{"id":629214,"date":"2026-09-27T15:54:42","date_gmt":"2026-09-27T15:54:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/629214\/"},"modified":"2026-09-27T15:54:42","modified_gmt":"2026-09-27T15:54:42","slug":"how-paul-mccartney-ended-up-singing-on-one-of-linkin-parks-biggest-hits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/629214\/","title":{"rendered":"How Paul McCartney ended up singing on one of Linkin Park\u2019s biggest hits"},"content":{"rendered":"

Released in 2000, Linkin Park<\/a>\u2019s debut albumHybrid Theory<\/a> was a genre-defining juggernaut. A jagged blend of metal, hip hop, electronica and irresistible pop choruses, it pushed nu metal<\/a> to a new mainstream level. The following year, it became the best-selling album in the United States.<\/p>\n

By the time the Cali six-piece started creating its follow-up, Meteora, the hype around them was at an all-time high. Recorded at a time when online piracy had started putting the shitters up the music industry, protecting the record became top priority for the band\u2019s label, Warner.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWe had 16 boxes of giant reel tape that we had to take to New York, to go mix the record, on a plane with two security guards,\u201d says Rob McDermott, who managed the band from 2000 to 2010 and was tasked with devising an over-the-top strategy to keep the music secret.<\/p>\n

Security measures continued as Meteora\u2019s release date approached, and journalists invited to an exclusive prerelease listening party were asked to give up their phones on arrival. Luckily for Linkin Park\u2019s team, the plans worked.<\/p>\n

Speaking to us over Zoom from his home in LA, Rob motions to the shimmering plaques on the wall behind him, including a Hybrid Theory diamond award representing 10 million sales \u201cWarner made those just internally,\u201d he continues, \u201cbecause we were able to ship four million records around the world without a leak.\u201d<\/p>\n

You may like<\/p>\n

Hybrid Theory might have put Linkin Park on the map, but Meteora proved they were here to stay. Released at a time when the star power of nu metal<\/a> was beginning to wane, it ushered in a bigger, more polished, anthemic sound, purpose-built for stadiums and festival fields, and produced ubiquitous blockbusters such as Numb<\/a> and Somewhere I Belong.<\/p>\n

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\"Linkin\n<\/p>\n

Linkin Park in 2003 (Image credit: James Minchin\/Press)<\/p>\n

\u201cIn places in Asia, we started getting to the point where we couldn\u2019t leave our hotel without a planned itinerary and security,\u201d says bassist Dave \u2018Phoenix\u2019 Farrell, revealing the band\u2019s profile rose to uncomfortable levels during the Meteora touring cycle. Recalling instances when the band were bundled into vans to escape mobs of fans, Dave says he used an alias every time he checked into a hotel.<\/p>\n

Sign up below to get the latest from Metal Hammer, plus exclusive special offers, direct to your inbox!<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I want to go to Starbucks, I don\u2019t want it to be a big ordeal. Now I know how to navigate that a lot better, but with Meteora, we were just starting to come to terms with a lot of that. We were learning on the fly.\u201d<\/p>\n

Linkin Park started piecing together the songs for Meteora during Ozzfest<\/a> in summer 2001. Working in a makeshift studio at the back of their tour bus, spirits were high and creative juices flowed: at one point, the band had more than 80 songs in various states of realisation.<\/p>\n

By the time they headed into LA\u2019s NRG Studios in August 2002, where they had recorded Hybrid Theory, with returning producer Don Gilmore, they had whittled that down to 13 close-to-complete demos.<\/p>\n

What to read next<\/p>\n

Constant interference from label Warner, who questioned everything from the band\u2019s line-up to their vision, had made the Hybrid Theory sessions feel fraught. Due to the album\u2019s success, they now stepped back, allowing the band to make the follow-up they wanted.<\/p>\n

