The lineup for the band's first seven studio albums included lead vocalist Chester Bennington and drummer Rob Bourdon until Bennington's suicide in July , which caused the band to enter an indefinite hiatus. In September , Linkin Park's reformation was announced along with the addition of Armstrong and Brittain. Categorized mainly as alternative rock and nu metal , Linkin Park's earlier music spanned a fusion of heavy metal and hip hop , while their later music features more electronica and pop elements.
The lattermost also crossed over to the number two spot on the nation's Billboard Hot The band continued to explore a wider variation of musical types on their fourth album, A Thousand Suns , layering their music with more electronic sounds. The band's fifth album, Living Things , combined musical elements from all of their previous records.
Their sixth album, The Hunting Party , returned to a heavier rock sound, while their seventh album, One More Light , was a substantially more pop-oriented record. The band's eighth album, From Zero , was released in November Linkin Park is among both the best-selling bands of the 21st century and the world's best-selling music artists , having sold over million records worldwide.
In , MTV2 named Linkin Park the sixth-greatest band of the music video era and the third-best of the new millennium. Billboard ranked Linkin Park No. In , the band was voted as the greatest artist of the s in a Bracket Madness poll on VH1. Though limited in resources, the band began recording and producing songs within Shinoda's makeshift bedroom studio in , resulting in a four-track demo album, entitled Xero , released in November Blue himself was impressed with Xero after watching them play a live show in but believed the band needed a different vocalist.
After spending a considerable time searching for Wakefield's replacement, Xero recruited Chester Bennington , a vocalist from Arizona who was recommended by Jeff Blue in March The band still struggled to sign a record deal. They turned to Jeff Blue for additional help after facing numerous rejections from several major record labels.
