Twenty One Pilots – Blurryface

Drew Layman
1 minute ago
4 min read

By any measure—sales, streams, or cultural impact—Blurryface is Columbus’s most successful record. Released in 2015 as Twenty One Pilots’ fourth studio album, the band recently marked its tenth anniversary with a reissue that included a 36-page coffee table book. Evaluating sales is always challenging in the streaming era, but the numbers are clear: 6.5 million copies sold worldwide, platinum in 14 countries (six times each in the U.S. and Canada), and recognition as the first non-compilation album with every track certified gold.

Twenty One Pilots

Blurryface

Fueled By Ramen – 548932-2

2015

Front cover of Twenty One Pilots Blurryface

Beyond its commercial achievements, Blurryface's also stood out critically. Critics gave the album an average of 80/100 on Metacritic, and it earned industry honors. At the 2016 Billboard Music Awards, Twenty One Pilots were named Top Rock Artist, and Blurryface won Top Rock Album. The album marked Tyler Joseph and Josh Dun's global breakthrough after years of building momentum.

Twenty One Pilots Comes Home To Two Full Houses - The Lantern - September 4, 2014 — The Lantern - September 4, 2014

The singles helped tell that story. Lead track “Fairly Local” only reached number 84 on the Hot 100, but eventually went platinum. Follow-up “Tear In My Heart” did modestly on the pop chart but reached number two on the Alternative chart and gave the band its first real momentum on nationwide radio. That paved the way for the third single, “Stressed Out.” Initially a slow burn, the song ultimately exploded into one of the decade's biggest hits, peaking at number two on the Hot 100, going 13-times platinum in the U.S. and winning the Grammy for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance. Produced by Mike Elizondo, “Stressed Out” surpassed the billion-stream mark on Spotify.

Billboard later summed up the track’s generational resonance: “If any one song captures the millennial/Gen Z experience of the mid-2010s, it’s a song whose chorus pines for the ‘good old days’ of carefree youth and whose bridge describes the pressures of external voices telling one to ‘wake up, you need to make money.’”

Twenty One Pilots recording at Sonic Lounge Studio, August 2014

Momentum continued with the fifth single, “Ride,” which went on to become another worldwide hit, climbing to number five on the Hot 100. Recorded locally at Sonic Lounge Studio in Grove City, the track served as a reminder that even as the band was breaking worldwide, they leaned on their Columbus roots.

For Columbus fans, these connections made the global success feel personal. The video for “Stressed Out” was filmed in the city, with familiar shots from the Westerville neighborhood where Joseph and Dun grew up—showing that even at their commercial peak, the band kept a thread tied back to where it all started.

Twenty One Pilots Soar To The Top 10, Billboard, January 16, 2016 — Billboard, January 16, 2016

That sense of homecoming was reinforced in 2017, when the band wrapped their Emotional Roadshow world tour with the Tour de Columbus—five shows in five different hometown venues, ranging from intimate early haunts like The Basement to the enduring Newport Music Hall and then the city’s largest stages. It was a victory lap that traced their journey from small local clubs to global arenas, while making clear that Columbus remained central to their identity.

Looking back now, Blurryface also shifted how Columbus was seen in the broader music landscape. For decades, local bands had managed to build regional followings or gain underground acclaim as Columbus built a reputation for a thriving music scene, but mainstream superstardom usually came from elsewhere. McGuffey Lane broke into the country charts in the early ’80s, Scrawl earned national respect from critics in the alternative rock underground, and Rascal Flatts (formed in Nashville by Columbus expats) went on to dominate country radio in the 2000s. Each of those stories carried its own weight, but none of them changed the perception of Columbus as a music city quite like Blurryface.

Alternative Press magazine promo photo — Promo for Alternative Press issue #329, December 2015

In that way, Blurryface became more than just a blockbuster album: it was the moment Columbus proved it could produce global superstars without losing its roots. This turning point made clear that bands shaped by the city’s neighborhoods, clubs, and schools could not only break through worldwide but also reshape the perception of the Columbus music scene. And now, with the band releasing their eighth album, Breach, in 2025, TØP continues to solidify its place on the national map.