Linkin Park

The biggest-selling act to emerge from the nu-metal scene, Linkin Park outlasted all of their peers thanks to an experimental streak which saw them tackle everything from hip-hop and ambient electronica to hardcore and film composing. Rapper and multi-instrumentalist Mike Shinoda, lead guitarist Brad Delson, bassist Dave 'Phoenix' Farrell, turntablist Joe Hahn and drummer Rob Bourdon first began performing together under the guise of Xero in 1996, before inviting vocalist Chester Bennington to join the fold three years later. After changing their name to Linkin Park, the group signed to Warner Bros. and released their first studio effort, Hybrid Theory in 2000. Showcasing Bennington and Shinoda's intriguing vocal interplay and a wealth of strong pop melodies, the record immediately set them apart from the rest of the nu-metal crowd and went onto sell an astonishing 28 million copies worldwide, spawn a No.2 hit in the shape of "In the End" and pick up three Grammy nominations. The band sustained their momentum with a 2002 remix album, Reanimation, and the launch of their very own festival, Projekt Revolution, before scoring their first US number one with 2003's heavier-sounding Meteora. The group then further embraced their hip-hop leanings in 2004 by teaming up with Jay Z for Collision Course, a mash-up collection which became only the second chart-topping E.P. in Billboard 200 history. Produced by Rick Rubin, 2007's Minutes to Midnight gave the band another Top 10 hit with their "Transformers" (2007) theme "What I've Done," and they aligned themselves with the robot franchise again two years later when they collaborated with composer Hans Zimmer to score sequel "Revenge of the Fallen" (2009). A Thousand Suns, an ambitious concept album about human fears heavily inspired by ambient electronica, received some of the strongest reviews of their career but divided their audience on its 2010 release. However, the band no doubt placated some of their more sceptical fans when they returned to their rap-metal roots for their fourth consecutive number one, Living Things, in 2012 and released a second remix collection, Recharged, a year later. Following a period in which Bennington also served as frontman for Stone Temple Pilots, Linkin Park made another surprising move in 2014 when they worked with the likes of Tom Morello, Daron Malakian and Rakim on a '90s 'Hardcore-Punk-Thrash' throwback, The Hunting Party. Linkin Park released their seventh studio album, One More Light, in May 2017, but its release was overshadowed when lead singer Chester Bennington committed suicide on July 20, 2017.