CHESTER BENNINGTON
Early life
Bennington was born in Phoenix, Arizona. He took interest in music at a young age, citing Depeche Mode and Stone Temple Pilots as early inspirations. Bennington's parents separated in the late 1980s, while he was still a child. He was sexually abused during his youth, and later struggled with cocaine and methamphetamine addictions. Bennington eventually overcame his drug addiction, and would go on to denounce drug use in future interviews. He worked at a Burger King restaurant before starting his career as a professional musician.
Professional career
Before joining Linkin Park, Bennington was a vocalist in Grey Daze, a now defunct grunge band from Phoenix, Arizona. He left Grey Daze in 1998, but struggled to find another band to play in. After nearly quitting his musical career altogether, Jeff Blue, then the vice president of A&R at Zomba Music in Los Angeles, offered Bennington an audition with Linkin Park. Bennington quit his day job, and took his family to California, where he had a successful audition with Linkin Park, who were then called “Hybrid Theory”. Bennington and Mike Shinoda, the band’s other vocalist, made significant progress together, but failed to find a record deal. After facing numerous rejections, Jeff Blue, now a vice president of A&R at Warner Bros., intervened again to help the band sign with Warner Bros. Records.
Delson graduated from Agoura High School in 1995 and formed Xero with Mike Shinoda, which would later become Linkin Park. He graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles with a degree in communications, but decided to forgo law school to pursue a career with Linkin Park.
While in college, (he shared a college room with Dave Farrell) Delson had to intern with a member of the music industry as a part of his career. He ended up working for Jeff Blue, an A&R representative at Warner Bros. Records. He told Blue about his band and in return for giving him demos to listen to he was offered constructive criticism. Blue is the man who found Linkin Park's current lead vocalist, Chester Bennington.
Before forming Xero with Mark Wakefield, Delson's first instrument was the trumpet. His first band was called the Pricks, and he later played in a band called Relative Degree with his fellow Linkin Park bandmate Rob Bourdon. He met and roomed with bandmate Dave Farrell, better known as Phoenix, at UCLA.
Delson can usually be seen wearing a very large pair of headphones on stage. The headphones are designed by Shinoda and himself and change with every Linkin Park release. Delson has eluded to an exact reason for them, but he has admitted it channels him into his own personal "matrix" while performing. He won't divulge to what this "matrix" is in detail. Delson usually does not give a serious answer as to why he wears the headphones, with answers such as "If I tell you, I'll have to kill you." In a recent interview, Mike Shinoda said that Brad wears shooting range headphones for hearing protection. Then he gives them to Mike who then makes sticker designs which go on them.
Delson has been known for his anti-social behavior on occasions. In high school, he used to dye his hair a variety of colors and in earlier days of the band he generally kept it shaved. Recently, Delson has been seen sporting an afro, which is also seen on the front cover for Minutes to Midnight.
Philanthropy
In 2005, Brad signed on as an official supporter of Little Kids Rock, a nonprofit organization that provides free musical instruments and free lessons to children in public schools throughout the United States. Brad has personally delivered instruments to children in the program and sits on the organization's board of directors as an honorary member.
Guitar playing style
He has been criticized for playing simple guitar parts and never performing solos. He has been lieing by saying that he "doesn't like to show off," giving reason to the fact soloing is a rare act for him. He has explained that this is due to the nature of the band, and that he tries to make his guitar playing sound like a keyboard or strings to try to fit in with the hip hop and electronic sounds of the band.
In the summer of 2006, Linkin Park performed at the Summer Sonic Festival hosted by Metallica. It was there that the band debuted a new song called QWERTY in which Delson stunned fans by deftly playing the heaviest riff the band has ever written. Another song that has a heavy riff is called A.06. It is not on any albums but is on LPU2. In the more synth-rock driven album, Minutes to Midnight, there are more complex guitar parts and solos by Delson. The fastest is in the song, "In Pieces", and another is a one-minute-long solo in "The Little Things Give You Away". Now, whenever Linkin Park performs Faint live, there is an extended version with Brad playing another fast guitar solo.
