Inside the life of Linkin Park’s original co-founder Mike Shinoda
MIKE Shinoda is a founding member of the iconic nu-metal band Linkin Park, who shot to fame with hits like their 2000 song In The End.
Although the band went on hiatus after the tragic death of their singer Chester Bennington, they announced in September 2024 that they would be making a comeback.
Mike confirmed that he would be a part of the noughties band’s new line-up and he will be bringing his unique vocal style to their performances.
But who is the Californian singer and co-founder of Linkin Park?
A Californian upbringing
Michael “Mike” Kenji Shinoda was born on February 11, 1977, in Los Angeles.
His father is Japanese-American and raised his two sons, Michael and Jason, as liberal protestants.
The future Linkin Park songwriter took piano lessons from the age of six and showed an early aptitude for music.
He later met his band mates Brad Delson and Rob Bourdon at high school and began to gravitate towards the guitar.
After enrolling at the Art Center College of Design of Pasadena to study graphic design and illustration, he met the future Linkin Park creative director Joseph Hahn.
When Mike graduated, Chester Bennington became the band’s singer and they began to hit the big time.
Rap-style vocals
Mike is known for his rap-style vocals featured prominently on fan-favourite tracks, including What I’ve Done and Numb.
The band became internationally beloved, with their 2002 album Meteora selling 800,000 copies in its first week.
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Their music was featured in blockbuster films, including Transformers: Rise of the Fallen.
In 2004, Mike formed his own group, Fort Minor, to better showcase his hip-hop style.
Their song “Where’d You Go” was awarded Ringtone of the Year at the 2006 MTV Video Music Awards and reached no.4 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Mike continued to play with Linkin Park though, until the death of their lead singer in 2017.
Losing a friend
Chester sadly passed away at the age of 41, in a private residence in Los Angeles.
The singer is believed to have taken his own life and his body was discovered on July 20, 2017.
The news came as a shock to fans and led to the band to eventually go on hiatus.
When the news broke initially, Mike took to X (formerly Twitter) to share his grief.
He tweeted: “Shocked and heartbroken but it’s true. An official statement will come out as soon as we have one.”
Read more on Chester Bennington
Chester’s death on July 20 came just hours after Linkin Park released a new music video for its track, Talking to Myself.
Mike released a solo EP in 2018 named Post Traumatic, which unpacked his grief surrounding Chester’s death.
He released a follow-up album, with the same name, that year.
The album was released to positive reviews and holds a 73/100 score on Metacritic.
A new beginning for the band
On September 5, 2024, Mike and his band announced that they were returning with Dead Sara co-founder Emily Armstrong as their new singer.
Although there was some criticism of their new singer’s alleged connection to the Church of Scientology, the band announced that they would be touring extensively in 2025.
Their September 2024 single, entitled The Emptiness Machine, reached number 2 on the UK singles charts.
This is the band’s highest UK chart position in their history.