Linkin Park

Brad Delson, Michael Shinoda, and Robert Bourdon effectively started Linkin Park while attending high school in Southern California, but the band wasn't complete until Shinoda met Joe Hahn at art school and Chester Bennington was brought in to replace original singer Mark Wakefield. For a long time, they struggled for recognition, changing their name from Xero to Hybrid Theory to Linkin Park but a gig at LA's famous Whiskey Club persuaded the Warner label to sign them. Their enlightened combination of driving hard rock, samples, and electronica made a big impact and their 2000 debut album Hybrid Theory sold nearly five million copies in its first year. The album included the hit singles “In the End,” ‘One Step Closer,” “Crawling,” and “Papercut” and earned them three Grammy Award nominations. Their second album, Meteora (2003), was another worldwide success and hit the top of the charts in the US, Austria, Germany, Ireland, New Zealand, Switzerland, and the UK. Minutes to Midnight was released in 2007 and hit the number 1 spot in over 10 countries.  The first single, “What I've Done,” made a big impact on the charts and was used in the action film Transformers. After the success of their song on the Transformers soundtrack, Linkin Park worked with composer Hans Zimmer on the soundtrack to the sequel Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. At the same time, they put the finishing touches to their fourth album A Thousand Suns (2010), which saw the band nominated for six Billboard Awards. The albums Living Things (2012) and The Hunting Party (2014) were international successes and were followed by 2017’s One More Light.  On July 20, 2017, Chester Bennington was found dead in his home after an apparent suicide. The band's scheduled North America tour was cancelled, and the band was immediately put on hold. The group’s legacy was celebrated by reissues and collections including 2024’s Papercuts (Singles Collection 2000-2023), which included their best-known songs plus the rare fan club-only track “Qwerty”.  The announcement of the band's return in 2024 is followed by the release of the album From Zero, which marks the arrival of singer Emily Armstrong and drummer Colin Brittain.