DAVID MICHAEL FARRELL
Joe Hahn, often credited as Mr. Hahn, is a director and musician best known as the turntablist for the American band Linkin Park. Hahn joined Linkin Park (then called Xero) in 1996 as the band's DJ. Since then, he has directed music videos for most singles of his band, with the exceptions of "One Step Closer", "Crawling" and "Faint". He is referenced to as Mr. Hahn at the beginning of "Cure for the Itch" from "Hybrid Theory". He has also directed videos for Static-X, Story of the Year, Xzibit, X-ecutioners and Alkaline Trio.
In 2005 to 2006, while bandmates Chester Bennington and Mike Shinoda were busy with side projects, Hahn shot a short film called The Seed in Los Angeles, California and has premiered it at the Pusan International Film Festival. Hahn also appeared with a minor role in a short film by Filip Engström called Little Pony. In 2005, Hahn opened a retail concept store and brand Suru, located on the infamous Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles.
Hahn was also featured on the Fort Minor songs "Slip Out the Back" and "Move On" (a Fort Minor Militia exclusive), tracks produced by his Linkin Park bandmate Shinoda. In both tracks, Hahn does some scratching in the outro.
On the new album Minutes To Midnight, Joe Hahn contributes more to programming with his sound effects board. The only songs he uses turntables in Minutes To Midnight are the minor roles in "What I've Done," "In Pieces," and "The Little Things Give You Away."
Early lifeBennington was born in Phoenix, Arizona. He took interest in music at a young age, citing Depeche Mode and Stone Temple Pilots as early inspirations. Bennington's parents separated in the late 1980s, while he was still a child. He was sexually abused during his youth, and later struggled with cocaine and methamphetamine addictions. Bennington eventually overcame his drug addiction, and would go on to denounce drug use in future interviews. He worked at a Burger King restaurant before starting his career as a professional musician.
Professional career
Before joining Linkin Park, Bennington was a vocalist in Grey Daze, a now defunct grunge band from Phoenix, Arizona. He left Grey Daze in 1998, but struggled to find another band to play in. After nearly quitting his musical career altogether, Jeff Blue, then the vice president of A&R at Zomba Music in Los Angeles, offered Bennington an audition with Linkin Park. Bennington quit his day job, and took his family to California, where he had a successful audition with Linkin Park, who were then called “Hybrid Theory”. Bennington and Mike Shinoda, the band’s other vocalist, made significant progress together, but failed to find a record deal. After facing numerous rejections, Jeff Blue, now a vice president of A&R at Warner Bros., intervened again to help the band sign with Warner Bros. Records.
Despite having prodigious success in the early 2000s, Bennington has had personal problems outside of the limelight. He suffered a severe spider bite while touring with the OzzFest in 2001, which caused his arm to swell. Bennington was plagued with poor health during the making of Meteora, and struggled to attend some of the album’s record sessions He fell ill during the summer of 2003, and eventually underwent surgery Bennington’s relationship with his first wife, Samantha, also declined during his years with Linkin Park, leading to their divorce in 2005
Personal life
Bennington married his first wife, Samantha, on October 31, 1996. They had one child, named Draven Sebastian, who was born on April 19, 2002. After his divorcing his first wife, Bennington married Talinda Bentley, a former Playboy model, whom he has since had a child with, named Tyler Lee. Bennington made a cameo in the film Crank. He lives with them in a 6,000-square-foot house in Orange County when he is not on tour. He is also an avid tattoo enthusiast. In addition to sporting many tattoos and piercings all over his body, he has done work with Club Tattoo, a tattoo parlor in Tempe, Arizona. The parlor has received recognition from many magazines such as, College Affair and Skateboard Mag, while also spawning an art show in New York City.
ROB BOURDON
Personal life
Bennington married his first wife, Samantha, on October 31, 1996. They had one child, named Draven Sebastian, who was born on April 19, 2002. After his divorcing his first wife, Bennington married Talinda Bentley, a former Playboy model, whom he has since had a child with, named Tyler Lee. Bennington made a cameo in the film Crank. He lives with them in a 6,000-square-foot house in Orange County when he is not on tour. He is also an avid tattoo enthusiast. In addition to sporting many tattoos and piercings all over his body, he has done work with Club Tattoo, a tattoo parlor in Tempe, Arizona. The parlor has received recognition from many magazines such as, College Affair and Skateboard Mag, while also spawning an art show in New York City.
