Twenty One Pilots is an American musical duo from Columbus, Ohio, consisting of frontman Tyler Joseph and drummer Josh Dun. The band is known for its difficult-to-categorize mix of musical styles, lyrics concerning personal insecurities, and energetic live shows featuring costumes and on-stage acrobatics. They are also known for their fanbase and an alternate universe storyline told through several concept albums.
The band was formed in 2009 by Joseph, bassist Nick Thomas, and drummer Chris Salih. After independently releasing their first album, Twenty One Pilots (2009), Salih was replaced by Dun in May 2011 and Thomas left the following month, with the group continuing as a duo. Following their second independent album, Regional at Best (2011), the duo was signed by record label Fueled by Ramen in 2012. Their label debut, Vessel (2013), became the second album in history on which every track received at least a gold certification.
The duo achieved breakthrough success in 2015 with their fourth album, Blurryface, which produced the hit singles "Stressed Out" and "Ride" and became the first album on which every track received at least a gold certification from the Recording Industry Association of America. "Stressed Out" earned Twenty One Pilots a Grammy Award for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance at the 59th Annual Grammy Awards. The release of "Heathens" in 2016 also made the group the first alternative artist in history to have two concurrent top five singles in the Billboard Hot 100 and the third rock act in history to have two singles simultaneously chart in the top five of the Billboard Hot 100, joining the Beatles and Elvis Presley.
The duo has released four more studio albums: Trench (2018), Scaled and Icy (2021), Clancy (2024), and Breach (2025). They have garnered 14 number-one songs on the Alternative Airplay chart, tying with Linkin Park for the second-most.
History
2009–2011: Formation and self-titled album
Tyler Joseph first met future bandmate Nick Thomas at a young age while playing youth basketball in Columbus, Ohio. Thomas later transferred to Joseph's middle school, and the two would remain friends throughout high school.
Joseph began playing music after finding an old keyboard inside his closet, a Christmas gift he received from his mother, and began mimicking radio melodies. In 2007, Joseph released a solo EP, No Phun Intended, in his parents' basement. Thomas contributed guitar to several songs on the album, and collaborated with Joseph on the track "Trees".
While attending Ohio State University, Joseph met Texas-born future bandmate Chris Salih at a party. Noting the songwriter's talent and creative energy, Salih consulted Joseph about starting a band. Impressed by the recording studio Salih had built in his house, Joseph agreed to play music together and began sharing his ideas for new music. Just before their first performance, Joseph invited Thomas to join the unnamed band as a bassist. In 2009, the group moved into a house of their own, where their first album was conceptualized and recorded in the basement.
The band initially played for a wide variety of audiences at clubs and venues around the Columbus area. Playing at metal, hardcore, and electronic venues influenced Joseph to incorporate these disparate styles into his songwriting. To catch the attention of unfamiliar or uninterested attendees and promoters, the band began to experiment with costumes and on-stage acrobatics.
Now going by the name Twenty One Pilots, the group released their debut album, Twenty One Pilots, on December 29, 2009, and began touring Ohio. Their initial marketing was grassroots; Joseph's mother would stand outside of Ohio State University, giving away tickets to their shows. During this time, the band participated in various "Battle of the Band" contests at The Alrosa Villa and The Basement, important Columbus music venues.
In 2010, the band posted two tracks to their SoundCloud account, a cover of "Jar of Hearts" by Christina Perri and "Time to Say Goodbye", an original song that samples "Con te partirò" by Andrea Bocelli and Sarah Brightman. The latter track would become the first song that local drummer Josh Dun heard from the group.
Joseph, Dun, and Salih participated in the musical efforts of the Columbus church Five14. They contributed to four of fourteen tracks for their album Clear, with Travis Whittaker and the gospel rock band New Albany Music. In 2011, Joseph appeared in a three-part video called "The (Moderately Inspiring Tale of the) Longboard Rodeo Tango", and sang "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel" in another video, "Christmas with the Stars".
2011–2012: Lineup changes and Regional at Best
Salih left the band on May 8, 2011, to focus on work, and Thomas left the following month on June 3 to focus on schooling, both posting farewell notes on the band's official Facebook page. Before departing from the project, Salih invited Guitar Center co-worker and friend of the group Josh Dun (former touring drummer for House of Heroes), to take his place in the band. Impressed by the band's potential and Joseph's creative vision, Dun abandoned plans to pursue drumming in Nashville and joined the project only a few weeks before Thomas left the group.
Both Salih and Thomas remained involved with the band's production for some time after their departure. Thomas briefly attended school in North Carolina, but moved back into Joseph and Dun's house in Columbus a year later and began to manage their merchandise. Thomas remained a part of the merchandise distribution crew throughout the production of Blurryface and continues to stay actively involved in the band's tour cycle.
With a new lineup consisting of only Joseph and Dun, Twenty One Pilots self-released their second album, Regional at Best, on July 8, 2011. The album was accompanied by a free CD release show on the grounds of New Albany High School. While Salih and Thomas were involved with the conceptualization of the album, neither they nor Dun claim to have had much involvement with its production, which was handled nearly exclusively by Joseph. The album features Joseph's brother Zack on the track "Kitchen Sink" and Joseph's college acquaintance Jocef on the track "Be Concerned".
