Linkin Park

Formed in 1996 as Xero, the group first changed their name to Hybrid Theory and then to Linkin Park – in homage to Santa Monica’s Lincoln Park. After landing a contract with Warner Bros. Records in the late 90s they began work on their debut album, which they decided to name after their previous incarnation.

Hybrid Theory was released on 24^th October 2000 and was an instant, phenomenal success. It reached number two on the Billboard 200 and eventually went on to sell ten million copies in the US – and over 29 million copies worldwide (making it the second biggest selling album of the decade, behind The Beatles’ 1). It produced four hit singles in total: the US number two smash hit In the End, the Grammy Award-winning Crawling and the UK Top 30 releases Papercut and One Step Closer.

The group’s follow-up album Meteora was released in March 2003. Selling over ten million copies worldwide, the album reached number one on the Billboard 200 and also became the US Modern Rock Tracks chart’s most successful album ever. A total of six singles were released from the album, including the US number eleven hit Numb and the UK Top 40 singles Somewhere I Belong, Faint and Breaking the Habit.

Linkin Park’s third studio album Minutes to Midnight was released in May 2007 and again shot to number one in the US, the UK, Canada, Australia and more than a dozen other countries around the world. It produced a total of five singles: What I’ve Done, Bleed It Out, Shadow of the Day, Given Up and New Divide.

The group’s fourth studio album, A Thousand Suns, is due for release in September 2010.