The American rock band's visit last year was canceled, but vowed it would be back and Shanghai Stadium is the venue for the concert of the year. Linkin Park, the Grammy-winning rock band, keeps its promise of a comeback with a long-anticipated concert at Shanghai Stadium this month, two years after its Shanghai debut in 2007.

It is timely, as the smash-hit movie "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" has taken China by storm. The Shanghai gig is titled "New Divide," the theme from the movie that was also composed by the group.

Initially formed in 1996, the band consists of vocalists Chester Bennington and Mike Shinoda, drummer Rob Bourdon, guitarist Brad Delson, bassist Dave "Phoenix" Farrell and DJ Joe Hahn.

Linkin Park not only wrote the new single "New Divide" for the "Transformers" film, but also contributed to the score.

"Our goal was to write a song that not only captured the spirit of the film, but also stayed true to thespirit of our band," says Shinoda.

The band has a lot of fans in China who were disappointed when their appearance last year was canceled.

The concert tour "Music for Relief" was canceled after lead singer Bennington suffered a back injury and was told not to travel.

"All six of us were very disappointed that we couldn't play in China last October," says Shinoda, "Now we feel good, and we're ready to give a great show to a Chinese audience."

Best-selling

The group has won two Grammy Awards and its three studio albums have sold more than 50 million copies.

Delson and Shinoda were high school friends and formed the band Xero in 1996. Later, they were joined by Bourdon, Hahn and "Phoenix." They then recruited lead singer Mark Wakefield. At their first live show they were signed by record company Zomba Music who later released the band's first demo.

Bennington joined as the new lead singer in 1998 a year after Wakefield left and he suggested the name Lincoln Park after the park he used to drive by on his way to work. The new name of the band, Linkin Park, was finally decided on in 2000.

Its debut "Hybrid Theory" was released in 2001 and was that year's biggest-selling album. By the end of 2002, it had sold more than 10 million copies, and the band received 10 platinum discs for their efforts. In 2003, the band released their second studio album "Meteora." To date it has gone four-time platinum in the United States alone.

A third studio album "Minutes to Midnight" came out in 2007.

The group is also involved in charity work. They established the organization Music for Relief in 2005 to help victims suffering from natural disasters and deal with the problems of global warming.

"We always feel very grateful for the amazing fans all over the world who support us. We just try to write music that we want to hear, and write about topics that inspire us," says the band.

(Shanghai Daily August 6, 2009)