Rob started to play the drums at age ten after seeing an Aerosmith concert. His mother was friends with Joey Kramer, Aerosmith's drummer, so Bourdon was able to go backstage and see the entire production. Kramer also gave him a kick pedal. In his early teen years, Bourdon played in bands with his friends. It was around that time that he met his current Linkin Park bandmate, Brad Delson, and they played together for about a year in a band called Relative Degree. Their goal was to play at the Roxy Theatre, and, after achieving their goal with a sell-out show, Relative Degree eventually broke up.
Shortly after that, Rob joined a band called Xero, which became Hybrid Theory. After many showcases and many major label rejections, the band now called Linkin Park was signed to Warner Brothers records and released their first album Hybrid Theory in 2000. The album went on to be the top-selling album album of 2001 and has since sold more than 18 million copies world-wide.
LP BIO:
Linkin Park is Chester Bennington (vocals), Rob Bourdon (drums), Brad Delson (guitar), Joe Hahn (DJ), Dave "Phoenix" Farrell (bass), and Mike Shinoda (vocals). Linkin Park's third studio-release "Minutes to Midnight," has been certified Platinum by the RIAA for sales exceeding 1 million copies in the U.S. in just 4 weeks. They have earned two Grammy Awards, the first for Best Hard Rock Performance in 2002 with their hit single "Crawling" and the second for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration with Jay-Z in 2006 for the innovative "Numb/Encore." Linkin Park has sold 40 million records worldwide since their debut in 2000. In addition, Linkin Park established Music For Relief in January 2005 to help aid victims of world catastrophes and combat global warming. For more information on Linkin Park and Music For Relief, please log on to www.linkinpark.com or www.musicforrelief.org.
FUN FACTS:
Bourdon wears Puma racecar driving shoes to get a better feel for the drum pedals and he says that it gives him a much better control of the pedals.
Rob's hobbies include playing the piano (although he has never done so for a Linkin Park recording) and surfing.
Early influences include Tower of Power and Earth, Wind and Fire.
Carter Beauford is one of Rob's favorite drummers.