 Linkin Park is an American rock band from Agoura Hills , California . Formed in 1996 , the band rose to international fame with their debut album Hybrid Theory ( 2000 ) , which was certified diamond by the RIAA in 2005 and multi @-@ platinum in several other countries . Their following studio album Meteora continued the band 's success , topping the Billboard 200 album chart in 2003 , and was followed by extensive touring and charity work around the world . In 2003 , MTV2 named Linkin Park the sixth @-@ greatest band of the music video era and the third @-@ best of the new millennium . Billboard ranked Linkin Park No. 19 on the Best Artists of the Decade chart . In 2012 , the band was voted as the greatest artist of the 2000s in a Bracket Madness poll on VH1 . In 2014 , the band was declared as the Biggest Rock Band in the World Right Now by Kerrang ! . 
