On September 30, multi-platinum rock band
LINKIN PARK hosted a
Grammy SoundChecks event for
Grammy University Network students, a
Grammy Foundation program that prepares students for careers in the music industry. Vocalist
Mike Shinoda and guitarist
Brad Delson invited a handful of Southern California college students into the recording studio for a question-and-answer session and demonstration of the band's writing/recording process. Using smash hit single
"New Divide", which spent an incredible 14 weeks atop the Billboard Modern Rock Radio Chart, as an example, the band offered the students insight into the way
LINKIN PARK crafts its songs.
"Meeting the group made me wish I had been a part of a program like
Grammy U when I was in college," says
Shinoda. "
Brad and I talked about it afterward and were impressed by the kids and their curiosity about the process and the direction of the industry. These are students who are immersed in a fresh new world of music, both artistically and professionally. They had a great sense of energy."
One of the most successful rock bands to emerge this decade,
LINKIN PARK (vocalists
Chester Bennington and
Mike Shinoda, drummer
Rob Bourdon, guitarist
Brad Delson, DJ
Joe Hahn and bassist
Dave "Phoenix" Farrell) has amassed more than 45 million worldwide sales, a remarkable string of chart-topping hit singles, a pair of
Grammy wins, and an international fanbase whose members number in the millions.
"New Divide", which
LINKIN PARK specifically wrote and recorded for
"Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen", made radio history, becoming the third song ever to debut simultaneously in the top 10 of
Billboard's Hot 100 and Alternative Charts (the other two were
COLDPLAY's
"Speed of Sound" and
LINKIN PARK's own
"What I've Done"). In addition to being
LINKIN PARK's highest debuting song ever on the Billboard Hot 100 Chart,
"New Divide" was the highest debuting song on
Billboard's Alternative Chart in over a year.
LINKIN PARK is currently working on the follow-up to 2007's blockbuster mega-million-selling hit
"Minutes To Midnight".
