Hit Parader 's list of "Heavy Metal's All-Time Top 100 Vocalists".-Early life:...
, Aaron Lewis
Aaron Lewis
Aaron Lewis, , is the lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist, and founding member of the rock group Staind, with whom he has released seven studio albums. He has since ventured into country music with his debut solo album, Town Line...
, and many others. Reanimation claimed the second spot on the Billboard 200
Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
, and sold nearly 270,000 copies during its debut week. Hybrid Theory is also in the RIAA's Top 100 Albums.
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. 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 MeteoraMeteora
The Metéora is one of the largest and most important complexes of Eastern Orthodox monasteries in Greece, second only to Mount Athos. The six monasteries are built on natural sandstone rock pillars, at the northwestern edge of the Plain of Thessaly near the Pineios river and Pindus Mountains, in...
in Greece, where numerous monasteries
Monastery
Monastery denotes the building, or complex of buildings, that houses a room reserved for prayer as well as the domestic quarters and workplace of monastics, whether monks or nuns, and whether living in community or alone .Monasteries may vary greatly in size – a small dwelling accommodating only...
have been built on top of the rocks. Meteora
Meteora (album)
Meteora is the second studio album by American rock band Linkin Park. It was released on March 25, 2003 through Warner Bros. Records, following Reanimation, a collaboration album which featured remixes of songs included on debut studio album Hybrid Theory...
features a mixture of the band's previous nu metal
Nu metal
Nu metal is a subgenre of heavy metal. It is a fusion genre which combines elements of heavy metal with other genres, including grunge and hip hop...
and rapcore
Rapcore
Rapcore is a subgenre of rap rock fusing vocal and sometimes instrumental elements of hip hop with punk rock .-History:...
styles with newer innovative effects, including the induction of a shakuhachi
Shakuhachi
The is a Japanese end-blown flute. It is traditionally made of bamboo, but versions now exist in ABS and hardwoods. It was used by the monks of the Fuke school of Zen Buddhism in the practice of...
(a Japanese
Music of Japan
The music of Japan includes a wide array of performers in distinct styles both traditional and modern. The word for music in Japanese is 音楽 , combining the kanji 音 with the kanji 楽...
flute made of bamboo) and other instruments. Linkin Park's second album debuted on March 25, 2003 and instantly earned worldwide recognition, going to No.1 in the US and UK, and No.2 in Australia.
Meteora sold more than 800,000 copies during its first week, and it ranked as the best selling album on the Billboard charts
Billboard charts
The Billboard charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs or albums in the United States. The results are published in Billboard magazine...
at the time. The album's singles, including "Somewhere I Belong
Somewhere I Belong
"Somewhere I Belong" is a song by American rock band Linkin Park. It was released as the first single from their second studio album Meteora and entered the top ten on the majority of the charts on which it appeared...
", "Breaking the Habit
Breaking the Habit
"Breaking the Habit" is a song by American rock band Linkin Park. It was released as the sixth and final single from their second album, Meteora. It became the fifth consecutive single from Meteora to reach #1 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart, a feat unmatched by any other artist in the...
", "Faint
Faint (song)
"Faint" is a song by Linkin Park from their second studio album Meteora. The song was released as the album's second single in mid-2003 and entered the top thirty on the majority of the charts it appeared on, including the Hot 100, in which it peaked at #48. The song reached #1 on the U.S. Modern...
", and "Numb
Numb (Linkin Park song)
"Numb" is a song by rock band Linkin Park. It was released as the third single from their second studio album, Meteora and is listed as the final track on the record. One of Linkin Park's most well known and critically acclaimed songs, "Numb" topped the Billboard Hot Modern Rock Tracks chart for 12...
", received significant radio attention. By October 2003, Meteora sold nearly three million copies. The album's success allowed Linkin Park to form another Projekt Revolution
Projekt Revolution
Projekt Revolution is a music festival hosted by Linkin Park, bringing artists of various genres of music together. Linkin Park started Projekt Revolution in the year 2002 with just one stage...
, which featured other bands and artists including, Mudvayne
Mudvayne
Mudvayne is an American heavy metal band. Their work is marked by the use of sonic experimentation, innovative album art, and elaborate visual appearance, which has included face and body paint, masks and uniforms...
, Blindside
Blindside
Blindside is a post-hardcore band from Tumba, Sweden. They formed in 1994 as Underfree and kept that name for two years before releasing their debut EP in 1996.-A Thought Crushed My Mind:...
, and Xzibit
Xzibit
Alvin Nathaniel Joiner , better known by his stage name Xzibit , is an American rapper, actor, and television host. He is known as the host of the MTV show Pimp My Ride, which brought him mainstream success...
. Additionally, Metallica
Metallica
Metallica is an American heavy metal band from Los Angeles, California. Formed in 1981 when James Hetfield responded to an advertisement that drummer Lars Ulrich had posted in a local newspaper. The current line-up features long-time lead guitarist Kirk Hammett and bassist Robert Trujillo ...
invited Linkin Park to play at the Summer Sanitarium Tour 2003, which included well-known acts such as Limp Bizkit
Limp Bizkit
Limp Bizkit is an American rock band from Jacksonville, Florida. Formed in 1995, the group's lineup consists of Fred Durst , Wes Borland , Sam Rivers , John Otto and DJ Lethal . The band achieved mainstream success with their second studio album Significant Other, released in 1999...
, Mudvayne and Deftones
Deftones
Deftones are an American alternative metal band from Sacramento, California, founded in 1988. The band consists of Chino Moreno , Stephen Carpenter , Chi Cheng , Frank Delgado , and Abe Cunningham . Currently Sergio Vega is standing in on bass while Cheng recovers from a car accident...
. The band released an album and DVD, entitled Live in Texas
Live in Texas
Live in Texas is the first live album and third DVD of American rock band Linkin Park, originally released on November 18, 2003. The band's main setlist includes songs from their studio albums Hybrid Theory and Meteora, as well as songs from their remix album Reanimation. The album managed to peak...
, which consisted of audio and video tracks of some of the band's performances in Texas during the tour. In early 2004, Linkin Park started a world tour titled the Meteora World Tour. Supporting bands on the tour included Hoobastank
Hoobastank
Hoobastank is an American rock band, best known for their 2004 hit "The Reason" and other hits "Crawling in the Dark" and "Running Away". They formed in 1994 in Agoura Hills, California, with singer Doug Robb, guitarist Dan Estrin, drummer Chris Hesse, and original bassist Markku Lappalainen. They...
, P.O.D.
P.O.D.
Payable on Death is an American Christian metal band formed in 1992. The band's line-up consists of vocalist Sonny Sandoval, drummer Wuv Bernardo, guitarist Marcos Curiel, and bassist Traa Daniels. Their Christian faith is an important part of their music.They have released seven studio albums and...
and Story of the Year
Story of the Year
Story of the Year is an American rock band formed in St. Louis, Missouri in 2000. The band was initially named 67 North but was then changed to Big Blue Monkey...
.
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". Linkin Park also received significant recognition during the 2004 Radio Music Award
Radio Music Award
The Radio Music Awards was an annual U.S. award show that honors the year's most successful songs on mainstream radio. Nominations were based on the amount of airplay recording artists receive on radio stations in various formats using chart information compiled by Mediabase.Originally conceived as...
s, winning the Artist of the Year and Song of the Year ("Numb") awards. Although Meteora was not nearly as successful as Hybrid Theory, it was the third best selling album in the United States during 2003. 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.
Side projects (2004–2006)
DJ Lethal
Leor Dimant , better known as DJ Lethal, is a turntablist and producer and member of the bands Limp Bizkit, House of Pain and La Coka Nostra.-Early life:Leor Dimant was born in Riga, Latvia, when this country was still part of the Soviet Union...
’s "State of the Art" and other work with Dead by Sunrise
Dead by Sunrise
Dead by Sunrise is an American rock band. It is the side project of Linkin Park's lead vocalist and songwriter, Chester Bennington. The band also features Amir Derakh, Ryan Shuck, Brandon Belsky, Elias Andra, and Anthony "Fu" Valcic from Julien-K and Orgy...
, while Shinoda did work with Depeche Mode
Depeche Mode
Depeche Mode are an English electronic music band formed in 1980 in Basildon, Essex. The group's original line-up consisted of Dave Gahan , Martin Gore , Andy Fletcher and Vince Clarke...
. In 2004, the band began to work with Jay-Z
Jay-Z
Shawn Corey Carter , better known by his stage name Jay-Z, is an American rapper, record producer, entrepreneur, and occasional actor. He is one of the most financially successful hip hop artists and entrepreneurs in America, having a net worth of over $450 million as of 2010...
to produce another remix album, entitled Collision Course
Collision Course (album)
Critics were divided over Collision Course, with some praising the album, while others negatively received it.David Jeffries of allmusic praised the album, calling it "awesomely fun". K.B...
. The album, which featured intermixed lyrics and background tracks from both artists' previous albums, debuted in November 2004. Shinoda also formed a new band, Fort Minor
Fort Minor
Fort Minor is a hip hop side-project of Mike Shinoda, who is better known as being a member of the American rock band Linkin Park. Shinoda's debut solo album as Fort Minor, The Rising Tied was released November 22, 2005.-History:...
, as a side project. With the aid of Jay-Z, Fort Minor released its debut album, The Rising Tied
The Rising Tied
The Rising Tied is the debut studio album of hip hop ensemble Fort Minor, the side project by Linkin Park rapper Mike Shinoda. The album was released on November 22, 2005 to critical acclaim and achieved moderate success...
, to critical acclaim. At the same time, the band's relationship with Warner Bros. Records
Warner Bros. Records
Warner Bros. Records Inc. is an American record label. It was the foundation label of the present-day Warner Music Group, and now operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of that corporation. It maintains a close relationship with its former parent, Warner Bros. Pictures, although the two companies...
was deteriorating rapidly on account of several trust and financial issues. After months of feuding, the band finally negotiated a deal in December 2005.
Linkin Park also participated in numerous charitable events, most notably raised money to benefit victims of hurricane Charley
Hurricane Charley
Hurricane Charley was the third named storm, the second hurricane, and the second major hurricane of the 2004 Atlantic hurricane season. Charley lasted from August 9 to August 15, and at its peak intensity it attained 150 mph winds, making it a strong Category 4 hurricane on the...
in 2004 and later hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was a powerful Atlantic hurricane. It is the costliest natural disaster, as well as one of the five deadliest hurricanes, in the history of the United States. Among recorded Atlantic hurricanes, it was the sixth strongest overall...
in 2005. The band donated $75,000 to the Special Operations Warrior Foundation
Special Operations Warrior Foundation
The Special Operations Warrior Foundation is an American tax-exempt 501 nonprofit organization founded in 1980 to provide college scholarships and educational counseling to the surviving children of Special Operations personnel killed in training accidents or operational missions...
in March 2004. They also helped relief efforts for the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami
2004 Indian Ocean earthquake
The 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake was an undersea megathrust earthquake that occurred at 00:58:53 UTC on Sunday, December 26, 2004, with an epicentre off the west coast of Sumatra, Indonesia. The quake itself is known by the scientific community as the Sumatra-Andaman earthquake...
victims by staging several charity concerts and setting up an additional fund called "Music for Relief". Most notably, however, the band participated at Live 8
Live 8
Live 8 was a string of benefit concerts that took place on 2 July 2005, in the G8 states and in South Africa. They were timed to precede the G8 Conference and summit held at the Gleneagles Hotel in Auchterarder, Scotland from 6–8 July 2005; they also coincided with the 20th anniversary of Live Aid...
, a series of charitable benefit concerts set up to raise global awareness. Alongside Jay-Z, the band performed on Live 8's stage in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to a global audience. The band would later be reunited with Jay-Z at the Grammy Award Ceremony 2006
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
, during which they performed "Numb/Encore", en route to winning a Grammy for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration
Grammy Award for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration
The Grammy Award for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration is an honor presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for quality songs on which rappers and singers collaborate...
. They were joined on stage by Paul McCartney
Paul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE, Hon RAM, FRCM is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. Formerly of The Beatles and Wings , McCartney is listed in Guinness World Records as the "most successful musician and composer in popular music history", with 60 gold discs and sales of 100...
who added verses from the song "Yesterday
Yesterday (song)
"Yesterday" is a song originally recorded by The Beatles for their 1965 album Help!. The song first hit the United Kingdom top 10 three months after the release of Help!. The song remains popular today with more than 1,600 cover versions, one of the most covered songs in the history of recorded...
". They would later go on to play at the 2006 Summer Sonic music festival, which was hosted by Metallica
Metallica
Metallica is an American heavy metal band from Los Angeles, California. Formed in 1981 when James Hetfield responded to an advertisement that drummer Lars Ulrich had posted in a local newspaper. The current line-up features long-time lead guitarist Kirk Hammett and bassist Robert Trujillo ...
in Japan.
Minutes to Midnight (2006–2008)
Rick Rubin
Frederick Jay "Rick" Rubin is an American record producer and the co-president of Columbia Records. Along with Russell Simmons, Rubin was the co-founder of Def Jam Records and also established American Recordings...
. Despite initially stating the album would debut sometime in 2006, the album was delayed until 2007. The band had recorded thirty to fifty songs in August 2006, when Shinoda stated the album was halfway completed. Bennington later added that the new album would stray away from its previous nu metal sound. Warner Bros. Records
Warner Bros. Records
Warner Bros. Records Inc. is an American record label. It was the foundation label of the present-day Warner Music Group, and now operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of that corporation. It maintains a close relationship with its former parent, Warner Bros. Pictures, although the two companies...
officially announced that the band’s third studio album, entitled Minutes to Midnight
Minutes to Midnight (album)
Minutes to Midnight is the third studio album by American rock band Linkin Park. Released on May 14, 2007, through Warner Bros. Records, the album debuted at number one in the United States and in 15 other countries, including the United Kingdom and Canada. The album was produced by Mike Shinoda...
, would be released on May 15, 2007 in the United States. After spending fourteen months working on the album, the band members opted to further refine their album by removing five of the original seventeen tracks. The album’s title, a reference to the Doomsday Clock
Doomsday Clock
The Doomsday Clock is a symbolic clock face, maintained since 1947 by the board of directors of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists at the University of Chicago. The closer the clock is to midnight, the closer the world is estimated to be to global disaster. , the Doomsday Clock now stands at six...
, foreshadowed the band's new lyrical themes. Minutes to Midnight sold over 625,000 copies in its first week, making it one of the most successful debut week albums in recent years. The album also took the top spot on the Billboard Charts.
The album's first single, "What I've Done
What I've Done
"What I've Done" is a song by American rock band Linkin Park. It was released as the first single from their third album, Minutes to Midnight. The song is composed in the key of G minor and is set in 4/4 time. The song was released as a radio single on April 1, 2007, as a digital download on April...
", was released on April 2, and premiered on MTV and Fuse
Fuse TV
Fuse is an American national television network dedicated exclusively to music. It features original series and specials, exclusive interviews, live concerts and video blocks....
within the same week. The single was acclaimed by listeners, becoming the top-ranked song on the Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
's Modern Rock Tracks
Modern Rock Tracks
Alternative Songs is a music chart in the United States that has appeared in Billboard magazine since September 10, 1988. It lists the 40 most-played songs on modern rock radio stations, most of which are alternative rock songs...
and Mainstream Rock Tracks
Mainstream Rock Tracks
Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks is a ranking in Billboard magazine of the most-played songs on mainstream rock radio stations, a category that includes stations that play primarily rock music. Modern rock tracks are counted in the Alternative Songs chart.This chart began with the March 21, 1981, issue...
charts. The song is also used in soundtrack for the 2007 action film, Transformers. Mike Shinoda was also featured on the Styles of Beyond
Styles of Beyond
Styles of Beyond is an underground rap group from the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles, California. The group consists of MCs Ryan Patrick Maginn and Takbir Bashir , Colton Raisin Fisher , and producer Jason Rabinowitz . They have released two LPs, one mixtape and were heavily featured on Mike...
song "Second to None" which was also included in the film. Later in the year, the band won the "Favorite Alternative Artist" in the American Music Awards
American Music Awards
-Conception:The AMAs were created by Dick Clark in 1973 to compete with the Grammys after the move of that year's show to Nashville, Tennessee led to CBS picking up the Grammy telecasts after its first two in 1971 and 1972 were broadcast on ABC...
. The band also saw success with the rest of the albums singles, "Bleed It Out
Bleed It Out
"Bleed It Out" is a song by American rock band Linkin Park. The song is released as the second single from their third studio album, Minutes to Midnight, the single was released on August 14, 2007....
", "Shadow of the Day
Shadow of the Day
"Shadow of the Day" is a song by American rock band Linkin Park. The song was released as the third single from their third album, Minutes to Midnight, on October 16, 2007...
", "Given Up
Given Up
"Given Up" is a song by Linkin Park. The song was released as the fourth single from their third studio album Minutes to Midnight. It was released on February 17, 2008 in United Kingdom as a digital download...
", and "Leave Out All the Rest
Leave Out All the Rest
"Leave Out All the Rest" is a song by Linkin Park, the song was released as the fifth and final single from their third album Minutes to Midnight. Because of the song's popularity of digital sales during the release week of the album, it charted in the Top 100 songs for that week. On the album, the...
", which were released throughout 2007 and early 2008. The band also collaborated with Busta Rhymes
Busta Rhymes
Trevor Tahiem Smith, Jr., better known by his stage name Busta Rhymes ,Smith is an American rapper, producer and actor. Chuck D of Public Enemy gave him the alias Busta Rhymes after NFL wide receiver George "Buster" Rhymes...
on his single "We Made It
We Made It (song)
"We Made It" is a promo single by rapper Busta Rhymes' featuring the rock band Linkin Park. The song was to be on Busta Rhymes's eighth studio album Back on My B.S., but was then cancelled off the tracklist because the album was released on a different label as "We Made It" was Busta Rhymes's last...
", which was released on April 29.
Linkin Park's touring and live shows have, among other things, included a performance at Live Earth Japan on July 7, 2007. and headlining Download Festival
Download Festival
The Download Festival is a three day rock music festival held annually at Donington Park, England . It usually takes place in June...
in Donington Park, England and Edgefest
Edgefest
Edgefest, a yearly outdoor rock concert festival that primarily promotes Canadian rock music, began in 1987 as a thank-you gesture to the listeners of Toronto radio station 102.1 the Edge and as a birthday party to commemorate both the station's tenth birthday, and the coinciding Canada Day...
in Downsview Park
Downsview Park
Downsview Park is a former Canadian Forces Base in the community of Downsview in Toronto, Canada. It contains about 231.5 hectares of land, of which more than 130 hectares are earmarked for traditional parkland, recreational and cultural amenities...
, Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
, Canada. The band completed touring on its fourth Projekt Revolution
Projekt Revolution
Projekt Revolution is a music festival hosted by Linkin Park, bringing artists of various genres of music together. Linkin Park started Projekt Revolution in the year 2002 with just one stage...
tour before taking up an Arena tour around the United Kingdom, visiting Nottingham
Nottingham
Nottingham is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England. It is located in the ceremonial county of Nottinghamshire and represents one of eight members of the English Core Cities Group...
, Sheffield
Sheffield
Sheffield is a city and metropolitan borough of South Yorkshire, England. Its name derives from the River Sheaf, which runs through the city. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, and with some of its southern suburbs annexed from Derbyshire, the city has grown from its largely...
and Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
, before finishing on a double night at the O2 arena
The O2 arena (London)
The O2 Arena is a multi-purpose indoor arena located in the centre of The O2, a large entertainment complex on the Greenwich peninsula in London, England.With a capacity of up to 20,000 depending on the event, it is second largest...
in London. Bennington stated that Linkin Park plans to release a follow-up album to Minutes to Midnight. However, he stated the band will first embark on a United States tour to gather inspiration for the album. In an interview with Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
, Bennington said that the band had already begun writing new material for the album, and Shinoda too stated that the album could well be released in late 2009. Mike Shinoda also announced a live CD/DVD entitled Road to Revolution: Live at Milton Keynes
Road to Revolution: Live at Milton Keynes
Road to Revolution: Live at Milton Keynes is the second live CD/DVD/BD compilation by Linkin Park. It was recorded during the band's annual Projekt Revolution festival tour at the Milton Keynes National Bowl on June 29, 2008, the same place Green Day recorded their live album Bullet in a Bible...
, which is a live video recording from the Projekt Revolution gig at the Milton Keynes Bowl
National Bowl
The National Bowl is an entertainment venue in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. The site was a former clay-pit , filled in and raised to form an amphitheatre using sub-soil excavated by the many new developments in the area and it has a current maximum capacity of 65,000...
on June 29, 2008, which was officially released on November 24, 2008.
A Thousand Suns (2008–2011)
In May 2009, Linkin Park announced they were working on a fourth studio album, which was planned to be released on 2010. Shinoda told IGNIGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
that the new album would be 'genre-busting,' while building off of elements in Minutes to Midnight. He also mentioned that the album would be more experimental and "hopefully more cutting-edge." Bennington also addressed the media to confirm that Rick Rubin
Rick Rubin
Frederick Jay "Rick" Rubin is an American record producer and the co-president of Columbia Records. Along with Russell Simmons, Rubin was the co-founder of Def Jam Records and also established American Recordings...
would return to produce the new album. The band later revealed the album would be called A Thousand Suns
A Thousand Suns
A Thousand Suns is the fourth studio album by American rock band Linkin Park. It was first released on September 14, 2010. The album was written by the band and co-produced by Linkin Park vocalist Mike Shinoda and Rick Rubin, who previously worked together to produce Minutes to Midnight...
.
While working on the new album, Linkin Park worked with successful film composer Hans Zimmer
Hans Zimmer
Hans Florian Zimmer is a German film composer and music producer. He has composed music for over 100 films, including critically acclaimed film scores for The Lion King , Crimson Tide , The Thin Red Line , Gladiator , The Dark Knight and Inception .Zimmer spent the early part of his career in the...
to produce the score for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen is a 2009 American science fiction-action film directed by Michael Bay and produced by Steven Spielberg. It is the sequel to the 2007 film Transformers and the second installment in the live-action Transformers series...
. The band released a single for the movie, entitled "New Divide
New Divide
"New Divide" is a song by American rock band Linkin Park. The song is released as a single and was recorded specifically for Michael Bay's film Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. The song serves as the film's theme, and was released as a single on May 18, 2009...
". Joe Hahn created a music video for the song, which featured clips from the film. On June 22, Linkin Park played a short set in Westwood Village after the premier of the movie. After completing work for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, the band returned to the studio to finalize their album.
On January 19, 2010, Linkin Park released a new song entitled "Not Alone" as part of a compilation from Music for Relief called Download to Donate for Haiti
Download to Donate for Haiti
Download to Donate is a program by Music for Relief, a non-profit organization established by Linkin Park in 2005 to help victims of natural disasters to help them recover from such disasters. So far, the program has released three compilations: two to support the 2010 earthquake in Haiti and one...
in support of the Haiti Earthquake crisis
2010 Haiti earthquake
The 2010 Haiti earthquake was a catastrophic magnitude 7.0 Mw earthquake, with an epicentre near the town of Léogâne, approximately west of Port-au-Prince, Haiti's capital. The earthquake occurred at 16:53 local time on Tuesday, 12 January 2010.By 24 January, at least 52 aftershocks...
. On February 10, 2010, Linkin Park released the official music video for the song on their homepage.
On April 26, the band released an app for the iPhone
IPhone
The iPhone is a line of Internet and multimedia-enabled smartphones marketed by Apple Inc. The first iPhone was unveiled by Steve Jobs, then CEO of Apple, on January 9, 2007, and released on June 29, 2007...
, iPod Touch
IPod Touch
The iPod Touch is a portable media player, personal digital assistant, handheld game console, and Wi-Fi mobile device designed and marketed by Apple Inc. The iPod Touch adds the multi-touch graphical user interface to the iPod line...
, and iPad
IPad
The iPad is a line of tablet computers designed, developed and marketed by Apple Inc., primarily as a platform for audio-visual media including books, periodicals, movies, music, games, and web content. The iPad was introduced on January 27, 2010 by Apple's then-CEO Steve Jobs. Its size and...
, a game called 8-Bit Rebellion!
8-Bit Rebellion!
8-Bit Rebellion! is a massively multiplayer online, and single player, video game released and based on the American rock band, Linkin Park for iOS...
It featured the band as playable characters, and a new song called "Blackbirds" which was unlockable by beating the game. The song was also later released as an iTunes
ITunes
iTunes is a media player computer program, used for playing, downloading, and organizing digital music and video files on desktop computers. It can also manage contents on iPod, iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad....
bonus track on A Thousand Suns.
A Thousand Suns was released on September 14. The album’s first single, "The Catalyst
The Catalyst
"The Catalyst" is a song by American rock band Linkin Park. Released on August 2, 2010, it is the first single from their fourth studio album, A Thousand Suns, which was released on September 8, 2010...
", was released on August 2. The band promoted their new album by launching a concert tour, which started in Los Angeles on September 7. Linkin Park also relied on MySpace to promote their album, releasing two additional songs, "Waiting for the End
Waiting for the End
"Waiting for the End" is a song by American rock band Linkin Park, released on October 1, 2010. It is the second single from their fourth studio album, A Thousand Suns, which was released on September 14, 2010...
" and "Blackout" on September 8. Furthermore, a documentary about the album's production, entitled A Thousand Suns: The Full Experience, was available for streaming on the band's MySpace page. On August 31, 2010, it was announced that the band would perform the single live for the first at the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards
2010 MTV Video Music Awards
The 2010 MTV Video Music Awards took place on September 12, 2010 at Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles, honoring the best music videos from the previous year...
on September 12, 2010. The venue of the debut live performance of the single was Griffith Observatory
Griffith Observatory
Griffith Observatory is in Los Angeles, California, United States. Sitting on the south-facing slope of Mount Hollywood in L.A.'s Griffith Park, it commands a view of the Los Angeles Basin, including downtown Los Angeles to the southeast, Hollywood to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest...
, an iconic location used in Hollywood movies. "Waiting for the End" was released as the second single of A Thousand Suns.
Linkin Park reached No.8 in Billboard Social 50, a chart of the most active artists on the world's leading social networking sites. In other Billboard Year-End charts, the band reached No.92 in the "Top Artists" chart, as well as A Thousand Suns reaching No.53 in the Year-End chart of the Billboard Top 200 albums and No.7 in the 2010 Year-End Rock Albums, and "The Catalyst" reaching No.40 in the Year-End Rock Songs chart.
On January 11, 2011, an updated version of Download to Donate for Haiti was launched, called Download to Donate for Haiti V2.0, with more songs to download. For the updated compilation, the band released Keaton Hashimoto's remix of "The Catalyst" from the "Linkin Park featuring YOU" contest. "Burning in the Skies
Burning in the Skies
"Burning in the Skies" is a song by American rock band Linkin Park. It was announced as the band's third single from their fourth studio album A Thousand Suns on the 20th of January 2011, and it was released on March 21....
" was released as the third official single of A Thousand Suns on March 21, 2011.
Shinoda designed two t-shirts, in which the proceeds will go to Music For Relief to help the victims of the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami
2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami
The 2011 earthquake off the Pacific coast of Tohoku, also known as the 2011 Tohoku earthquake, or the Great East Japan Earthquake, was a magnitude 9.0 undersea megathrust earthquake off the coast of Japan that occurred at 14:46 JST on Friday, 11 March 2011, with the epicenter approximately east...
disasters. Music For Relief released Download to Donate: Tsunami Relief Japan, another compilation of songs, in which the proceeds will go to Save the Children
Save the Children
Save the Children is an internationally active non-governmental organization that enforces children's rights, provides relief and helps support children in developing countries...
.
On April 13, 2011, Shinoda confirmed that the album's fourth single will be "Iridescent
Iridescent (song)
"Iridescent" is a song by American alternative rock band Linkin Park. It was announced as the band's third US and overall fourth and final single from their fourth studio album, A Thousand Suns, which was released on September 14, 2010. A music video for the song was directed by Joe Hahn, the...
". He also confirmed that there will be a new, slightly shorter version of the song, which will be part of the soundtrack of the upcoming film Transformers: Dark of the Moon, continuing the streak of Linkin Park songs being the theme songs of the Transformers films
Transformers (film series)
Transformers is an American film franchise directed by Michael Bay, and based on the toys created by Hasbro and Takara Tomy. The first film, Transformers, was released in 2007, the second film, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, in 2009, and the third film, Transformers: Dark of the Moon in 2011...
(after "What I've Done" and "New Divide"), as well as the fact that a music video will be shot for the single. The video was directed by Joe Hahn, who directed the videos for both of the previous songs.
The band were nominated for six Billboard Awards in 2011 for Top Duo/Group, Best Rock Album for A Thousand Suns, Top Rock Artist, Top Alternative Artist, Top Alternative Song for "Waiting for the End" and Top Alternative Album for A Thousand Suns, but did not win any award.
Fifth album (2011–present)
In June 2011, Bennington revealed to Kerrang!Kerrang!
Kerrang! is a UK-based magazine devoted to rock music published by Bauer Media Group. It was first published on June 6, 1981 as a one-off supplement in the Sounds newspaper...
that Linkin Park has begun working on new material for their next album. He explained, "We've been working on a new record for the past two months. The music is great and we're well ahead of where we're expecting to be. There aren't a whole lot of noises going on, but there are a lot of good songs. It will probably get a very polarized reaction. Which pleases me. As an artist, I want a reaction." The singer added that the band would be looking to tackle controversial topics on their new album, rather than the more personal subjects of their older material. "We've learned how to write serious songs and serious lyrics. We've learned how to deal with politics, faith and other things. Those are things that can get preachy really quickly, which we don't want to do. So you need to learn to talk to people and not at people", he said.
Rick Rubin will be a producer on the new album. "Typically we'll have a once-a-week meeting to go listen to the songs that they're coming up with and talk about them. For so early in the project, they are much further along than they have been on the last two albums we did. On A Thousand Suns there were still a lot of irons in the fire. We knew, 'OK, we can't do this forever. Let's leave this batch and we'll come back and address it when we start up again'", Rubin said.
In July 2011, Bennington told Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
that Linkin Park aims to produce a new album every eighteen months, and that he would be shocked if a new album did not come out in 2012. The band continues to record and produce new material even while touring. Bennington commented on Linkin Park's schedule, stating, "Touring for two years is excruciating. When we would tour for two years even the most resilient person in the band, at the end of that, was fucking miserable."
Musical style
Both Hybrid Theory and Meteora combine the alternative metalAlternative metal
Alternative metal is a genre of alternative rock and heavy metal that gained popularity in the early 1990s. Most notably, alternative metal bands are characterized by heavy guitar riffs and experimental approaches to heavy music.-Origins:...
, nu metal
Nu metal
Nu metal is a subgenre of heavy metal. It is a fusion genre which combines elements of heavy metal with other genres, including grunge and hip hop...
, and rap rock
Rap rock
Rap rock is a cross-genre fusing vocal and instrumental elements of hip hop with various forms of rock. Rap rock is often confused with rap metal and rapcore, subgenres that include heavy metal-oriented and hardcore punk-oriented bands, respectively....
sound with influences and elements from hip-hop
Hip hop music
Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...
, alternative rock
Alternative rock
Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...
, and electronica
Electronica
Electronica includes a wide range of contemporary electronic music designed for a wide range of uses, including foreground listening, some forms of dancing, and background music for other activities; however, unlike electronic dance music, it is not specifically made for dancing...
, utilizing programming and synthesizers. William Ruhlmann from Allmusic regarded it as "a Johnny-come-lately to an already overdone musical style," whereas Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
described their song "Breaking the Habit
Breaking the Habit
"Breaking the Habit" is a song by American rock band Linkin Park. It was released as the sixth and final single from their second album, Meteora. It became the fifth consecutive single from Meteora to reach #1 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart, a feat unmatched by any other artist in the...
" as "risky, beautiful art".
In Minutes to Midnight the band experimented
Experimental music
Experimental music refers, in the English-language literature, to a compositional tradition which arose in the mid-20th century, applied particularly in North America to music composed in such a way that its outcome is unforeseeable. Its most famous and influential exponent was John Cage...
with their established sound and drew influences from a wider and more varied range of genres and styles, a process Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
compares to a stage in U2
U2
U2 are an Irish rock band from Dublin. Formed in 1976, the group consists of Bono , The Edge , Adam Clayton , and Larry Mullen, Jr. . U2's early sound was rooted in post-punk but eventually grew to incorporate influences from many genres of popular music...
's work. In it, only two of the songs feature rapping, and the majority of the album can be considered alternative rock. NME
NME
The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...
magazine's Dan Silver criticized the band's approach, calling it the "sound of a band trying and failing to forge a new identity", and referring to the song "Hands Held High", a song about terrorist attacks and war, as "far and away the funniest thing you will hear all year".
The vocal interplay between Chester Bennington and Mike Shinoda plays as a major part within Linkin Park's music, with Bennington being the lead vocalist and Shinoda as the rapping
Rapping
Rapping refers to "spoken or chanted rhyming lyrics". The art form can be broken down into different components, as in the book How to Rap where it is separated into “content”, “flow” , and “delivery”...
vocalist. On Linkin Park's third album, Minutes to Midnight, Shinoda sings lead vocals on "In Between", "Hands Held High", and on the B-side "No Roads Left". On numerous songs from band's fourth album, A Thousand Suns
A Thousand Suns
A Thousand Suns is the fourth studio album by American rock band Linkin Park. It was first released on September 14, 2010. The album was written by the band and co-produced by Linkin Park vocalist Mike Shinoda and Rick Rubin, who previously worked together to produce Minutes to Midnight...
, such as the album's four singles, both Shinoda and Bennington sing. On most of the record's tracks, the band notably used electronic drumbeats along with outro drumbeats. The album has been regarded as a turning point in the band's musical career by notable critics. James Montgomery, of MTV compared the record to Radiohead
Radiohead
Radiohead are an English rock band from Abingdon, Oxfordshire, formed in 1985. The band consists of Thom Yorke , Jonny Greenwood , Ed O'Brien , Colin Greenwood and Phil Selway .Radiohead released their debut single "Creep" in 1992...
's Kid A
Kid A
Kid A is the fourth studio album by the English rock band Radiohead, released in October 2000 by the Parlophone label. A commercial success worldwide, Kid A went platinum in its first week of release in the United Kingdom. Despite the lack of an official single or music video as publicity, Kid A...
, while Jordy Kasko of Review, Rinse, Repeat likened the album to both Kid A and Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd were an English rock band that achieved worldwide success with their progressive and psychedelic rock music. Their work is marked by the use of philosophical lyrics, sonic experimentation, innovative album art, and elaborate live shows. Pink Floyd are one of the most commercially...
's landmark album The Dark Side of the Moon
The Dark Side of the Moon
The Dark Side of the Moon is the eighth studio album by English progressive rock band Pink Floyd, released in March 1973. It built on ideas explored in the band's earlier recordings and live shows, but lacks the extended instrumental excursions that characterised their work following the departure...
. Shinoda stated that he and the other band members were deeply influenced by Chuck D
Chuck D
Carlton Douglas Ridenhour , better known by his stage name, Chuck D, is an American rapper, author, and producer. He helped create politically and socially conscious rap music in the mid-1980s as the leader of the rap group Public Enemy.- Early life :Ridenhour was born in Queens, New York...
and Public Enemy. He elaborated: "Public Enemy were very three-dimensional with their records because although they seemed political, there was a whole lot of other stuff going on in there too. It made me think how three-dimensional I wanted our record to be without imitating them of course, and show where we were at creatively". One of the record's political elements is its samples of notable speeches by American political figures.
Band members
Current members- Rob Bourdon – drums (1996-present)
- Brad DelsonBrad DelsonBradford Phillip "Brad" Delson is an American guitarist, best known as the lead guitarist and one of the founding members of the Grammy Award winning rock band Linkin Park. He is also the A&R Representative for Machine Shop Recordings....
– lead guitar, backing vocals (1996-present) - Dave "Phoenix" Farrell – bass guitar, backing vocals (1996–1998, 1999, 2001-present)
- Joe HahnJoe HahnJoseph "Joe" Hahn , better known by his stage name, Mr. Hahn, is an American turntablist and director best known as the DJ and sampler for the band Linkin Park.-Personal Biography:...
– turntables, keyboard, samples, backing vocals (1996-present) - Mike ShinodaMike ShinodaMichael "Mike" Kenji Shinoda is an American musician, record producer, and artist. He is best known as the rapper, principal songwriter, keyboardist, vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the rock band Linkin Park, along with his co-frontman and lead singer Chester Bennington, and as a solo rapper in...
– vocals, rhythm guitar, keyboard, production (1996-present) - Chester BenningtonChester BenningtonChester Charles Bennington is an American musician, singer-songwriter and actor. He is best known as the lead vocalist and songwriter of the rock band Linkin Park....
– vocals (1999-present)
Former members
- Mark Wakefield – vocals (1996–1998)
Discography
Studio albums- Hybrid TheoryHybrid TheoryHybrid Theory is the debut album by American rock band Linkin Park, released on October 24, 2000 through Warner Bros. Records. The album was a huge commercial success, having sold over 10 million units in the United States alone as of 2010 and peaking at number two on the Billboard 200 while also...
(2000) - MeteoraMeteora (album)Meteora is the second studio album by American rock band Linkin Park. It was released on March 25, 2003 through Warner Bros. Records, following Reanimation, a collaboration album which featured remixes of songs included on debut studio album Hybrid Theory...
(2003) - Minutes to MidnightMinutes to Midnight (album)Minutes to Midnight is the third studio album by American rock band Linkin Park. Released on May 14, 2007, through Warner Bros. Records, the album debuted at number one in the United States and in 15 other countries, including the United Kingdom and Canada. The album was produced by Mike Shinoda...
(2007) - A Thousand SunsA Thousand SunsA Thousand Suns is the fourth studio album by American rock band Linkin Park. It was first released on September 14, 2010. The album was written by the band and co-produced by Linkin Park vocalist Mike Shinoda and Rick Rubin, who previously worked together to produce Minutes to Midnight...
(2010)
See also
- List of awards and nominations received by Linkin Park
- List of best-selling albums
- List of best-selling albums in the United States
- List of best-selling music artists
Literature
- Saulmon, Greg. Linkin Park. Contemporary Musicians and Their Music. New York: Rosen Pub. Group, 2007. ISBN 1-4042-0713-9.
- Baltin, Steve. From The Inside: Linkin Park's Meteora. California: Bradson Press, 2004. ISBN 0-9603574-1-6.