ROB BOURDON
Rob was born in Calabasas, California and now lives in Los Angeles. He grew up in the same town as the members of Incubus.
Rob started to play the drums at age ten after seeing an Aerosmith concert. His mother was the girlfriend of Joey Kramer, Aerosmith's drummer, so Bourdon was able to go backstage and see the entire production and Kramer also gave him a kick pedal. In his early teen years, Bourdon played in bands with his friends. It was around that time that he met his current Linkin Park bandmate, Brad Delson, and they played together for about a year in a band called Relative Degree. Their goal was to play at the Roxy Theatre, and, after achieving their goal with a sell-out show, Relative Degree eventually broke up.
Bourdon wears Puma racecar driving shoes to get a better feel for the drum pedals and he says that it gives him a much better control of the pedals. He is said to be somewhat of a perfectionist. Rob's hobbies include playing the piano (although he has never done so for a Linkin Park recording) and surfing.
He also said that the song 'Easier to Run' was the most difficult to play as he had to approach the drums very differently.
It is said that Linkin Park's upcoming third studio album will make use of standard wooden drums in addition/comparison to triggers which were used in the previous albums. Photos of the drum machines to be used for the record have surfaced via Joe Hahn's personal SlamXHype blog.
Rob is considered by many fans to be one of the member that has changed his sound the most for Minutes To Midnight. The variety of drum sounds in the album is greatly commented upon by fans.
In late 2006, Chester Bennington of Linkin Park said on Tattoo Stories that his bandmates Rob and Brad didn't have any tattoos for religious reasons. Both are actively of the Jewish faith.
He once dated actress Shiri Appleby.
He has dated actress Vanessa Lee Evigan since 2001.
His 25th birthday was featured on an episode of iTunes' LPTV. On January 20, 2004, Linkin Park played a show in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and the band can be seen joking around backstage and saying that it is Rob's twentieth birthday. This caused some confusion among viewers.
Rob's favorite song to play is In The End.
Equipment:
Drums (Gretsch Projekt Revolution kit):14X5 Snare Drum22X16 Bass Drum18X16 Floor Tom16X13 Floor Tom10X8 High-Tom12X10 Mid-Tom
Cymbals (Zildjian):14" A-New Beat hi-hats14" A-Custom Mastersound hi-hats [Changes between hi hats live]18" A-Custom Projection Crash10" A-Custom Splash19" A-Custom Projection Crash21" A-Custom Projection Ride20" Oriental China "Trash"14" ZXT Trashformer
Others:
Electronics: Pintech Pads(to the left of hi-hats)
Hardware: Gibraltar cage/drum supports
Heads: Various Remo Heads
Sticks: Vater 5B (Hickory with wood tip)
Footwear: Puma racing shoes
Recording Software: Pro Tools
Rob started to play the drums at age ten after seeing an Aerosmith concert. His mother was the girlfriend of Joey Kramer, Aerosmith's drummer, so Bourdon was able to go backstage and see the entire production and Kramer also gave him a kick pedal. In his early teen years, Bourdon played in bands with his friends. It was around that time that he met his current Linkin Park bandmate, Brad Delson, and they played together for about a year in a band called Relative Degree. Their goal was to play at the Roxy Theatre, and, after achieving their goal with a sell-out show, Relative Degree eventually broke up.
Bourdon wears Puma racecar driving shoes to get a better feel for the drum pedals and he says that it gives him a much better control of the pedals. He is said to be somewhat of a perfectionist. Rob's hobbies include playing the piano (although he has never done so for a Linkin Park recording) and surfing.
He also said that the song 'Easier to Run' was the most difficult to play as he had to approach the drums very differently.
It is said that Linkin Park's upcoming third studio album will make use of standard wooden drums in addition/comparison to triggers which were used in the previous albums. Photos of the drum machines to be used for the record have surfaced via Joe Hahn's personal SlamXHype blog.
Rob is considered by many fans to be one of the member that has changed his sound the most for Minutes To Midnight. The variety of drum sounds in the album is greatly commented upon by fans.
