Metal/Rock artists and groups bios

Linkin Park

Linkin Park is a band from Los Angeles, California.

They are often considered the most famous and most commercially successful exponents of the nu metal genre. This is mainly due to their first studio album Hybrid Theory (2000), which has sold 20 million copies worldwide to date.

Origin Agoura Hills, California, USA Genre(s) Nu metal
Alternative metal
Alternative rock
Rapcore Years active 1996-present Label(s) Warner Bros. Records
Machine Shop Recordings Associated
acts Fort Minor
Snow White TanIn 1996, MC Mike Shinoda and guitarist Brad Delson graduated from Agoura High School in the Los Angeles suburb of Agoura Hills, California. Upon graduation, they formed a side band with their friend, drummer Rob Bourdon, under the moniker "SuperXero". Previously, Delson and Bourdon were in a band together for about a year called Relative Degree. Delson had also been part of a band called The Pricks.

The three members of SuperXero played archaic forms of their music together while at college. Delson attended the University of California, Los Angeles. Shinoda went to the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California. While at UCLA, Delson met bassist Dave Farrell. Delson and Farrell were roommates and often practiced and played together. Previously, Farrell used to play in a band called Tasty Snax with Mark Fiore, who later changed their name to "The Snax". Fiore later became Linkin Park's cinematographer. While at the Art Center College of Design, Shinoda met Joe Hahn. Farrell and Hahn later joined SuperXero, and the name was shortened to "Xero". The five men were later joined by lead vocalist Mark Wakefield and, together, they recorded their first, self-titled demo tape. The tape was sent out to various record labels but it was never considered and the band was never signed. Shortly thereafter, Wakefield left the band.

EARLY HISTORY

Wakefield left, Shinoda began auditioning for a new vocalist and at the same time Delson began interning for a Warner Bros. Records A&R representative named Jeff Blue as part of his communications degree. Blue alerted Delson and Shinoda to Chester Bennington, a young vocalist from Phoenix, Arizona who was looking to join another band, after being the vocalist for Grey Daze (formerly known as Sean Dowdell and His Friends) from 1993 to 1997.

Shinoda and Delson sent Bennington a tape containing instrumentation for a song and he recorded vocals for it. He then called Shinoda and played the song over the phone. This was the start of things to come as the band was instantly impressed by the vocal abilities of Bennington and it did not take long to realize the advantages of his voice and his ability to mould it to be both soft and thought-provoking as well as hard and attention-grabbing.

Once Bennington had joined the group, they attempted to have the band signed. Unfortunately, the name was already taken by a 70s and 80s band from Australia so they changed their name to Hybrid Theory and the band's line-up solidified — almost. Farrell temporarily left the band due to previous commitments with The Snax/Tasty Snax and, as such, wasn't able to record bass for their first, self-titled EP. Instead, Delson and a bassist named Kyle Christner played bass. Released in mid-1999, only one thousand copies of Hybrid Theory EP were pressed. Several copies were sent to various record labels, including Warner Bros. Records. The rest of the copies were given to early members of the band's newly formed street team. Farrell was temporarily replaced by Scott Koziol. Scott appears in the video for "One Step Closer" from the Hybrid Theory album.

The band was subsequently signed to Warner Bros. Records in 1999 thanks to Blue. However, they were forced to change their name again due to a trademark issue with a British electronic group called Hybrid. There were several suggestions for the bands new name, including Clear, Probing Lagers, Ten P.M. Stocker (an inside joke for the band since they were always recording and practicing material late at night). When the band was creating Hybrid Theory they used to park their cars outside and there was a time limit, 1 am, until which they could park. As Bennington said, "We've probably spent more money on parking tickets than Warner Bros. makes annually!"

Bennington eventually suggested the use of Lincoln Park because he would drive by it in Santa Monica, California (now known as Christine Reed Park). He drove past the park on his way to the recording studio every day when the band was recording demos for its debut album. Bennington thought that since there are Lincoln Parks all over the country, the band would be recognized as a local band no matter where they went. He also liked the name because it had no meaning, allowing the music to describe itself. The group bore the name Lincoln Park for a few months, but when they decided to register a domain name, they found that "lincolnpark.com" was already taken. Because the band couldn't afford to purchase it, they simply changed the spelling from "Lincoln" to "Linkin" and purchased the domain name "linkinpark.com".

n 1996, MC Mike Shinoda and guitarist Brad Delson graduated from Agoura High School in the Los Angeles suburb of Agoura Hills, California. Upon graduation, they formed a side band with their friend, drummer Rob Bourdon, under the moniker "SuperXero". Previously, Delson and Bourdon were in a band together for about a year called Relative Degree. Delson had also been part of a band called The Pricks.

Hybrid Theory EP album cover (1999)

The band was subsequently signed to Warner Bros. Records in 1999 thanks to Blue. However, they were forced to change their name again due to a trademark issue with a British electronic group called Hybrid.There were several suggestions for the bands new name, including Clear, Probing Lagers, Ten P.M. Stocker (an inside joke for the band since they were always recording and practicing material late at night). When the band was creating Hybrid Theory they used to park their cars outside and there was a time limit, 1 am, until which they could park. As Bennington said, "We've probably spent more money on parking tickets than Warner Bros. makes annually!"

