BusinessHollywood & EntertainmentLinkin Park's Sophomore Album Becomes Another Longstanding Win For The Band

ByHugh McIntyre,

Senior Contributor.

Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. Hugh McIntyre covers music, with a focus on the global charts.Jun 19, 2026, 10:15am EDT--:-- / --:--This voice experience is generated by AI. Learn more.This voice experience is generated by AI. Learn more.

Summary

Linkin Park's sophomore album, *Meteora*, has achieved a significant milestone, spending 250 weeks on the Billboard 200 chart. This makes it the band's second album to reach this longevity, following their debut, *Hybrid Theory*, which boasts an impressive 418 weeks. Currently, *Meteora* sits at No. 89, while *Hybrid Theory* is close behind at No. 91. Released in 2003, *Meteora* marked Linkin Park's first No. 1 album, a feat *Hybrid Theory* narrowly missed, peaking at No. 2. Despite the recent release of their greatest hits compilation *Papercuts* and new music, fans continue to heavily stream and purchase these two foundational albums. *Meteora* is present on five Billboard charts this week, including Top Hard Rock Albums at No. 4, where *Hybrid Theory* is No. 5. *Papercuts* also re-entered the Top Hard Rock Albums chart at No. 22, showcasing the enduring appeal of Linkin Park's catalog.

Linkin Park's Meteora becomes the band's second album to reach 250 weeks on the Billboard 200, a milestone it reaches this frame. Chester Bennington of Linkin Park performs during Live 105's BFD at Shoreline Amphitheatre on June 5, 2011 in Mountain View, California. (Photo by Tim Mosenfelder/Getty Images)Getty Images

A little more than two years ago, before the band began releasing brand new music "" its first after the death of frontman Chester Bennington "" Linkin Park dropped a greatest hits set titled Papercuts. The project arrived in the spring of 2024, months before the group announced new members and shared "The Emptiness Machine," the first single from its then-forthcoming album From Zero.

In the United States, Papercuts performed well, but in the years since it became available, fans have continued to focus their buying "" and especially streaming "" on the hard rock troupe's first two full-lengths, Hybrid Theory and Meteora, which are now both more than two decades old. Those albums regularly appear on multiple Billboard tallies in America, including the all-important Billboard 200. On that roster, which details the 200 most-consumed albums and EPs in the nation, Linkin Park's first two studio LPs drop slightly, while one reaches a milestone that the band has only seen once before.

Linkin Park's Meteora Celebrates a Special Chart Milestone

As of this period, Meteora has lived on the Billboard 200 for 250 weeks. This period, the sophomore album by Linkin Park descends two spaces from No. 87 to No. 89. Luminate reports that the 23-year-old full-length shifted another 14,000 equivalent units between streaming and sales. Notably more than 1,400 of which were actual purchases.

Linkin Park Has Seen Two Albums Spend 250 Weeks on the Chart

Meteora is Linkin Park's second album to spend 250 frames or more on the Billboard 200. Hybrid Theory remains far and away the outfit's longest-charting success story on the tally, and as of this period "" it is still present on the tally "" Hybrid Theory reaches 418 weeks on the rundown. Impressively, Hybrid Theory lands at No. 91, only two spaces beneath Meteora.

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Meteora Gave Linkin Park Its First No. 1 Album

Meteora debuted on the Billboard 200 in April 2003. By that point, Linkin Park was one of the most exciting names in the music industry thanks to the global success of Hybrid Theory and its several hit singles. Meteora earned the band its first of half a dozen rulers on the Billboard 200, a roundup that also includes Minutes to Midnight, A Thousand Suns, Living Things, MTV Ultimate Mash-Ups Presents: Collision Course, which also credits Jay-Z, as well as One More Light, the final release to feature Bennington.

Hybrid Theory topped out at No. 2, though its importance extends far beyond its peak placement on the Billboard 200. A quick follow-up remix set, Reanimation, stalled in that same space, while From Zero, which returned Linkin Park to the minds and hearts, and especially ears, of millions a year and a half ago, likewise missed out on dominating by just one space.

Meteora Appears on Five Billboard Rankings

This week, Meteora lives on five Billboard charts, and it drops on all but one of them. In addition to the Billboard 200, Meteora descends on the Top Alternative Albums (No. 13), Top Rock Albums (No. 21) and Top Rock & Alternative Albums lists (No. 24). On each and every one of those rosters, Meteora has appeared for at least 100 weeks, and it recently cracked 150 periods on two of them. Over on the Top Hard Rock Albums rundown, Meteora is steady at No. 4.

Linkin Park Fills Three Spaces on the Hard Rock Chart

Hybrid Theory appears on the same quintet of charts, and it settles just one slot beneath Meteora on the Top Hard Rock Albums rundown, likewise holding where it sat last week, at No. 5. It is on the Top Hard Rock Albums chart "" and that chart alone "" where Linkin Park scores a trio of wins. Papercuts reenters that rundown at No. 22 shortly after celebrating two years as one of the top-performing hard rock collections in the U.S.

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