Robert Gregory Bourdon (born January 20, 1979) is the drummer and youngest member of the rock band Linkin Park.
Rob was born in Calabasas, California and now lives in Los Angeles. He grew up in the same town as the members of (band) Incubus and Hoobastank.
Rob started to play Drums after watching an Aerosmith concert. His mother, Patty, is friends with Joey Kramer, Aerosmith’s drummer. They also dated when the were much younger. This friendship meant they were able to go backstage and see the entire production. Kramer also gave Rob a kick pedal.
In his early teen years, Bourdon played in a few bands with his friends. It was around that time that he met his current Linkin Park bandmate, Brad Delson, and they played together for about a year in a band called Relative Degree. Their goal was to play at the Roxy Theatre, after achieving their goal with a sell-out show, Relative Degree eventually broke up.
- Rob’s favorite songs to play are “In the End”, “Tinfoil” and “The Little Things Give You Away”. He also mentions “Somewhere I Belong” as his favorite and “No More Sorrow” his second favorite on the Linkin Park Facebook Q&A.
- He is the tallest member of the band, standing at 6’4″ and the youngest.
- Bourdon wears Puma racing shoes to get a better feel for the drum pedals; he says it gives him better control of the pedals. He is said to be somewhat of a perfectionist. Rob’s hobbies include playing the piano (although he has never done so for a Linkin Park recording) and surfing.
- He also said that the song “Easier to Run” was the most difficult to play as he had to approach the drums very differently.
- In Linkin Park’s third studio album, Minutes to Midnight, Rob has used standard wooden drums, in addition/comparison to triggers which were used in the previous albums. Photos of the drum machines to be used for the record have surfaced via Joe Hahn’s personal SlamXHype blog.