Mike Shinoda

As a founding member of nu-metal heroes Linkin Park, Mike Shinoda helped craft a scorching mix of metal thunder, funk licks and hip-hop breaks and helped the band to five number one albums before the sudden death of front man Chester Bennington in 2017. Growing up in a Japanese-American family in Los Angeles, Shinoda threw himself into art and music from a young age and after taking up classical piano at the age of six he was inspired by his love of Beastie Boys, Led Zeppelin and Rage Against the Machine to form his high school band Xero. After college he worked as a graphic designer before Linkin Park landed a deal with Warner in 1999, their debut album 'Hybrid Theory' going on to sell over 30 million copies with the major hit single 'In the End'. With Shinoda providing keyboards, guitar and vocals while also playing a major part in the band's artwork, their passionate, emotional rap-rock style made Linkin Park one of the major US alternative acts of the 2000s and won them two Grammy Awards. Shinoda also led hip-hop side project Fort Minor who reached number four in the US charts with the single 'Where'd You Go' in 2006 and produced albums for rap acts including Celph Titled, Styles of Beyond, Cypress Hill and Lupe Fiasco, as well as starting the label Machine Shop Records and the charities Music for Relief and Download to Donate. The suicide of his close friend and long-time musical cohort Chester Bennington left Shinoda shocked and grief stricken, but after performing at a memorial concert at the Hollywood Bowl, he turned to music and art as form of solace. Releasing his solo debut 'Post Trauma' in 2018, Shinoda described the work as a "journey out of the darkness" and, though raw and painfully honest at times, the album was typically anthemic and resolutely defiant in spirit.

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