Artist

Linkin Park

Formed in Agoura Hills, California, 1996 8 studio albums 5 dives so far

Three Agoura High School friends started a band in 1996 and called it Xero. By 2000 they’d renamed it twice, first Hybrid Theory, then Linkin Park, after a park in Santa Monica, and released a debut that did the kind of numbers bands chase their whole careers. Hybrid Theory was the best-selling album in the US the following year, and the best-selling debut anyone had put out since Guns N’ Roses in 1987. Over 27 million copies worldwide. They were the biggest thing nu-metal produced, and they spent the next decade refusing to stay nu-metal, electronic turns, pop turns, a frontman who could scream a chorus and break your heart in the same line.

That frontman, Chester Bennington, died on July 20, 2017. The band stopped.

Then, in 2024, it didn’t stay stopped. Linkin Park returned with a new co-vocalist and drummer and a new album, From Zero, still active, still arguing with what they’re supposed to sound like. Start at the beginning, with the record that carries their old name.

Worth knowing

The voice that defined the band auditioned by mail. Chester Bennington was in Arizona, the band in LA; he sang over their instrumental demos, mailed the tapes back, and got the job without ever being in the room. The frontman arrived as a package in the post.