In November 2011, after months of cultivating a fan base in the Columbus area via social media interaction and constant touring, the band played a sold-out concert at Columbus' Newport Music Hall. This caught the attention of several record labels interested in seeing if the band's appeal could stretch outside of Ohio. That same year, the duo put out two free songs via their email newsletter: the original version of "House of Gold" and "Two".
Joseph and Dun embarked on the Regional at Best Tour with rock band Challenger!, documenting it in a series of videos uploaded to the Twenty One Pilots YouTube channel.
2012–2014: Major-label signing and Vessel
In April 2012, the band announced their signing to Atlantic Records subsidiary Fueled by Ramen during a show at the Lifestyle Communities Pavilion. On July 17, 2012, they released their debut Fueled by Ramen recording, an EP entitled Three Songs. The next month, the band embarked on a short tour with Neon Trees and Walk the Moon.
Joseph, in a 2023 livestream reflecting on the lead-up to what would become Vessel, talked about signing with Fueled by Ramen and Regional at Best: "it was just a record that we had on the merch table when we were performing independently, and then we wanted to go record a real, professional record when we got signed – some of those songs we took from Regional at Best and kind of re-recorded them, and some of we had written new, since then. And that's what Vessel is. I know some people might not like this, but I kind of view Vessel as our first record." Regional at Best tracks "Slowtown", "Anathema", "Ruby", "Be Concerned", and "Clear" have since been made commercially unavailable.
On November 12, 2012, the music video for "Holding On to You", directed by Jordan Bahat, was released on YouTube. On January 7 and April 19, 2013, the band released music videos for "Guns for Hands" and "Car Radio", respectively, both directed by Mark Eshleman of Reel Bear Media.
In an interview with the Huffington Post, Joseph described Regional at Best as a "glorified mixtape" and confirmed that songs from that project would reappear on their major-label debut album. Ultimately, five tracks from Regional at Best – "Guns for Hands", "Holding On to You", "Ode to Sleep", "Car Radio", and "Trees" – were re-recorded and released for their third album. "Lovely" was also re-recorded and released as a single in Japan on April 17, 2013. "Glowing Eyes", "Kitchen Sink", and "Forest" appeared unchanged as bonus tracks on the UK version of Vessel.
Vessel was released on January 8, 2013, and later reached No. 21 on the Billboard 200, No. 9 on the Digital Albums chart, No. 17 on the Internet Albums chart, No. 15 on the Rock Albums Chart, and No. 10 on the Alternative Albums Chart. The band's first charting single, "Holding On to You", reached No. 10 on the Billboard US Rock Airplay chart. Additionally, "Guns for Hands" and "Lovely" reached No. 21 and No. 67, respectively, on the Japan Hot 100. In 2019, Vessel became the second album in history to have every track receive at least a gold certification, making Twenty One Pilots the first and only band to see every song on two albums earn gold or platinum awards.
In 2013, Twenty One Pilots (along with Panic! at the Disco) were one of the opening acts for Fall Out Boy on their Save Rock and Roll Arena Tour. On August 8, 2013, Twenty One Pilots performed "House of Gold" on Conan in their late night debut. On October 2, the music video for the song was uploaded onto YouTube.
On March 17, 2014, Twenty One Pilots performed a set at the MTVU Woodie Awards during SXSW. On April 13, Twenty One Pilots performed "Car Radio" at the 2014 MTV Movie Awards. On April 28, the band performed "Car Radio" on Late Night with Seth Meyers.
In 2014, Twenty One Pilots played a number of music festivals and other events around the United States, such as Lollapalooza, Bonnaroo, Boston Calling, and Firefly. Requests from many of these cities were incorporated into the band's first headlining tour, the Quiet Is Violent World Tour, which began in September 2014 and ended in November of the same year.
On December 31, 2014, the band released a music video for "Ode to Sleep". Composed of footage captured by the band's creative director Mark Eshleman from three concerts over the preceding three years, the video depicted the band's growth from their origins as a small local band to a nationally popular alternative act.
2015–2017: Blurryface and commercial success
On March 16, 2015, the band announced that a new album, Blurryface, was to be released on May 19. They released the first single, "Fairly Local", on March 17. Their second single of the album, "Tear in My Heart", and its music video were released on April 5, 2015. On April 28, "Stressed Out", the third song released from the album, was released along with a music video. "Stressed Out" became the group's best-selling single, having been certified 13× Platinum, and peaking at No. 2 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, and No. 1 on both the Alternative Songs and Hot Rock Songs charts, while also surpassing over 3 billion views on YouTube.
Blurryface was released two days early on May 17, 2015, and sold 134,000 copies in the first week in the U.S. which made it the band's first No. 1 album on the Billboard 200. On May 22, 2016, Blurryface won in the category of "Top Rock Album" at the Billboard Music Awards, while the band won the category of "Top Rock Artist". Blurryface became the first album on which every track received at least a gold certification from the Recording Industry Association of America.