Linkin Park is a very successful rock band from Agoura Hills, California. The core of the band is three high school friends - Mike Shinoda, Brad Delson, and Rob Bourdon. After high school they added Joe Hahn, Dave Farrell and Mark Wakefield and called their band Xero. Lack of early success caused Wakefield and Farrell to leave the group (Farrell later rejoined Linkin Park in 2001). Vocalist Chester Bennington joined the group (now called Hybrid Theory) in 1999. The band's current name of Linkin Park is a reference to Lincoln Park in Santa Monica. Huge mainstream success came with the release of the album Hybrid Theory in 2000.