Linkin Park is one of the most famous rock bands on the planet. Formed in 1996 under the name "Xero", it is still one of the flagships of rock music, and not only in America. This article will tell about the formation of the team, about its members, albums.
"Xero" (Xero)
A team with the same name was assembled by two boys from the same class: Mike Shinoda and Brad Delson, who are now part of Linkin Park. There were six people in the group. After the first setbacks related to the search for labels that would like to sign a contract with a little-known band, Ksero left the soloist and one of the musicians left for other projects.
After a long search for a new vocalist, they found in Arizona. His name was Chester Bennington. After meeting in absentia on the phone and listening to demos with the voice of a potential lead singer, the group invited Chester to join them. So there was a team called Hybrid Theory.
Under this name, the group did not last long, since an electronic group with the same name already existed, and wanted to file a lawsuit regarding plagiarism. Then Chester proposed to name the team Linkin Park.
In general, the name was originally conceived as "Lincoln Park" - in honor of the famous politician. But in English, the surname Lincoln is written as Linkin, because the group received this name. The composition of Linkin Park with a photo is presented below.
First album and first success
An album called Hybrid Theory was released in 1999. Apparently, the guys did not forget how they were almost condemned for using this phrase in the name of the team, so they decided to "recoup" using the album. The young team was waiting for a real triumph.
This album was published in a circulation of thirty million and the entire circulation was sold. A Grammy Award was received for the Crawling song in the category "Best Hard Rock Performance". The clip, which was shot for the song In the End, was broadcast on EmTV and received an award as "Best Video Clip of the Year." The group took part in many rock festivals in America and gave more than three hundred concerts in a year.
Meteora
This name was received by the second album of the group, released in 2003. The composition of Linkin Park did not undergo any changes - in fact, until the death of lead singer Chester Bennington, the composition will remain stable.
This album has become one of the most successful in the history of the group. Popular chart Modern Rock Tracks called this album the best in the history of alternative rock. The Numb song from this album became the most popular in the United States and topped the chart, becoming the song of the year. Album sales were also on top: about six million were sold in the United States, and more than twenty in the rest of the world. Instrumental track Session was put to the vote in the nomination for "Best Instrumental Rock Performance" of 2003 for the Grammy Award. This album was the last to be released in the nu metal genre.
Linkin Park Group: roster (2004)
The members of the team, with the exception of the lead singer Chester, gathered in 1996. It:
- Mike Shinoda - is the second vocalist, guitarist, keyboard player of the band; also engaged in art, is a graphic designer.
- Brad Delson - guitarist of the group; received a bachelor of arts degree.
- David Michael Farrell is a bass player, although he owns many instruments, including keyboards and violin.
- Robert Bourdon is the drummer of the band.
- Joe Han is the group's DJ and backing vocals; He is also the one who thinks through the music videos of the group, works on graphics and directing.
Above is the entire Linkin Park group with photos that has not changed for about twenty years. We'll talk about the band's vocalist, Chester Bennington below.
Face and name
The legendary lead singer in which Linkin Park became the way we know him. Without detracting from the merits of the other members of the group, it is worth recognizing that it was the bright and charismatic leader who made the team the leader in many charts and one of the most famous "rock bands" around the world.
The musician was born March 20, 1976 in the small town of Phoenix, which is located in the US state of Arizona. The boy's father served in the police, his mother worked in the hospital. The music of little Chester began to be attracted from childhood - he "listened to the holes" Depeche Mode and Stone Temple Pilots.
After Chester turned eleven, his parents split up. The boy stayed with his father, with whom relations developed very badly. Heavy childhood memories tormented the soloist for the rest of his life: poor company, first drugs, alcohol and unsuccessful sexual experience, humiliation, and sometimes real bullying by peers who were bigger and stronger ...
Perhaps the only outlet at that time was music and painting. A little later, after graduation, Chester will work as a waiter. He will recall this period of his life as follows: "Only work and music forced me to get up in the morning - I did not want to do anything at all, I was so tired of everyone."
In 1993, he began to sing in the group Gray Daze, which was very popular for the hometown of Phoenix, but Chester did not work out there. In the late nineties, quarreling with the musicians of the band, he left in search of a new project.
