Josh Dun
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

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 Twenty One Pilots is an American musical duo from Columbus, Ohio. Initially a band, the group was formed in 2009 by lead vocalist Tyler Joseph along with Nick Thomas and Chris Salih, who both left in 2011. Since their departure, the line-up h ...
, alongside Tyler Joseph, but he has collaborated with other artists as well. His band has been nominated for six
Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...
s, of which he has won one.


Early life

Joshua William Dun was born in
Columbus, Ohio Columbus (, ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Ohio, most populous city of the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 United States census, 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the List of United States ...
, 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 second Japanese wife, Yama. He initially took
trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz musical ensemble, ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest Register (music), register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitche ...
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 Twenty One Pilots is an American musical duo from Columbus, Ohio. Initially a band, the group was formed in 2009 by lead vocalist Tyler Joseph along with Nick Thomas and Chris Salih, who both left in 2011. Since their departure, the line-up h ...
drummer Chris Salih, who eventually introduced him to his future bandmate Tyler Joseph.


Career


2010: House of Heroes

In March 2010, Dun joined House of Heroes as a touring member 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 Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...
in pursuit of a drum career in the industry; however, he was stopped by
Twenty One Pilots Twenty One Pilots is an American musical duo from Columbus, Ohio. Initially a band, the group was formed in 2009 by lead vocalist Tyler Joseph along with Nick Thomas and Chris Salih, who both left in 2011. Since their departure, the line-up h ...
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.


2011–present: Twenty One Pilots

In April 2012, Twenty One Pilots signed with record label Fueled by Ramen, a subsidiary of
Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over the course of its first two decades, starting from the release of its first recor ...
. 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 ''Billboard'' 200 is a record chart ranking the 200 most popular music albums and EPs in the United States. It is published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists. Sometimes, a rec ...
''. 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 "Stressed Out" is a song written and recorded by American musical duo Twenty One Pilots. Produced by Mike Elizondo and recorded at studios in Los Angeles and London, it was released as a promotional single from their fourth studio album, ''Blu ...
"–the song's music video being filmed at Dun's childhood home—and has since received over 3 billion views on
YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...
. Their fifth studio album, ''
Trench A trench is a type of digging, excavation or depression in the ground that is generally deeper than it is wide (as opposed to a swale (landform), swale or a bar ditch), and narrow compared with its length (as opposed to a simple hole or trapping ...
'', 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'', was set to release on May 17, 2024, nine years after the release of their breakthrough album ''Blurryface'', but was delayed for one week to May 24 while Dun, Joseph and videographer Mark Eshleman completed music videos for each song. The lead single for the album, " Overcompensate", released on February 29, 2024. In Dun's directorial debut, he directed the music video for the album's third single, " Backslide", which was released on April 25, 2024. Twenty One Pilots had announced an eighth studio album, '' Breach'', on May 21, 2025, which is set to be released in September of the same year. The first single, " The Contract", was released on June 12. This record is reported to be the conclusion to the storyline beginning with ''Blurryface''.


Other ventures

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


Influences

At the age of 13, Dun developed an interest in punk music, initially seeking "the fastest
punk rock Punk rock (also known as simply punk) is a rock music genre that emerged in the mid-1970s. Rooted in 1950s rock and roll and 1960s garage rock, punk bands rejected the corporate nature of mainstream 1970s rock music. They typically produced sh ...
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. Some of his earliest purchases were an album by
NOFX NOFX () was an American punk rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1983. Bassist/lead vocalist Fat Mike, rhythm guitarist Eric Melvin and drummer Erik Sandin were original founding and longest-serving members of the band, who have appeared on every ...
, and '' Human Clay'' by
Creed A creed, also known as a confession of faith, a symbol, or a statement of faith, is a statement of the shared beliefs of a community (often a religious community) which summarizes its core tenets. Many Christian denominations use three creeds ...
, citing " Higher" as one of his favorite songs. Afterward, he branched into
pop punk Pop-punk (also punk-pop, alternatively spelled without the hyphen) is a rock music fusion genre that combines elements of punk rock with power pop or pop music, pop. It is defined by its fast-paced, energetic tempos, and emphasis on classic pop s ...
music, citing '' Does This Look Infected?'' by Sum 41, as well as Blink-182. When learning drums, Dun would play along to
Metallica Metallica is an American heavy metal band. It was formed in Los Angeles in 1981 by vocalist and guitarist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich, and has been based in San Francisco for most of its career. The band's fast tempos, instrume ...
. 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 Green Day is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Rodeo, California, in 1987 by lead vocalist and guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong and bassist and backing vocalist Mike Dirnt, with drummer Tré Cool joining in 1990. In 1994, their majo ...
'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 Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...
, with albums like '' Daisy'' by Brand New. He initially took
trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz musical ensemble, ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest Register (music), register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitche ...
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. Since a young age, Dun has ultimately sought to "blend" genres and make diverse music.