In late 2006, Chester Bennington of Linkin Park said on Tattoo Stories that his bandmates Rob and Brad didn't have any tattoos for religious reasons. Both are actively of the Jewish faith.
He once dated actress Shiri Appleby.
He has dated actress Vanessa Lee Evigan since 2001.
His 25th birthday was featured on an episode of iTunes' LPTV. On January 20, 2004, Linkin Park played a show in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and the band can be seen joking around backstage and saying that it is Rob's twentieth birthday. This caused some confusion among viewers.
Rob's favorite song to play is In The End.
Equipment:
Drums (Gretsch Projekt Revolution kit):14X5 Snare Drum22X16 Bass Drum18X16 Floor Tom16X13 Floor Tom10X8 High-Tom12X10 Mid-Tom
Cymbals (Zildjian):14" A-New Beat hi-hats14" A-Custom Mastersound hi-hats [Changes between hi hats live]18" A-Custom Projection Crash10" A-Custom Splash19" A-Custom Projection Crash21" A-Custom Projection Ride20" Oriental China "Trash"14" ZXT Trashformer
Others:
Electronics: Pintech Pads(to the left of hi-hats)
Hardware: Gibraltar cage/drum supports
Heads: Various Remo Heads
Sticks: Vater 5B (Hickory with wood tip)
Footwear: Puma racing shoes
Recording Software: Pro Tools
BRAD DELSON
Delson graduated from Agoura High School in 1995 and formed Xero with Mike Shinoda, which would later become Linkin Park. He graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles with a degree in communications, but decided to forgo law school to pursue a career with Linkin Park.While in college, (he shared a college room with Dave Farrell) Delson had to intern with a member of the music industry as a part of his career. He ended up working for Jeff Blue, an A&R representative at Warner Bros. Records. He told Blue about his band and in return for giving him demos to listen to he was offered constructive criticism. Blue is the man who found Linkin Park's current lead vocalist, Chester Bennington.
Before forming Xero with Mark Wakefield, Delson's first instrument was the trumpet. His first band was called the Pricks, and he later played in a band called Relative Degree with his fellow Linkin Park bandmate Rob Bourdon. He met and roomed with bandmate Dave Farrell, better known as Phoenix, at UCLA.
Delson can usually be seen wearing a very large pair of headphones on stage. The headphones are designed by Shinoda and himself and change with every Linkin Park release. Delson has eluded to an exact reason for them, but he has admitted it channels him into his own personal "matrix" while performing. He won't divulge to what this "matrix" is in detail. Delson usually does not give a serious answer as to why he wears the headphones, with answers such as "If I tell you, I'll have to kill you." In a recent interview, Mike Shinoda said that Brad wears shooting range headphones for hearing protection. Then he gives them to Mike who then makes sticker designs which go on them.
Delson has been known for his anti-social behavior on occasions. In high school, he used to dye his hair a variety of colors and in earlier days of the band he generally kept it shaved. Recently, Delson has been seen sporting an afro, which is also seen on the front cover for Minutes to Midnight.
Philanthropy
In 2005, Brad signed on as an official supporter of Little Kids Rock, a nonprofit organization that provides free musical instruments and free lessons to children in public schools throughout the United States. Brad has personally delivered instruments to children in the program and sits on the organization's board of directors as an honorary member.
Guitar playing style
He has been criticized for playing simple guitar parts and never performing solos. He has been lieing by saying that he "doesn't like to show off," giving reason to the fact soloing is a rare act for him. He has explained that this is due to the nature of the band, and that he tries to make his guitar playing sound like a keyboard or strings to try to fit in with the hip hop and electronic sounds of the band.
In the summer of 2006, Linkin Park performed at the Summer Sonic Festival hosted by Metallica. It was there that the band debuted a new song called QWERTY in which Delson stunned fans by deftly playing the heaviest riff the band has ever written. Another song that has a heavy riff is called A.06. It is not on any albums but is on LPU2. In the more synth-rock driven album, Minutes to Midnight, there are more complex guitar parts and solos by Delson. The fastest is in the song, "In Pieces", and another is a one-minute-long solo in "The Little Things Give You Away". Now, whenever Linkin Park performs Faint live, there is an extended version with Brad playing another fast guitar solo.
