Columbus, OH · alt-pop · rap-rock · rock

Twenty One Pilots

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Genre-agnostic arena duo — rap, ukulele, and existential dread with a devoted Clique, lore deep enough for a wiki.

Tyler Joseph started making music on a keyboard he found in his closet, and in Columbus he formed a band with Nick Thomas and Chris Salih in 2009, recording their self-titled debut in a house basement. Josh Dun replaced Salih on drums in 2011, and Thomas left the following month, leaving Joseph and Dun as a duo.

Twenty One Pilots signed with Fueled by Ramen in 2012 after an independent run that included the album Regional at Best. Their label debut, Vessel, released in 2013, became only the second album in history to have every track certified gold.

Tyler Joseph handles vocals, keyboards and ukulele, and Josh Dun plays drums, moving between rap verses, piano-led pop, reggae rhythms and rock, with lyrics that frequently address anxiety, doubt and faith. Live shows have built a reputation around costumes and on-stage acrobatics.

Blurryface, released in 2015, made the group's international audience much larger, producing the singles "Stressed Out" and "Ride" and earning them a Grammy Award for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance. The following single "Heathens" made them the first alternative act with two singles simultaneously in the Billboard Hot 100 top five.

Later albums including Trench, Scaled and Icy, Clancy and Breach have developed a continuing fictional narrative that their listeners follow closely, alongside 14 number-one songs on the Alternative Airplay chart.

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