Josh Dun

Joshua William Dun (born June 18, 1988) is an American musician.

He is best known as the drummer of the musical duo Twenty One Pilots, alongside Tyler Joseph, but he has collaborated with other artists as well.

His band has been nominated for six Grammy Awards, of which he has won one.

Joshua William Dun was born in Columbus, Ohio, on June 18, 1988, the son of hospice social worker Laura Lee Dun (née McCollum) and physical therapy assistant William Earl "Bill" Dun.

He has two sisters and a brother.

His great-great-great-grandparents were the American rancher Edwin Dun, who was the United States Ambassador to Japan, and his Japanese wife, Tsuru.

He initially took trumpet lessons at school and then turned his attention to drums, teaching himself how to play.

One method Dun references was imitating the beats of the records he'd buy on an electronic drum kit.

He worked at Guitar Center for three years, where he met former Twenty One Pilots drummer Chris Salih, who eventually introduced him to future bandmate Tyler Joseph.

In March 2010, Dun joined House of Heroes after the band's drummer, Colin Rigsby, took a break to spend more time with his family.

He makes an appearance in the music video for the band's single "God Save the Foolish Kings."

He performed on House of Heroes' live tour until October, when Rigsby returned to his duties.

After quitting his job at Guitar Center, Dun planned to leave for Nashville, Tennessee in pursuit of a drum career in the industry; however, he was stopped by Twenty One Pilots drummer Chris Salih, who offered him his role.

He went on to play a show with Tyler Joseph after Salih and bassist Nick Thomas left the group due to other commitments.

They played one song before police officers showed up and cancelled the show.

Dun subsequently became the band's full-time drummer, joining as production on the band's second studio album Regional at Best drew to a close.

The album was released on July 8, 2011, shortly after Dun's recruitment.

Although he does not perform on the album, he is credited in the liner notes.

In April 2012, Twenty One Pilots signed with record label Fueled by Ramen, a subsidiary of Atlantic Records in April 2012.

Twenty One Pilots' third studio album, Vessel, was released on January 8, 2013, through Fueled by Ramen and reached no. 21 on the Billboard 200.

The band's fourth studio album, Blurryface, was released on May 17, 2015, two days ahead of its intended release date.

At this point in Twenty One Pilots' career, the band had topped the charts with their hit single "Stressed Out"–the song's music video being filmed at Dun's childhood home—and has since received over 2.7 billion views on YouTube.

In 2017, Dun partnered with Hayley Williams of pop punk band Paramore to promote her hair dye line "Good Dye Young".

At the age of 13, Dun developed an interest in punk music, initially seeking "the fastest punk rock that he could find."

He mainly listened to punk rock when he was growing up.

He cites ...And Out Come the Wolves by Rancid as an early influence due to its combination of different music genres.

Another of his earliest purchases was an album by NOFX.

Afterward, he branched into pop punk music, citing Does This Look Infected? by Sum 41.

When learning drums, Dun would play along to Metallica.

However, his parents set strict rules on what music he could listen to, about which he later said, "I'd hide albums like Green Day's Dookie underneath my bed. Sometimes they'd find them and get real mad. They'd find a Christian alternative, like Relient K, and make me listen to that."

Later, Dun transitioned to slower alternative rock, with albums like Daisy by Brand New.

He initially took trumpet lessons at school and then turned his attention to drums, teaching himself how to play.

Their fifth studio album, Trench, was released on October 5, 2018.

The album was the first release of the newly revived Elektra Music Group.

On April 9, 2020, the duo released a new single "Level of Concern".

The accompanying music video for the track was filmed in both Joseph and Dun's respective homes while they were under lockdown due to the U.S. state and local government responses to the COVID-19 pandemic.

On December 8, 2020, Twenty One Pilots released a Christmas song, titled "Christmas Saves the Year", during a Twitch livestream hosted by Tyler Joseph.

The duo's sixth studio album, Scaled and Icy, was released on May 21, 2021.

The duo's seventh studio album, Clancy, is set to release on May 17, 2024, nine years after the release of their breakthrough album Blurryface.

The lead single for the album, "Overcompensate", released on February 29, 2024.