I can pretty much guarantee that my story of how I got into listening to Linkin Park is different than anyone else's. I was pregnant with my daughter, and it would have been early 2001, around March or April. One Step Closer was on the tv and my baby started kicking me like crazy. I had heard them countless times before that, and thought they were pretty good, but that definitely caught my attention. I went out and bought the cd after that, and every time that song played she would kick me.
I didn't get to see them live for another 2 years, and I was hooked after that.
Best part of it though, is my daughter still likes them, shes nine years old now and she sings along with me in the car when I play any of my LP albums.