Linkin Park’s music video for “In the End” has surpassed one billion views on YouTube, making it one of the only rock or metal videos to cross the nine-digit mark. “In the End” is Linkin Park’s second video to cross a billion views, after “Numb” surpassed the massive milestone in late 2018.
Contrary to some fans’ memory, “In the End” was not the lead single from Hybrid Theory, though it was undoubtedly the biggest. “In the End” was released in October 2000, one month after the debut of “One Step Closer.”
The monumental cut dropped on October 24, the same day Hybrid Theory was released. The album’s first-week sales, largely on the back of “One Step Closer,” didn’t do gigantic numbers at first, selling 50,000 copies in its first week. However, once “In the End” began spinning on heavy rotation, the album soon went gold and eventually propelled Hybrid Theory to sell 4.8 million copies in 2001 alone, making it the most successful album of the year.
As of this posting, Hybrid Theory has sold over 27 million copies worldwide, making it the best-selling debut album of the 21st century.
Interestingly enough, vocalist Chester Bennington didn’t like “In the End” at first. “I didn’t even want it to be on the record, honestly,” he told V Music over a decade later. “How wrong could I have possibly been? I basically decided at that point I don’t know what the fuck I’m talking about, so I leave that to other people who are actually talented at somehow picking songs that people are going to like the most … now I love ‘In The End’ and I think it’s such a great song.”
According to Setlist.fm, “In the End” is the most-played Linkin Park song in the band’s concert history, having been performed a total of 747 times; just four more than “One Step Closer.”
Check out the lyrics to “In the End” below [via Genius]:
[Verse 1: Mike Shinoda & Chester Bennington]
(It starts with one) One thing, I don’t know why
It doesn’t even matter how hard you try
Keep that in mind, I designed this rhyme
To explain in due time all I know
Time is a valuable thing
Watch it fly by as the pendulum swings
Watch it count down to the end of the day
The clock ticks life away, it’s so unreal (It’s so unreal)
Didn’t look out below
Watch the time go right out the window
Tryin’ to hold on, didn’t even know
I wasted it all just to watch you go
I kept everything inside
And even though I tried, it all fell apart
What it meant to me will eventually be
A memory of a time when I tried so hard[Chorus: Chester Bennington]
I tried so hard and got so far
But in the end it doesn’t even matter
I had to fall to lose it all
But in the end it doesn’t even matter[Verse 2: Mike Shinoda & Chester Bennington]
One thing, I don’t know why
It doesn’t even matter how hard you try
Keep that in mind, I designed this rhyme
To remind myself how I tried so hard
In spite of the way you were mockin’ me
Actin’ like I was part of your property
Rememberin’ all the times you fought with me
I’m surprised it got so far
Things aren’t the way they were before
You wouldn’t even recognize me anymore
Not that you knew me back then
But it all comes back to me in the end
You kept everything inside
And even though I tried, it all fell apart
What it meant to me will eventually be
A memory of a time when I tried so hard[Chorus: Chester Bennington]
I tried so hard and got so far
But in the end it doesn’t even matter
I had to fall to lose it all
But in the end it doesn’t even matter[Bridge: Chester Bennington]
I’ve put my trust in you
Pushed as far as I can go
For all this
There’s only one thing you should know
I’ve put my trust in you
Pushed as far as I can go
For all this
There’s only one thing you should know[Chorus: Chester Bennington]
I tried so hard and got so far
But in the end it doesn’t even matter
I had to fall to lose it all
But in the end it doesn’t even matter
“In the End” now joins iconic videos like Guns N’ Roses’ “November Rain,” the Cranberries’ “Zombie,” Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit” and Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” in YouTube’s one billion views club.
Congratulations to Linkin Park for the momentous achievement and watch “In the End” for yourself below.
In The End (Official Video) – Linkin Park
Chester Bennington: A Photographic Look Back Through the Years