Linkin Park insist they ‘kept metal alive’

Linkin Park in the early 2000s
Linkin Park in the early 2000s (Image credit: Getty)

Linkin Park frontman Chester Bennington has laughed off the perception from some metal purists that the band were nothing more than a boy band with guitars when starting their career.

They released their debut album Hybrid Theory in 2000, which went on to huge commercial success. But some questioned the integrity of their sound, which challenged the concept of what metal could be.

But reflecting on their first album and the reaction to it, Bennington says Linkin Park were partially responsible for bringing metal into the 21st century.

The singer tells Metal Hammer: “I think that’s really funny – just those words, ‘the integrity of metal.’ In my opinion we actually kept metal alive.

“I met a kid a few days ago who said, ‘You were the first rock band I ever listened to’ and I hear that all the time. We played a surprise Vans Warped tour show in California in 2014 and had a whole bunch of singers from other bands come up and sing with us.”

He adds: “Every one of them was either, ‘Your band was my first record.’ Or, ‘Your band is the reason I’m playing music.’ It was maybe the first time where I felt like we were the band that people looked at in the way that I look at Deftones, Metallica and Stone Temple Pilots.”

The full feature on Linkin Park’s Hybrid Theory is in issue 286 of Metal Hammer, which includes the 100 greatest albums of the 21st century. It’s out now in print and via TeamRock+.

The band are currently working on their seventh album, the follow-up to 2014’s The Hunting Party.

Linkin Park working on “personal and revealing” tracks

Scott Munro
Louder e-commerce editor

Scott has spent more than 30 years in newspapers, magazines and online as an editor, production editor, sub-editor, designer, writer and reviewer. Scott joined our news desk in the summer of 2014 before moving to the e-commerce team in 2020. Scott maintains Louder’s buyer’s guides, scouts out the best deals for music fans and reviews headphones, speakers, books and more. He's written more than 11,000 articles across Louder, Classic Rock, Metal Hammer and Prog and has previous written for publications including IGN, the Sunday Mirror, Daily Record and The Herald, covering everything from daily news and weekly features, to video games, travel and whisky. Scott's favourite bands are Fields Of The Nephilim, The Cure, New Model Army, All About Eve, The Mission, Cocteau Twins, Drab Majesty, Marillion and Rush.