It didn\u2019t have the same fresh-out-the-box vigour as their debut, but Meteora is arguably a stronger set of songs \u2013 less angsty, deeper and more emotional. And while that\u2019s no doubt due to the band\u2019s growth as writers, Meteora\u2019s ongoing ability to resonate is unmistakably down to late singer Chester Bennington who, despite being sick for five weeks and having to record his vocals alone while the rest of the album was being mixed, put in the strongest performance of his career.<\/p>\n

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\"Linkin\n<\/p>\n

Linkin Park\u2019s Chester Bennington onstage in 2003 (Image credit: Kevin Mazur\/WireImage)<\/p>\n

Having struggled with addiction and depression from an early age, the turmoil in the singer\u2019s private life is laid bare in the powerful lyrics for tracks such as Somewhere I Belong, Easier To Run and Numb. The latter would go on to become nu metal\u2019s last true mega hit, passing over a billion streams on both Spotify and YouTube.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve learned over the years that really great vocalists can mimic many different things,\u201d says Dave. \u201cChester was that to a T. He could be a trumpet. He could sing like Barry White. He could mimic stuff with his voice, and, because of that, he had such an incredible range.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meteora, Dave says, was the sound of the band realising what a potent weapon they had in their midst. \u201cWe were like kids in a candy store as we discovered more and more places that he could go vocally.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meteora was released on March 25, 2003, to critical and commercial acclaim \u2013 although the general consensus was that Linkin Park had played it safe and turned in Hybrid Theory 2.0. Speaking in 2008, Chester agreed. \u201cWithin the band, we call Hybrid Theory and Meteora \u2018Volumes I and II\u2019,\u201d he told Kerrang!. \u201cThey\u2019re very similar in a lot of ways. There\u2019s almost a formula to them, you can tell what each song is going to do next.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, Meteora didn\u2019t merely rehash past glories. \u201cWe wanted to further define and evolve our sound as well,\u201d rapper Mike Shinoda said. \u201cA song like Breaking The Habit, for example, could never have existed on Hybrid Theory; it was a more mature song, lyrically and sonically.\u201d<\/p>\n

Somewhere I Belong (Official Music Video) [4K UPGRADE] \u2013 Linkin Park – YouTube
\n\"Somewhere<\/p>\n

Watch On <\/a><\/p>\n

To promote the album, alongside five massive singles, the band embarked on a tour lasting from February 2003 to September 2004. The gruelling cycle included their first ever foray into stadiums, supporting Metallica<\/a> on their 2003 Summer Sanitarium tour, alongside Limp Bizkit, Deftones and Mudvayne. It saw them take on the daunting task of playing to almost a million diehard Metallica fans over two and half months.<\/p>\n

The intensive schedule proved especially tough for Chester. Drink and drugs had started to take a toll on his relationship with his bandmates during promotion for Hybrid Theory, but by the end of the Meteora tour, he was in an even darker place.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wasn\u2019t leaving my house. I\u2019d shack up in my closet in the dark and shake all day,\u201d he told Kerrang!. \u201cI\u2019d wake up and have a pint of Jack Daniel\u2019s to calm down, then I\u2019d pop a bunch of pills and go back in my closet and fucking freak out for the rest of the day. I was a mess. I was falling through windows, having seizures and going to hospital the whole time. It was fucking ridiculous. I was a total wreck.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019d talk about it later, but in the moment, you wouldn\u2019t notice it,\u201d says Rob McDermott of Chester\u2019s mindset at the time. \u201cHe left it all out on the stage. To me, that was his therapy. He was there. He was in that moment feeling the pain of everyone and himself.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\"Linkin\n<\/p>\n

(Image credit: James Minchin\/Press)<\/p>\n

If Chester was struggling with his mental health on the road, he hid it well, according to P.O.D.\u2019s Sonny Sandoval, who supported Linkin Park on the North American leg of the Meteora tour in 2004.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was a sweetheart,\u201d Sonny remembers. \u201cHe had something about him that lit up the room.\u201d Sonny describes the tour, which also featured Hoobastank and The Story So Far, as a real \u201cfamily\u201d affair. Each night, the bands would hang out in each other\u2019s dressing rooms, smoking shisha and drinking, while later Chester would invite everyone onstage together to perform the band\u2019s incendiary closer, One Step Closer. Those bonds of friendship were put to the test one night, however, when the bands and crew celebrated on the roof of a high-rise hotel.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt one point, we all get excited, not even realising that we\u2019re so close to the edge,\u201d recalls Sonny, revealing his heart still races when he tells the story.<\/p>\n

