Rob Bourdon

Bourdon was born in Calabasas, California. He received classical piano lessons at a young age. He was inspired to play the drums after attending an Aerosmith concert, where he was personally introduced to drummer Joey Kramer. He also cites Tower of Power and Earth, Wind and Fire as his early influences. Bourdon attended Agoura High School in Agoura Hills where he met future bandmates Brad Delson and Mike Shinoda, in the high school's jazz band. Bourdon waited tables at a restaurant and worked as a party coordinator at a bowling alley prior to becoming a full-time musician. He attended Santa Monica College where he studied accounting.

Bourdon and Brad Delson formed their own band, Relative Degree. The band played a sell-out concert at the Roxy Theatre before breaking up.

Bourdon later joined Delson and Mike Shinoda to form Linkin Park, then known as Xero, in 1996. The band enjoyed mainstream success with their debut album Hybrid Theory (2000), which would later go on to become 12× Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. Bourdon served as Linkin Park's drummer for seven studio albums and many international tours. Beyond drums and percussion, he also handled the band's business operations with Delson and Dave Farrell. Bourdon injured his back during the production of the band's sixth studio album, The Hunting Party, after playing for 10 hours a day for 7 consecutive days but later recovered. He remained with Linkin Park through 2017, when the band went on hiatus following the death of front man and vocalist Chester Bennington.

Bourdon's musical influences include Led Zeppelin, Tower of Power, Aerosmith, The Police, Bad Religion, Steely Dan, System of a Down, Incubus, and Dave Matthews Band.

Bourdon resides in Los Angeles. He is Jewish.

With Linkin Park

• Hybrid Theory (2000)
• Meteora (2003)
• Minutes to Midnight (2007)
• A Thousand Suns (2010)
• Living Things (2012)
• The Hunting Party (2014)
• One More Light (2017)