Linkin Park Biography

Linkin Park’s debut album Hybrid Theory was the best-selling album in America for the year 2001, and their special brand of metal, rock and hip-hop made them an enduring act for the next 16 years.

Members of the band included vocalist Chester Bennington (born March 20, 1976), guitarist Brad Delson (b. December 1, 1977), emcee Mike Shinoda (b. February 11, 1977), electronics specialist Joe Hahn (b. March 15, 1977), drummer Rob Bourdon (b. January 20, 1979), and bassist David “Phoenix” Farrell (b. February 8, 1977).

The group was formed in 1996 under the name Xero; the name later was changed to Hybrid Theory and finally Linkin Park. The album Hybrid Theory, released in 2000, included the singles “One Step Closer,” “In the End” and “Crawling.” Collision Course, their 2005 collaboration with rapper Jay-Z, yielded the hits “Izzo/In the End” and “Numb/Encore,” the latter a 2006 Grammy winner. Their other albums include Meteora (2003), Minutes to Midnight (2007), A Thousand Suns (2010), Living Things (2012), The Hunting Party (2014) and One More Light (2017).

Chester Bennington died in July of 2017, an apparent suicide; a maid found his body at his home on July 20, 2017.