\u201cI picked up Chester and, not even realising and just having fun, he flings back. Literally, if he had fallen out of my arms, he would have fallen off this roof. But I had him so tight, and then he was just dangling there screaming, and I am panicking, freaking out. I told him, \u2018Bro, I could have dropped you.\u2019 And then he looked at me and said, \u2018You would never have dropped me.\u2019 And then he just gave me a big old hug.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\"Linkin\n<\/p>\n

(Image credit: John Atashian\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

The cultural impact of Meteora went far beyond its initial burst of success. In 2003, Session, the album\u2019s eerie instrumental track composed entirely of scratching and sampling, courtesy of turntablist Joe Hahn, was nominated for a Grammy. The following year, the band teamed up with rapper Jay-Z for the now iconic, MTV-sponsored mashup collab, Collision Course.<\/p>\n

\u201cMike had just gotten off the phone call with management saying, \u2018OK, Jay-Z wants to do this new thing through MTV with us,\u201d says Dave, remembering the moment they heard the news. \u201cAt that point, Jay was an artist that we loved \u2013 one of our favourite rappers. We were like, \u2018Holy crap, we don\u2019t know what that means, but yup, let\u2019s make this happen.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

In 2006, the band and Jay-Z won the Grammy for Best Rap\/ Sung Collaboration for Numb\/Encore, and performed it at the awards ceremony, with a star vocal turn from Paul McCartney<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Linkin Park feat. Jay-Z + Paul McCartney – Numb\/Encore\/Yesterday (Live at Grammy) – YouTube
\n\"Linkin<\/p>\n

Watch On <\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cThe first time I met Paul, he showed up to a rehearsal and I was terrified,\u201d says Dave, who cites working with the Beatle as a career highlight. \u201cI was terrified that he was going to be disgusted with my bass playing \u2013 why am I playing bass if Paul McCartney\u2019s here? That didn\u2019t make sense in my head. I don\u2019t think I slept the night before that first rehearsal, but it couldn\u2019t have been anything more the opposite.\u201d<\/p>\n

Today, Meteora is rightly viewed as a modern classic, and has sold 27 million copies worldwide. In February 2023, the band surprise-released Lost, a gloriously wistful, clenched-teeth track from the Meteora sessions that had been languishing on one of Mike Shinoda\u2019s hard drives. Originally left off the album because the band felt it was too similar to Numb, it sounds nostalgic yet fresh \u2013 a gift to the legions of fans who thought they\u2019d never hear Chester\u2019s voice on a \u2018new\u2019 song again.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s also a testament to how much gas was in the tank during Linkin Park\u2019s early days. Having reached a level in their career they could never have imagined, the band would take a left turn with their third album, 2007\u2019s Minutes To Midnight, working with producer Rick Rubin<\/a> to strip down their sound and enter a brand new era.<\/p>\n

\u201cMeteora really set the stage for us to make Minutes To Midnight and to begin to branch out,\u201d agrees Dave, considering the album\u2019s legacy. \u201cBut I think more than anything, it needed to prove to listeners that what we had done or accomplished on Hybrid Theory wasn\u2019t an accident, and that we did have something to say.\u201d<\/p>\n

Originally published in 2023<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Released in 2000, Linkin Park\u2019s debut albumHybrid Theory was a genre-defining juggernaut. A jagged blend of metal, hip…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":629215,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[458,146,85,46],"class_list":["post-629214","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-celebrities","tag-celebrities","tag-entertainment","tag-il","tag-israel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/629214","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=629214"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/629214\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/629215"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=629214"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=629214"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=629214"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}