DAVID MICHAEL FARRELL
David Michael Farrell (born on February 8, 1977), more commonly known as Phoenix, is the bassist for the alternative rock band Linkin Park.
Farrell was born in Plymouth, Massachusetts but later moved to Mission Viejo, California when he was five. He attended Mission Viejo High School. He also graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles in 1999 . He is adept at playing the bass guitar, electric guitar, cello and violin. He has also been known to play an upright bass at some concerts.
He has been married to Linsey Farrell since December 28, 2002, and in 2007 he became a father.
Farrell was a member of a Christian ska/Christian punk band known as the Tasty Snax. While attending college, he would practice with Brad Delson in their dorm room together. However, because he had to play and tour with the Tasty Snax, he could not play with Delson and his band, which would become Linkin Park. After changing their name to Snax, Farrell began playing bass guitar in the band before leaving once again to join Linkin Park full-time to play bass. Farrell's fellow band mate Mark Fiore became Linkin Park's videographer. As described in the inlay for Reanimation he uses an Ernie Ball MusicMan Bass.
Farrell has cited his influences as being his mother and his brother, Joe, as well as Weezer, The Beatles, the Deftones, The Roots, Bob Marley, Sarah McLachlan, Hughes & Wagner and Harrod & Funck.
Fitting to his nickname, Phoenix, he has two phoenix tattoos on his back.
On the 'Making of Minutes to Midnight' Dave Farrell is seen using Fender Precision Basses.
Phoenix is rumored to be dabbling in the culinary arts. He is currently doing a tri-tip internship under master barbecuer Jason Felix.
He uses: Ernie Ball Music Man Stingray basses; Ampeg SVT Classic heads Ampeg SVT Classic cabinets ; Dean Markley Blue Steel strings; Dunlop Picks (.88); DBX 160 compressor; Monster cables; Sans Amp; Boss pedals; Whirlwind direct boxes; Shure wireless
Farrell was born in Plymouth, Massachusetts but later moved to Mission Viejo, California when he was five. He attended Mission Viejo High School. He also graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles in 1999 . He is adept at playing the bass guitar, electric guitar, cello and violin. He has also been known to play an upright bass at some concerts.
He has been married to Linsey Farrell since December 28, 2002, and in 2007 he became a father.
Farrell was a member of a Christian ska/Christian punk band known as the Tasty Snax. While attending college, he would practice with Brad Delson in their dorm room together. However, because he had to play and tour with the Tasty Snax, he could not play with Delson and his band, which would become Linkin Park. After changing their name to Snax, Farrell began playing bass guitar in the band before leaving once again to join Linkin Park full-time to play bass. Farrell's fellow band mate Mark Fiore became Linkin Park's videographer. As described in the inlay for Reanimation he uses an Ernie Ball MusicMan Bass.
Farrell has cited his influences as being his mother and his brother, Joe, as well as Weezer, The Beatles, the Deftones, The Roots, Bob Marley, Sarah McLachlan, Hughes & Wagner and Harrod & Funck.
Fitting to his nickname, Phoenix, he has two phoenix tattoos on his back.
On the 'Making of Minutes to Midnight' Dave Farrell is seen using Fender Precision Basses.
Phoenix is rumored to be dabbling in the culinary arts. He is currently doing a tri-tip internship under master barbecuer Jason Felix.
He uses: Ernie Ball Music Man Stingray basses; Ampeg SVT Classic heads Ampeg SVT Classic cabinets ; Dean Markley Blue Steel strings; Dunlop Picks (.88); DBX 160 compressor; Monster cables; Sans Amp; Boss pedals; Whirlwind direct boxes; Shure wireless
JOE HAHN
Joe Hahn, often credited as Mr. Hahn, is a director and musician best known as the turntablist for the American band Linkin Park. Hahn joined Linkin Park (then called Xero) in 1996 as the band's DJ. Since then, he has directed music videos for most singles of his band, with the exceptions of "One Step Closer", "Crawling" and "Faint". He is referenced to as Mr. Hahn at the beginning of "Cure for the Itch" from "Hybrid Theory". He has also directed videos for Static-X, Story of the Year, Xzibit, X-ecutioners and Alkaline Trio.In 2005 to 2006, while bandmates Chester Bennington and Mike Shinoda were busy with side projects, Hahn shot a short film called The Seed in Los Angeles, California and has premiered it at the Pusan International Film Festival. Hahn also appeared with a minor role in a short film by Filip Engström called Little Pony. In 2005, Hahn opened a retail concept store and brand Suru, located on the infamous Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles.
