Michael Kenji Shinoda was born in Agoura, California on February 11,
1977. He met guitarist
Brad Delson
in 9th grade and started writing songs
in his bedroom. Brad and
Rob Bourdon
used to play for numerous bands in
high school. This started Mike on the way to becoming a singer. Mike
met
Joseph Hahn
in art school, Joe had been djing for 5 years. Brad met
Phoenix Farrell
in college and
Chester Bennington
was the last to join, in 1999. Mike
designed the cover for the Hybrid Theory album.