Claim: Twenty One Pilots is a band.

Twenty One Pilots -LRB- stylized as TWENTY ØNE PILØTS -RRB- is an American musical duo originating from Columbus , Ohio . The band was formed in 2009 by lead vocalist Tyler Joseph along with former members Nick Thomas and Chris Salih , who eventually left in 2011 , and currently consists of Joseph and drummer Josh Dun . The duo rose to fame in the mid -- 2010s after several years of touring and independent releases .   They put out two self-released albums , Twenty One Pilots in 2009 and Regional at Best in 2011 , before being signed by Fueled by Ramen in 2012 . Their label debut , Vessel , was released in 2013 . The duo achieved breakthrough success with their fourth album , Blurryface -LRB- 2015 -RRB- , which produced the successful singles `` Stressed Out '' and `` Ride '' . In addition , the single `` Heathens '' , recorded for the soundtrack of the film Suicide Squad , made the group the first alternative artist to have two concurrent top ten singles in the U.S. . The duo has won a Grammy Award for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance .