Linkin Park

Linkin Park’s 2000 debut, Hybrid Theory, became an RIAA Diamond-certified album and turned the Agoura Hills, California band into an international rock success. Formed in 1996, the group fused heavy metal and hip-hop in its early work, with Mike Shinoda’s rap-influenced vocals and production, Chester Bennington’s lead singing, Brad Delson’s guitar, Joe Hahn’s turntables and sampling, Dave Farrell’s bass, and Rob Bourdon’s drums forming the core of its sound.

Hybrid Theory arrived at the height of nu metal’s commercial rise. Its singles “One Step Closer,” “Crawling,” and “In the End” received heavy MTV exposure and charted strongly on the US Mainstream Rock chart; “In the End” reached No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100. The follow-up, Meteora (2003), continued that success. By the end of the decade, Linkin Park had become one of rock’s most successful acts, though its records did not remain fixed to the rap-metal approach of its first two albums.

Minutes to Midnight (2007) marked a stylistic shift, followed by the more electronic A Thousand Suns (2010). Living Things (2012) brought together elements heard across the band’s earlier releases. The group returned to a heavier alternative metal and rock sound on The Hunting Party (2014), then moved toward pop and pop rock on One More Light (2017). Across those changes, Linkin Park sold more than 100 million records worldwide and won two Grammy Awards, seven American Music Awards, four Billboard Music Awards, four MTV Video Music Awards, 10 MTV Europe Music Awards, and three World Music Awards.

Bennington died by suicide in July 2017, after which the band entered a seven-year hiatus. Bourdon later chose to leave the group. In September 2024, Linkin Park announced its return with vocalist Emily Armstrong and drummer Colin Brittain joining Shinoda, Delson, Hahn, and Farrell. The resulting eighth studio album, From Zero (2024), returned to aspects of the band’s earlier sound while incorporating elements from its previous records. The current lineup consists of Shinoda, Delson, Hahn, Farrell, Armstrong, and Brittain.