IRON MAIDEN

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Origin	East London, England
Genre(s)	Heavy metal NWOBHM
Years active	1975—present
Label(s)	EMI
Associated acts	Blaze ASAP Wolfsbane, Paul Di'Anno, Psycho Motel, Lauren Harris
Website	http://www.ironmaiden.com
Members
Bruce Dickinson Dave Murray Adrian Smith Janick Gers Steve Harris Nicko McBrain
Former members
Clive Burr Paul Di'Anno Blaze Bayley Dennis Stratton Doug Sampson Paul Cairns Paul Todd Dave Mac Tony Parsons Dennis Wilcock Terry Wapram Thunderstick Tony Moore Ron Matthews Bob Sawyer Terry Rance Paul Day Dave Sullivan

Iron Maiden are an English heavy metal band from east London. The band were formed in 1975 by bassist Steve Harris, who was formerly a member of Gypsy's Kiss and Smiler. Iron Maiden are one of the most successful and influential bands in the heavy metal genre, having sold more than 70 million albums worldwide. The band won the Ivor Novello award for international achievement in 2002.

The band have headlined several major events in its career, notably Rock in Rio, Ozzfest alongside Black Sabbath, Donington's "Monsters of Rock", "Download" Festivals and the "Reading and Leeds Festivals."

Although Iron Maiden are a heavy metal band, influenced by Thin Lizzy and Deep Purple, their earlier music had undoubted punk overtones.

Iron Maiden's mascot, Eddie, is a perennial fixture in the band's horror-influenced album cover art, as well as in live shows. Eddie was drawn by Derek Riggs until 1992, but has had various incarnations by numerous artists, the most notable being Melvyn Grant. Eddie is also featured in a first-person shooter video game and best-of album – Ed Hunter – as well as numerous books, graphic comics and band-related merchandise.

ron Maiden were formed on Christmas Day 1975, by Steve Harris, shortly after he left his previous group, Smiler. Harris attributes the band name to a movie adaptation of The Man in the Iron Mask, which he saw around that time, and so the group was christened after the medieval torture device.

Founding members, bassist Steve Harris and guitarist Dave Murray, remain the longest-surviving members of Iron Maiden. The band had twelve different line-ups in the 1970s, in the East End of London area of Manor Park, while struggling to form a stable line-up of band members. Original vocalist Paul Day was fired as he lacked "energy or charisma onstage". He was replaced by Dennis Wilcock, a KISS fan who utilized fire, make-up and fake blood during live performances. Wilcock's friend, Murray, was invited to join, to the frustration of guitarists Dave Sullivan and Terry Rance. This fuelled Harris to temporarily split the band in 1976, though the group reformed soon after with Murray as sole guitarist.

Iron Maiden recruited another guitarist in 1977, Bob Sawyer, who caused a rift between Murray and Wilcock, prompting Harris to fire both Murray and Sawyer. A poor gig at the Bridgehouse in November 1977, with a makeshift line-up including Tony Moore on keyboards, Terry Wapram on guitar, and drummer Barry Purkis resulted in Harris firing the entire band. Dave Murray was reinstated and Doug Sampson was hired as drummer.

Pink Floyd

Pink Floyd are an English progressive rock band that earned recognition for its psychedelic rock music, and as the band evolved, became widely known as pioneers of progressive rock music. Pink Floyd were known for philosophical lyrics, classic rock songwriting, sonic experimentation, innovative cover art, and elaborate live shows. One of rock music's most successful and influential acts, the group has sold over 250 million albums worldwide, and an estimated 73.5 million albums in the United States alone.

Pink Floyd had modest success in the late 1960s as a psychedelic band led by the late Syd Barrett. Barrett's erratic behaviour forced his colleagues to supplement and eventually replace him with guitarist and singer David Gilmour. After Barrett's departure, singer and bass player Roger Waters gradually became the band's leader and main songwriter. This incarnation of the band recorded several elaborate concept albums, achieving worldwide success with 1973's The Dark Side of the Moon, 1975's Wish You Were Here, 1977's Animals, and 1979's The Wall. Dark Side of the Moon remains one of the most original, seminal and influential albums of the 20th Century. In 1985, Waters declared Pink Floyd defunct, but the remaining members (now led by Gilmour) continued recording and touring under the name, enjoying great commercial success and eventually reaching a settlement with Waters.

Waters performed with the band for the first time in 24 years, on July 2, 2005 at the London Live 8 concert, playing to Pink Floyd's biggest audience ever. On February 3, 2006, Gilmour gave an interview to the Italian newspaper La Repubblica which indicated the band would no longer tour or produce any new material, although various members still plan on producing solo or collaborative material. The possibility of an appearance similar to Live 8 has not been ruled out by either Mason or Gilmour.