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Bradford Phillip Delson aka Big Bad Brad is best known as the lead guitarist for the world famous rock band called Linkin
Park. He is also the A&R for Machine Shop Recordings.
Brad was born on December 1, 1977, in Los Angeles, California. He graduated from Agoura High School in 1995 and formed
Xero with fellow classmate Mike Shinoda, which would later become Linkin Park.
While in College, Delson shared a room with Dave Farrell, Linkin Park's bassist, and worked as an intern for Jeff Blue,
an A&R of Warner Bros. Records. He told Blue about his band and in return for giving him demos to listen to he was offered
constructive criticism. Blue is the man who found Linkin Park's current lead vocalist, Chester Bennington. Delson graduated
from the University of California, Los Angeles with a degree in communications, but decided to forgo law school to pursue
a career with Linkin Park.
Before forming Xero with Mark Wakefield, Delson's first instrument was the trumpet. His first band was called the Pricks,
and he later played in a band called Relative Degree with his fellow Linkin Park bandmate Rob Bourdon.
Brad can usually be seen wearing headphones during a live performance. The headphones are designed by Shinoda and himself.
And though he doesn't elude to the exact reason why, he has admitted it channels him into his own personal "matrix"
while performing. He won't divulge into what this "matrix" is in detail. Delson usually does not give a serious
answer as to why he wears the headphones, with answers such as "If I tell you, I'll have to kill you."
Delson has been known for his anti-social behavior on occasions. In high school, he used to dye his hair a variety of
colors and in earlier days of the band he generally kept it shaved. Recently, Delson has been seen sporting an afro, which
is also seen on the front cover for Minutes to Midnight.
He has been criticized for playing simple guitar parts and never performing solos. He says that he "doesn't like
to show off," giving reason to the fact soloing is a rare act for him.In the summer of 2006, Linkin Park performed at
the Summer Sonic Festival hosted by Metallica. It was there that the band debuted a new song called QWERTY in which Delson
stunned fans by deftly playing the heaviest riff the band has ever written. In the more synth-rock driven album, Minutes to
Midnight, there are more complex guitar parts and solos by Delson. The fastest is in the song, "In Pieces", and
another is a one-minute-long solo in "The Little Things Give You Away". Now, whenever Linkin Park performs Faint
live, there is an extended version with Brad playing another fast guitar solo.
In 2005, Brad signed on as an official supporter of Little Kids Rock, a nonprofit organization that provides free musical
instruments and free lessons to children in public schools throughout the United States. Brad has personally delivered instruments
to children in the program and sits on the organization's board of directors as an honorary member.
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