Hahn was also featured on the Fort Minor songs "Slip Out the Back" and "Move On" (a Fort Minor Militia exclusive), tracks produced by his Linkin Park bandmate Shinoda. In both tracks, Hahn does some scratching in the outro.
On the new album Minutes To Midnight, Joe Hahn contributes more to programming with his sound effects board. The only songs he uses turntables in Minutes To Midnight are the minor roles in "What I've Done," "In Pieces," and "The Little Things Give You Away."
MIKE SHINODA
Early life
Born to a Japanese-American father, Leslie Shinoda, and a Russian-Hungarian mother, Kim, Mike Shinoda was raised in the Los Angeles suburb of Agoura Hills. Mike has a younger brother (born 1979) named Jason.
His first exposure to the music business came during his middle and high school years, and attended a concert featuring Anthrax and Public Enemy He attended Chester W. Nimitz Middle School in Huntington Park.[citation needed] After that, he began taking piano lessons, studying classical pianist techniques, and later moved on to jazz and hip hop. It was during this period that he added the guitar and, eventually, rap-style vocals to his repertoire. After his teens, Mike Shinoda's rap interests found a source of encouragement in friend Brad Delson, with whom he started to write and record songs in a makeshift studio set up in his bedroom. Shinoda attended Agoura High School with Linkin Park bandmate Brad Delson, as well as with members of the band Hoobastank. By the end of high school, drummer Rob Bourdon had become involved in their musical ventures. The trio formed the band Xero, and began to make a more serious attempt to pursue a career in the music industry.
After high school, Shinoda enrolled in the Art Center College of Design to study graphic design and illustration. It was here that he made the acquaintance of DJ and turntablist Joseph Hahn, who, along with Delson's college-mate Phoenix, was soon added to Xero's line-up. Shinoda eventually graduated from college with a degree in illustration, securing himself a job as a graphic designer right after graduation. With his background as a graphic artist, Shinoda has taken it upon himself in designing all of Linkin Park's artwork with Hahn, and has even designed the album cover for Styles of Beyond's debut album, 2000 Fold. In later years he would go on to showcase his art skills;[citation needed] he had his debut art showcase at Gallery 1988 in Los Angeles in the time leading up to Linkin Park's album Minutes to Midnight.
Linkin Park
Shinoda's band (at this point called Hybrid Theory) brought in second vocalist Chester Bennington, replacing Mark Wakefield. Only one six-track EP would be released under the new name before legal issues forced them once again to change it - and thus it came to pass that Shinoda and his bandmates were to call themselves "Lincoln Park". However, the domain name lincolnpark.com was already taken, so it was ultimately changed to Linkin Park.
Throughout 1999, Linkin Park continued to expand their following amongst L.A. club patrons. This growth in popularity made a record contract an even more urgent concern for the band, and Shinoda was forced to juggle his college finals with talent showcases for various major labels;[citation needed] while the former went well for him, Mike and the band failed to accomplish any positive results until the year was nearly over. Several labels had passed on the privilege until, finally, Warner Bros. Records made the decision to add the young band to its long list of artists. The first fruits of this union surfaced in the Fall of 2000 as Hybrid Theory, sporting a cover designed by Shinoda himself; before long the album had found its way high into the charts, launching Linkin Park as one of the most popular exponents of the rap-metal crossgenre.
From the start Shinoda was closely involved in the technical aspects of the band's recordings, and over the subsequent releases that role continued to expand, with the singer tackling a fair amount of the production duties for the Hybrid Theory remix album Reanimation (2002). On the second Linkin Park release Meteora (2003) Shinoda continued his multiple duties as a musician and studio technician. In May 2003 he married children's author Anna Hillenger.
By the release of the Linkin Park and Jay-Z 'mash-up' album Collision Course in 2004, he had his hands in every aspect of the release, from performing and producing to mixing and graphic design. Production and remix work for various other performers including The X-Ecutioners, and Handsome Boy Modeling School was also undertaken from time to time.