Personal life

Dun and
Twenty One Pilots Twenty One Pilots is an American musical duo from Columbus, Ohio. Initially a band, the group was formed in 2009 by lead vocalist Tyler Joseph along with Nick Thomas and Chris Salih, who both left in 2011. Since their departure, the line-up h ...
bandmate Tyler Joseph both have an "X" tattoo on their body symbolizing their dedication to their hometown fans in
Columbus, Ohio Columbus (, ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Ohio, most populous city of the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 United States census, 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the List of United States ...
. They received it onstage during their hometown show at the Lifestyle Communities Pavilion on April 26, 2013. Joseph's is placed on his right bicep, and Dun's is located on his neck just behind his right ear. Dun also sports the name "Tyler" above his left knee, which he received from Joseph onstage during a show at the Eagles Ballroom in
Milwaukee, Wisconsin Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...
on October 30, 2015. They are both fans of the Ohio State Buckeyes. Dun dated actress and singer Debby Ryan from May 2013 to September 2014. They resumed their relationship sometime after. They were married in
Austin, Texas Austin ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat and most populous city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and W ...
, on December 31, 2019. The two are longtime fans of the '' Fast & Furious'' franchise and went on to make a
cameo appearance A cameo appearance, also called a cameo role and often shortened to just cameo (), is a brief guest appearance of a well-known person or character in a work of the performing arts. These roles are generally small, many of them non-speaking on ...
in '' Fast X''. Dun and Ryan currently live in
Columbus, Ohio Columbus (, ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Ohio, most populous city of the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 United States census, 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the List of United States ...
. In March 2023,
magazine A magazine is a periodical literature, periodical publication, print or digital, produced on a regular schedule, that contains any of a variety of subject-oriented textual and visual content (media), content forms. Magazines are generally fin ...
'' Architectural Digest'' released a documentary about their home. The pair commissioned Dun's brother's girlfriend to sculpt a bust of
Dwayne Johnson Dwayne Douglas Johnson (born May 2, 1972), also known by his ring name The Rock, is an American actor and professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE, where he performs on a part-time basis. Widely regarded as one of the greatest professional w ...
. Being an avid boxer, Dun also assembled a
boxing ring A boxing ring, often referred to simply as a ring or the squared circle, is the space in which a boxing match occurs. A modern ring consists of a square raised platform with a post at each corner. Four ropes are attached to the posts and pulled p ...
in his basement. In May 2023, instrument retailer Sweetwater filmed a documentary about the construction of Dun's home studio. The studio was designed by Haverstick Designs, the same firm that designed bandmate Tyler Joseph's home studio. Dun has proclaimed that he is a supporter of the
Black Lives Matter Black Lives Matter (BLM) is a Decentralization, decentralized political and social movement that aims to highlight racism, discrimination and Racial inequality in the United States, racial inequality experienced by black people, and to pro ...
movement.


Discography


Studio albums


with Twenty One Pilots

* '' Regional at Best'' (2011) * '' Vessel'' (2013) * '' Blurryface'' (2015) * ''
Trench A trench is a type of digging, excavation or depression in the ground that is generally deeper than it is wide (as opposed to a swale (landform), swale or a bar ditch), and narrow compared with its length (as opposed to a simple hole or trapping ...
'' (2018) * '' Scaled and Icy'' (2021) * '' Clancy'' (2024) * '' Breach'' (2025)


with other artists


Filmography


Awards and nominations


See also

* Tyler Joseph *
List of songs recorded by Twenty One Pilots Twenty One Pilots have seven studio albums, with their upcoming album, '' Breach'', set to be released in September 2025. While the original line-up had included bassist Nick Thomas and drummer Chris Salih, Josh Dun replaced Salih on drums and ...


Notes


References


External links


Josh Dun on Twitter
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dun, Josh 1988 births Living people American male drummers Twenty One Pilots members Fueled by Ramen artists Musicians from Columbus, Ohio American percussionists American trumpeters American male trumpeters American musicians of Japanese descent 21st-century American drummers Drummers from Ohio