Appearing in a group that was originally called XERO, it was Chester who proposed renaming it Linkin Park. A new band with a new vocalist and new songs just soared to the top of the charts around the world.
Chester Bennington with his signature vocals, became the face of the new team. Combining various styles of rock music, electro and hip-hop in his work, the group became very popular. Bennington himself was engaged in one or two projects that did not become popular and did not have much success with both critics and ordinary listeners.
In 1996, he married a girl named Samantha Olit. The young did not even have money for wedding rings, so they did tattoos on their ring fingers. A few years later, in 2002, they had a son named Draven. But even the birth of a son could not save the family - the couple broke up when Chester's name became a cult for millions of rock lovers. Drugs, alcohol, big money - all this broke the relationship.
Almost immediately after the divorce, the lead singer of Linkin Park married the playboy magazine model Talinda Bentley. The girl gave birth to three children, a couple adopted two more.
Album Minutes to Midnight
This album was released in 2007 and immediately received a lot of reviews - from positive to sharply negative. The group moved away from the style in which it played before. The new album was very different from the previous two, and that is what very often reproached the musicians. The group itself stated that it was this style that they would like to play.
In September 2008, the group became the winner of the EmTV Channel in the nomination "Best Rock Clip". In the same year, a disc was released with a high-quality recording of one of the concerts of the tour, which the group undertook after the release of the album.
Songs from this album sounded in the films "Twilight" and "Transformers".
Further musical activity of the group
After the album Minutes to Midnight was released, the band almost every year releases new albums or singles. As the participants themselves said, while they were preparing to record the album, about one hundred and fifty songs were written. Of the total volume, nineteen were initially selected, and then twelve, which were included in the album. Now the musicians worked on all the rest of the material.
Many directors wanted Linkin Park music to sound in their films. The sound of all parts of "Transformers" was written precisely by LP. The musicians themselves starred in films such as "Saw", "Adrenaline" (and in two parts) and "Artifact".
Style
A very successful mixture of Chester’s unusual vocals and Mike Shinoda’s recitative, heavy rock and lyrical music - all this makes the group original, unlike the others.
For example, the Phoenix bass player says: “Let each of us have very different styles, we try to make it sound as harmonious as possible. And it seems to me that everything works out for us - judging by the albums we write, and you - listen. "
Shinoda told how he makes the group’s notes: “I write each separately, and then, on computers, I get everything to sound very harmonious, complementing each other, but not interfering. It takes countless hours, but the result is always worth it” .
“We write about emotions that overwhelm a person,” says the same Mike Shinoda. “We write about the routine, we write about how to get out of it. These are songs that will“ catch ”each of you. And when the text is combined with high-quality music - it turns out very cool. "
The death of Chester Bennington and the band's future plans
On July 20, 2017, the whole world was shocked by the news - the leader of the legendary rock band Chester Bennington committed suicide. He hanged himself at home a few hours before a group photo shoot was scheduled. It was a real shock for everyone - the group was at the peak of popularity, new songs were written, concerts were planned, but, apparently, the soloist could not overcome everything that had tormented him since childhood - fears, complexes that were expressed through addiction to alcohol and drugs. An empty whiskey bottle was found in the musician’s room.
Another fact: the singer hanged himself on the birthday of his very close friend Chris Cornell. A few months earlier, the second also committed suicide.
Hundreds and thousands of condolences came over the group’s email about Chester’s death. Many musicians, critics and ordinary listeners mourned because of the loss. Together with Chester, a whole milestone in the history of not only the Linkin Park collective, but also of world rock music, was left.
The composition of Linkin Park has not changed at the moment, with the exception of the deceased soloist. Now the musicians are preparing for concerts of memory.
Interesting Facts
The lead singer of the band, Chester Bennington, was a true fan of tattoos - he had almost twenty of them all over his body. On the lower back is the name of the group, which was filled to him in honor of the fact that her first album was one of the most successful in the world at that time.
The group released two applications for iPhones, passing which, as awards, you can get exclusive singles of the team.
At a concert in Moscow, the team first held a flash mob, which was later repeated in the United States.
Linkin Park loves to play basketball. Once Chester broke an ankle during the game, which even forced to interrupt the tour.
The composition of Linkin Park (2017), despite the bereavement, will continue musical activity, possibly with a new lead singer.