Mike Shinoda talked about Linkin Park being the “2000s version” of Bon Jovi in a new Anthony Fantano interview. Ultimate-Guitar transcribed his comments.
“The first three groups that I loved were Beastie Boys, Run-DMC, and Bon Jovi. Bon Jovi, for some reason, I don’t know what it was about that that I liked.
“I had all these weird things that I liked growing up that did connect to what I later ended up doing.”
“I joked with our band, they never made this connection but once I said it and they were so mad at me for putting pointing this out.
“I was like, ‘You guys, we were the 2000s version of Bon Jovi.’ Let that sink in because it’s true. It’s 100% true.
“And people can fucking hate on them because it’s too pop, hair metal, blah-blah… It’s like, ‘Guys, we accidentally became Bon Jovi.’
“And I saw Bon Jovi at this thing, we were playing an iHeart music festival or whatever, and Chester [Bennington], I, and Dave [Farrell, bass] found out that Bon Jovi was playing the parking lot, they were playing this huge thing.
“It sounds like a parking lot show – it’s not, it was a huge thing. Everybody at the hotel had to listen to it, it was right outside their windows, lights were crazy, shining into your room, it might have been lasers, I don’t even know.
“It was very aggressive, it was in everybody’s face, and we were like, ‘Well, obviously, we have to go.’ And Jon Bon Jovi did this thing in the middle of it, it was like a written bit where he’s like, ‘Hey, Richie [Sambora, guitar]!’ ‘Yeah, Jon?’ ‘You remember when we used to take the girls out to the back of the parking lot and…’
“They’re in the middle of a song and they’re doing this monologue, and then Richie busts into one of his ‘wow-wow-wow’ guitar parts and Jon Bon Jovi sets his microphone aside, and turns around, and shakes his ass at the crowd.
“He’s 60 years old, I don’t have a fucking idea how old he is, he’s shaking his ass. In great shape, fine, but still, that was the moment you put the ‘Linkin Park is the new Bon Jovi.’
“And then I watched Bon Jovi do that, and I’m like, ‘Oh god, is that what we have to do now? Is that where we’re going? Is this where we’re going to end up?'”
