Twenty One Pilots‘ breakout album, Blurryface, was released May 17, 2015 — 10 years ago Saturday.
While they built a passionate and devoted following with songs including “Car Radio,” Blurryface truly brought the music of Tyler Joseph and Josh Dun to the mainstream, leveling them from alternative heroes to arena-headlining rock stars.
On the surface, Blurryface does not seem like the kind of project that might launch a band into the stratosphere. The record is a concept album based around the titular character of Blurryface, which Joseph inhabits in lyrics such as “My name’s Blurryface and I care what you think,” a line from the single “Stressed Out.”
Instead of alienating fans, the concept drew more people in to join the Skelton Clique, the name for the Twenty One Pilots fanbase. Listeners pored over each and every Blurryface song, making it the first album ever to have every one of its tracks RIAA certified since the inclusion of digital sales and streams in the certification process.
Even beyond the concept, Joseph’s sensitive, introspective lyrics drew in listeners, as did the band’s genre-hopping sound that mixed elements of alternative, rock, hip-hop, pop and reggae. All of that was backed by Dun’s seemingly endlessly ferocious drumming style.
“Stressed Out” was the biggest Blurryface single, peaking at #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and earning Diamond certification. It was followed closely by “Ride,” which reached #5 on the Hot 100 and was also certified Diamond.
Twenty One Pilots kept the momentum going with “Heathens,” recorded for the 2016 Suicide Squad soundtrack. That, too, was Diamond certified and a #2 Hot 100 hit.
The conceptual nature of Twenty One Pilots continued into their next albums, 2018’s Trench and 2021’s Scaled and Icy, and the story concluded with 2024’s Clancy.
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