"1997 or 1998...I think this was the first photo we ever took together. We had just told Chester that we wanted him to join the band. He said he was ready to move out from Arizona to LA. We went to a pizza place near UCLA to hang out and talk about what to do next.
"The band was called Xero at the time, and we probably had less than a half a dozen songs. No flame tattoos yet, no red hair yet, most of us were still in college," wrote Shinoda on Instagram.
Shinoda confirmed the news hours later, writing on Twitter, "Shocked and heartbroken, but it's true.