The band released their latest album, Minutes to Midnight, on May 15, 2007. On this album, Mike sings "In Between" as the solo like Chester, instead of rapping and also the b-side song, "No Roads Left". Although these are his first songs that he has sang on, Hit Parader’s Top 100 Metal Vocalists of All Time has Mike ranked at number 72 all time.
Born to a Japanese-American father, Leslie Shinoda, and a Russian-Hungarian mother, Kim, Mike Shinoda was raised in the Los Angeles suburb of Agoura Hills. Mike has a younger brother (born 1979) named Jason.
His first exposure to the music business came during his middle and high school years, and attended a concert featuring Anthrax and Public Enemy He attended Chester W. Nimitz Middle School in Huntington Park.[citation needed] After that, he began taking piano lessons, studying classical pianist techniques, and later moved on to jazz and hip hop. It was during this period that he added the guitar and, eventually, rap-style vocals to his repertoire. After his teens, Mike Shinoda's rap interests found a source of encouragement in friend Brad Delson, with whom he started to write and record songs in a makeshift studio set up in his bedroom. Shinoda attended Agoura High School with Linkin Park bandmate Brad Delson, as well as with members of the band Hoobastank. By the end of high school, drummer Rob Bourdon had become involved in their musical ventures. The trio formed the band Xero, and began to make a more serious attempt to pursue a career in the music industry.
After high school, Shinoda enrolled in the Art Center College of Design to study graphic design and illustration. It was here that he made the acquaintance of DJ and turntablist Joseph Hahn, who, along with Delson's college-mate Phoenix, was soon added to Xero's line-up. Shinoda eventually graduated from college with a degree in illustration, securing himself a job as a graphic designer right after graduation. With his background as a graphic artist, Shinoda has taken it upon himself in designing all of Linkin Park's artwork with Hahn, and has even designed the album cover for Styles of Beyond's debut album, 2000 Fold. In later years he would go on to showcase his art skills;[citation needed] he had his debut art showcase at Gallery 1988 in Los Angeles in the time leading up to Linkin Park's album Minutes to Midnight.
Linkin Park
Shinoda's band (at this point called Hybrid Theory) brought in second vocalist Chester Bennington, replacing Mark Wakefield. Only one six-track EP would be released under the new name before legal issues forced them once again to change it - and thus it came to pass that Shinoda and his bandmates were to call themselves "Lincoln Park". However, the domain name lincolnpark.com was already taken, so it was ultimately changed to Linkin Park.
Throughout 1999, Linkin Park continued to expand their following amongst L.A. club patrons. This growth in popularity made a record contract an even more urgent concern for the band, and Shinoda was forced to juggle his college finals with talent showcases for various major labels;[citation needed] while the former went well for him, Mike and the band failed to accomplish any positive results until the year was nearly over. Several labels had passed on the privilege until, finally, Warner Bros. Records made the decision to add the young band to its long list of artists. The first fruits of this union surfaced in the Fall of 2000 as Hybrid Theory, sporting a cover designed by Shinoda himself; before long the album had found its way high into the charts, launching Linkin Park as one of the most popular exponents of the rap-metal crossgenre.
From the start Shinoda was closely involved in the technical aspects of the band's recordings, and over the subsequent releases that role continued to expand, with the singer tackling a fair amount of the production duties for the Hybrid Theory remix album Reanimation (2002). On the second Linkin Park release Meteora (2003) Shinoda continued his multiple duties as a musician and studio technician. In May 2003 he married children's author Anna Hillenger.
By the release of the Linkin Park and Jay-Z 'mash-up' album Collision Course in 2004, he had his hands in every aspect of the release, from performing and producing to mixing and graphic design. Production and remix work for various other performers including The X-Ecutioners, and Handsome Boy Modeling School was also undertaken from time to time.
The band released their latest album, Minutes to Midnight, on May 15, 2007. On this album, Mike sings "In Between" as the solo like Chester, instead of rapping and also the b-side song, "No Roads Left". Although these are his first songs that he has sang on, Hit Parader’s Top 100 Metal Vocalists of All Time has Mike ranked at number 72 all time.
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