Recognized for their adaption of the nu metal genre into a radio-friendly style in Hybrid Theory and Meteora, the band moved away from this and explored a variety of other genres in their latest studio album, Minutes to Midnight. The album topped the Billboard Charts and had the third best debut week of any album that year. They are also known for their several collaborations, most notably with rapper Jay-Z in their mash-up album Collision Course, and many other artists on Reanimation.
Linkin Park is a six-piece Californian nu metal band like Korn, Skid Row, Limp Bizkit, Staind and Orgy.
The band saw its beginnings in emcee/vocalist Mike Shinoda's small bedroom studio, where he and Delson recorded the band's first material in 1996. The two had attended high school together, where they met the band's drummer, Rob Bourdon. Shinoda hooked up with DJ Joseph Hahn while studying illustration at Art Center College in Pasadena. Meanwhile, attending UCLA, Delson shared an apartment with bassist Phoenix, who left the band after college and returned a year later. At this point, they named themselves Xero and recorded several demo tracks. They never got signed, and the project floundered. Then Shinoda decided to hire a vocalist, and put out an ad. They got Chester Bennington, a transplanted Arizona native who started making records when he was 16. "When I was two, I used to run around singing Foreigner songs--there's tapes of me doing that...Since I learned how to talk I've been telling everybody I was gonna grow up to be a singer." laughs Bennington.
The band called itself Hybrid Theory after the addition of Bennington (The idea being that they were a hybrid of rock and rap), however, due to a copyright issue with a band called Hybrid, they were forced to change their name. Some discarded ideas (serious or not) were Clear (the band's favorite), Probing Lagers (Which they thought was the lamest), Ten PM Stocker (Because they would record every night at 10 pm at a place on Stocker Street) and Platinum Lotus Foundation. Eventually, they settled on Lincoln Park, suggested by Bennington because after band practice he would have to drive past there to get home. The domain name LincolnPark.com was taken and would be too expensive to buy, so they changed the spelling to Linkin Park and took from that their band name.
After being signed to Warner Brothers in 1999 their first album, 2000. It was the top-selling album in the United States and New Zealand in 2001, with the hit singles "One Step Closer", "In the End", and "Crawling". The album is notable for its absence of profanity, in contrast to many other nu metal bands' songs.
Linkin Park were part of the Ozzfest in 2001, touring along side Marilyn Manson, Slipknot, Papa Roach, and Disturbed
Linkin Park have created their own tour - Projekt: Revolution, and on it have toured with Cypress Hill, Adema, DJ Z-Trip Xzibit, Mudvayne and Blindside.
In 2003 Linkin Park joined forces with fellow nu-metal band Limp Bizkit and Metallica for the Summer Sanitarium Tour 2003. From this tour, Linkin Park released a new record, Live in Texas, a live album containing tracks from Hybrid Theory and Meteora, recorded in the arena broadcast at Dallas, Texas.
In 2004, Linkin Park created the Meteora World Tour. This tour included Linkin Park, P.O.D., Hoobastank, and Story of the Year.
In 2004, Linkin Park was touring with Snoop Dogg, The Used, KoЯn, and Less Than Jake on the main stage, and No Warning, Ghostface, Funeral for a Friend, M.O.P., and Downset on the second stage as part of Projekt Revolution 2004. They also had a travelling DJ, Z-Trip with them, along with Irvin the Urban Action Figure.
On November 30, 2004, Linkin Park released Collision Course, a collaboration with rapper Jay-Z featuring rap-style remixes ("mash-ups") of songs from Meteora and Hybrid Theory using lyrics from Jay-Z's repertoire. Collision Course debuted at #1 in the US, but peaked at #17 in the UK. In the Netherlands Collision Course topped the charts at 7th place. Their first Collision Course hit single, Numb/Encore, reached #1 at the Free Record Shop Download Charts in the Netherlands.
On the eve of its initial public offering in May 2005, Linkin Park demanded to be released from its contract with Warner Brothers Music on the grounds of a lack of confidence. The band is in negotiations with the label over a new record contract. Linkin Park still has four albums outstanding on its 2000 record contract. [1]
Linkin Park is currently writing and recording a new album, set to be released in 2006 (although work has been stopped due to the contract re-negotiations). Mike Shinoda is also in the process of releasing a hip-hop side project called "The Rising Tied" under the moniker Fort Minor. It reportedly features several underground rappers, including Gift of Gab.
On July 2, 2005 Linkin Park performed in Live 8 at Philadelphia, USA, performing part of their set with Jay-Z.
