Twenty One Pilots Make ‘Billboard’ Chart History With Elvis And The Beatles

Twenty One Pilots have reached a charting milestone only previously achieved by Elvis Presley and The Beatles this week as the Pilots continue their meteoric rise to the top. According to Billboard, with their singles “Ride” and “Heathens” both holding down places in the Top Five of the Hot 100 Billboard chart, Twenty One Pilots become only the third act in history behind Elvis and The Beatles to achieve such a feat.

The Twenty One Pilots single “Heathens” is still riding the success of being included in the Suicide Squad soundtrack while “Ride” from their critically acclaimed 2015 album Blurryface continued to rise up the charts. Previously, Elvis Presley achieved the Billboard rarity of having two singles in the Top Five in 1959 while The Beatles were able to experience it multiple times between 1964 and 1966. Does this mean that Twenty One Pilots could be on the road to a Beatles-like success and frenzy? Anything’s possible.

Just last week, as previously reported by Inquisitr, Twenty One Pilots had to cut their show short at the Reading Festival when Pilots lead singer Tyler Joseph attempted to crowd surf and was mauled by the overzealous fans, losing a shoe, mask, and having his shirt torn to shreds. The frenzy of the crowd surrounding Twenty One Pilots was reminiscent of Beatlemania.

Whether or not Twenty One Pilots can keep the Beatlemania-type success remains to be seen, however. When The Beatles accomplished their two-single feat on the Billboard chart, they had two singles there for 18 weeks. Though the Twenty One Pilots’ single “Heathens” got a boost from winning a VMA this past week, the lack of success for Suicide Squad could play a factor in the Pilots’ single dropping sooner rather than later. Not to worry, Twenty One Pilots fans. The rise and success of the Pilots album Blurryface could mean that the release of new singles might help them achieve the goal once again, however.

Blurryface, Twenty One Pilots’ fourth album, was met with mostly positive critical acclaim upon its release in May of 2015. “Stressed Out,” the first single released from the album, was enough to give Twenty One Pilots a “Top Rock Song” nomination and win “Top Rock Artist” win for the Billboard Music Awards. The success of Twenty One Pilots even had some people being critical of the Grammys for failing to nominate the alternative duo which has steadily become a popular band.

Twenty One Pilots are an alternative duo comprised of lead singer and keyboardist Tyler Joseph and percussionist, drummer, and back-up singer Josh Dun. Their eclectic style of music makes it difficult to categorize them as they tend to combine multiple genres. Though it has been discussed that many of the Twenty One Pilots songs have Christian-based lyrics, they are not considered to be a “Christian” band.

While their music is critically acclaimed and financially successful, Twenty One Pilots have also been hailed for their unique and energetic live stage performances which include everything from costumes to body paint to a giant red hamster ball that allows Pilot frontman Tyler Joseph the opportunity to roll over the crowd. But for those who prefer the disc version rather than the live version of Twenty One Pilots, rest assured. Pilots frontman and lyric and music guru Tyler Joseph recently told Alternative Press that new music is in the works for the band, and he is excited to have an album that is bolstered in confidence.

After experiencing success from Blurryface, Joseph stated that Twenty One Pilots felt less pressure from industry executives to follow the industry’s formula and instead branch out with their own successful Twenty One Pilots formula.

“I’m looking forward to what an even more confident Twenty One Pilots record sounds like,” Joseph admitted. “I’m not saying the songs will sound confident, I’m saying the song structures will. Lyrically, the songs will always be the same reason why I started writing them in the first place—to say things that I felt I couldn’t say in a regular context.”

While Joseph gave no indication of when the music would be available, Twenty One Pilots are set to wrap up their current world tour in April of 2017. Hang in there, Twenty One Pilots fans. Good things come to those who wait.

[Photo by Gustavo Caballero/Getty Images for Turner.]