Linkin Park were possibly nu metal’s biggest breakout stars. Hybrid Theory, released in October 2000, quickly became one of rock’s biggest-ever debuts, going gold in just five weeks before becoming the best-selling album of 2001. By the time the Californians released follow-up Meteora in 2003, they’d already sold 14 million records and gone Platinum many times over.
Such monumental success of course fattened the band’s wallets, and in a 2003 interview, Q magazine asked them what they’d spent their Hybrid Theory earnings on. They probably expected them to come back with answers like ‘supercars’, ‘a mansion’ and ‘hot tubs full of champagne’. Instead, the responses they got were far less rock’n’roll – but respectably, brilliantly random.
“I bought toy robots,” DJ Joe Hahn revealed.
Bassist Dave “Phoenix” Farrell added that he got a dog. “That was a project,” he quipped.
Then-drummer Rob Bourdon went, erm… grocery shopping? “Just being at home after two years [on tour], you appreciate simple things,” he said. “I had fun shopping for food. That was the greatest.”
The best answer, though, came courtesy of guitarist Brad Delson: “I bought some fake diamond earrings for 28 dollars in Macy’s.” Lovely stuff.
In the same interview, guitarist and co-vocalist Mike Shinoda admitted he still couldn’t wrap his head around all the massive numbers attached to Hybrid Theory, even after three years.
“The sheer numbers of what happened with Hybrid Theory I still don’t completely comprehend,” he admitted. “When people start relating it to numbers of people who live in one city I start to think, ‘Wow, we sold 10 times that city!’”
After Meteora came out, Linkin Park would have even more huge figures to wrestle with. The album reached number one on the charts of 13 countries. It’s sold 16 million units and been certified eight times Platinum in the US. Plus, at least four singles – Numb, Faint, Breaking The Habit and Somewhere I Belong – have become generation-defining songs.
22 years on, the band are still hitting new heights, with their 2025 From Zero tour taking them to some of their biggest-ever venues, including Wembley Stadium in the UK. See Linkin Park, now with Emily Armstrong on vocals and Colin Brittain on drums, at one of the tour dates listed below.
Linkin Park 2025 tour dates:
Feb 16: Jakarta GBK Madya Stadium, Indonesia
Apr 12: Las Vegas Sick New World, NV *
Apr 26: Austin Moody Center, TX ^
Apr 28: Tulsa BOK Center, OK ^
May 01: Grand Rapids Van Andel Arena, MI ^
May 03: Baltimore CFG Bank Arena, ND ^
May 06: Raleigh Lenovo Center, NC ^
May 08: Greenville Bon Secours Wellness Arena, SC ^
May 10: Columbus Sonic Temple, OH *
May 17: Daytona Welcome To Rockville, FL *
Jun 12: Nisckelsdorf Novarock, Austria *
Jun 14: Hradec Kralove Rock For People, Czech Republic *
Jun 16: Hannover Heinz-Von-Heiden Arena, Germany ~
Jun 18: Berlin Olympiastadion, Germany ~
Jun 20: Bern Bernexpo, Switzerland
Jun 24: Milan I-Days, Italy *
Jun 26: Arnhem Gelredome, Netherlands $
Jun 28: London Wembley Stadium, UK $&
Jul 01: Dusseldorf Merkur Spiel Arena, Germany ~&
Jul 03: Werchter Rock Werchter Festival, Belgium *
Jul 05: Gdynia Open’er Festival, Poland *
Jul 08: Frankfurt Deutsche Bank Park, Germany ~&
Jul 11: Paris Stade De France, France
Jul 29: Brooklyn Barclays Center, NY +
Aug 01: Boston TD Garden, MA +
Aug 03: Newark Prudential Center, NJ +
Aug 06: Montreal Bell Centre, Canada +
Aug 08: Toronto Scotiabank Arena, Canada +
Aug 11: Chicago United Center, IL +
Aug 14: Detroit Little Caesars Arena, MI +
Aug 16: Philadelphia Wells Fargo Center, PA #
Aug 19: Pittsburgh PPG Paints Arena, PA #
Aug 21: Nashville Bridgestone Arena, TN #
Aug 23: St Louis Enterprise Center, MO #
Aug 25: Milwaukee Fiserv Forum, WI #
Aug 27: Minneapolis Target Center, MN #
Aug 29: Omaha CHI Health Center, NE #
Aug 31: Kansas City T-Movile Center, MO #
Sep 03: Denver Ball Arena, CO #
Sep 06: Phoenix Footprint Center, AZ #
Sep 13: Los Angeles Dodger Stadium, CA !&
Sep 15: San Josa SAP Ceter, CA &
Sep 17: Sacramento Golden 1 Center, CA &
Sep 19: Portland Moda Center, OR &
Sep 21: Vancouver Rogers Arena, Canada &
Sep 24: Seattle Climate Pledge Arena, WA &
Oct 26: Bogota TBA, Colombia
Oct 29: Lima TBA, Peru
Nov 01: Buenos Aires TBA, Argentina
Nov 05: Santiago TBA, Chile
Nov 08: Rio De Janeiro TBA, Brazil
Nov 10: São Paulo TBA, Brazil
Nov 13: Brasilia TBA, Brazil
Nov 15: Porto Alegre TBA, Brazil
Festival performance *
With Queens Of The Stone Age !
With Spiritbox $
With AFI =
With Architects ~
With Grandson ^
With Jean Dawson #
With Jpegmafia &
With Pvris +
