Linkin Park was honored with the “Favorite Artist – Alternative Rock” award at the 2017 American Music Awards, which was held Sunday night (November 19) at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles. They beat out other nominees in the category Imagine Dragons and Twenty One Pilots.
Linkin Park members Rob Bourdon, Mike Shinoda and Brad Delson took the stage to accept the award and honor frontman Chester Bennington, who passed away this summer.
“First of all, thank you so much to all the fans here and around the world who voted for the band, who have supported the band through thick and thin,” Shinoda said.
Acknowledging his fellow nominees, Shinoda added: I got a chance to talk to those guys … who said really wonderful things about Chester. And they were similar to the things that our fans said all around the world about him, and we wanna dedicate this award to him, to his memory, to his talent, to his sense of humor, to his joy. “Remember, you guys — all of you, tonight — whether you’re a fan or an artist, I want you guys to take a moment to appreciate what you’ve got and make Chester proud. Thank you guys so much,” he concluded.
Despite winning the award, the boys were eventually ejected from the awards ceremony. An apparent mix-up with artist credentials led the band to engaging in a cat and mouse game with venue security it would seem, as documented by Mike Shinoda on his Instagram story:
Shinoda also made mention of the apparent issue while accepting the award for ‘Favorite Artist: Alternative Rock’, stating: “they didn’t know we were gonna be here you guys.”
I have the same issue EVERY YEAR with my Lollapalooza passes. <3 @laurenoneil
