Twenty One Pilots win at AMAs: How the group became 'improbable' hit
The group Twenty One Pilots won the award for favorite duo or group 鈥� pop/rock and received praise for their performance at the ceremony. The band has released such hit singles as 'Stressed Out' and 'Heathens.'
Josh Dun (l.) and Tyler Joseph (r.) of Twenty One Pilots accepts the award for favorite artist 鈥� alternative rock at the American Music Awards at the Microsoft Theater on Nov. 20, 2016, in Los Angeles.
Matt Sayles/Invision/AP
The group Twenty One Pilots received the award for favorite duo or group 鈥� pop/rock at the recent American Music Awards, also earning praise for their performance at the ceremony.
The awards show also included a win by Ariana Grande, who took the prize for artist of the year, and Drake, who won the awards for favorite album (rap/hip-hop for "Views") and favorite song (rap/hip-hop for "Hotline Bling").
The ceremony was hosted by Jay Pharaoh of 鈥淪aturday Night Live鈥� and model Gigi Hadid.
In addition to the award for favorite duo or group 鈥� pop/rock, Twenty One Pilots received the AMA 2016 award for favorite artist 鈥� alternative rock.
wrote of the group鈥檚 AMAs performance, 鈥淭hey really shine onstage. The duo are a dynamic live force, and their one-two punch of 鈥楬eathens鈥� and 鈥楽tressed Out鈥� was proof that a live band can not only be relevant on stage at a 2016 awards show, but that it can also be one of the highlight performances.鈥澛�
Twenty One Pilots, which consists of Tyler Joseph and Josh Dun, released an album in 2015, titled 鈥淏lurryface,鈥� which was their fourth. The album included hit singles such as 鈥淪tressed Out鈥� and 鈥淩ide.鈥澛�
Their song 鈥淗eathens,鈥� which was released in June to accompany the superhero movie 鈥淪uicide Squad,鈥� has stayed near the top of the Billboard Hot 100 since then. It鈥檚 currently at number four.聽Twenty One Pilots have also received such prizes as the MTV Video Music Award for best rock video for "Heathens" and the Billboard Music Awards for best rock album for "Blurryface" and top rock artist.
sees their rise as unusual. Mr. Wood wrote that the group is 鈥減erhaps the year鈥檚 most improbable breakout act 鈥� [songs 鈥楽tressed Out鈥� and 鈥楬eathens鈥� are] hard-to-classify emo-rap songs.鈥�
, who called the group 鈥渢he biggest new band of the past year鈥� early in 2016, writes that the seemingly strange combination of genres found in the band鈥檚 music seems to appeal to young fans. 鈥淭wenty One Pilots are one of the hardest-to-categorize hit acts in years, mixing angsty lyrics, Macklemore-style rhymes, Ben Folds鈥搇ike piano pop, 311-ish reggae beats, hard-rock energy and the occasional ukulele ballad,鈥� Mr. Greene writes. 鈥溾�t's a seemingly odd combination that makes total sense to their teen fan base.鈥�
agrees that the band鈥檚 fan base is a powerful one and that Twenty One Pilots makes fans feel involved, noting that Mr. Joseph finished a concert at Madison Square Garden by informing attendees, 鈥淲e are Twenty One Pilots ... and so are you.鈥�
鈥淒edicated young fans have quietly made Twenty One Pilots the biggest band of 2016,鈥� Ms. Ganz writes. 鈥溾�n four years, Mr. Joseph and Mr. Dun have figured out how to build an arena spectacle that convinces audiences the detonator lies in their hands.鈥