Mike Shinoda Recalls Being Starstruck When Linkin Park Opened For This Band

Linkin Park was one of the biggest rock bands on the planet during the aughts, but in 1997 they were a local Los Angeles band going by the name Xero. Chester Bennington wasn't their singer yet, but they got a slot opening for another local band at the famous Whisky a Go Go. That band was System of a Down.

During a recent interview with NME, Mike Shinoda reminisced about some of his "firsts," including his first time being starstruck.

“It was very minimal, it wasn’t like a full on ‘I can’t talk, I am completely overwhelmed,’ it was that we played our first show with a local band that had just got signed called System Of A Down,” he said.

“And I was like ‘These guys are so cool and they just got signed at like a major record deal,’” Shinoda continued. “We opened for them and I met a couple of the guys and thought they were the coolest. I think they are just barely older than us but I was so impressed, I mean besides, they’re incredible so of course I was impressed.”

Linkin Park may not be an active band anymore, but last year they released an archival track called "Lost" that launched them back to the top of the charts and crowned them iHeartRadio's Top Alternative Artist of 2023.