Mike Shinoda on Linkin Park being the first band to prank Metallica

Mike Shinoda has shared how Linkin Park became the first band to prank Metallica.

• READ MORE: “We wanted to make something different”: the impact of Linkin Park’s ‘Hybrid Theory’, 20 years on

Back in summer of 2003, Linkin Park opened for Metallica on their North American ‘Summer Sanitarium’ tour – along with Mudvayne, Deftones and Limp Bizkit – in support of the metal band’s ‘St. Anger‘ album which came out the same year.

Appearing on a recent episode of SiriusXM’s The Howard Stern Show, singer, rapper and guitarist Shinoda explained how Linkin Park were able to bring a lighter touch to Metallica’s famously raucous shows.

“Nobody had ever pranked them on stage,” Shinoda recalled.

“By the way, it was like four of us I think. The gag was that we wanted to do something that, well their show was always so tough and dark, and so we were like, ‘What would be the least tough, least dark thing to do?’”

“We ended up going out with a picnic basket and like little sandwiches and drinks and Chester [Bennington] had a skateboard so he skated out onstage. And then we walked out on to their stage, and they were playing, I think ‘Master Of Puppets,’ and we set up a picnic right above Lars [Ulrich],” he said.

Shinoda also added that they’d planned the gag with Metallica’s head of security who “promised he wouldn’t take us out”.

“But the guys were laughing. They were playing ‘Master Of Puppets’ like, turning around laughing at us.”

The musician added that at that point they knew Metallica “just well enough to know that James [Hetfield] wasn’t gonna knock my teeth out”.

Earlier this month, Linkin Park announced the release of a new song titled ‘Lost’ – a never-before-heard track from the Meteora archives – for the 20th anniversary.

‘Lost’ is now on track to be the band’s highest charting song since 2008’s ‘What I’ve Done’.

In a press release, Shinoda explained that discovering ‘Lost’ in the band’s archives “was like finding a favourite photo you had forgotten you’d taken, like it was waiting for the right moment to reveal itself”.

He added: “For years, fans have been asking us to release something with [late frontman Chester Bennington’s] voice, and I’m thrilled we’ve been able to make that happen in such a special way.”

Elsewhere, Shinoda has a new solo song in the upcoming Scream VI film. The musician also recently hinted at the possibility of new music from Linkin Park.

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