Tyler Joseph

Early life

Joseph was born in Columbus, Ohio, and grew up with two brothers, Zack (also a singer) and Jay, and one sister, Madison. His mother, Kelly, was a math teacher in the Olentangy school district before being named Olentangy Orange High School's basketball coach in 2013. His father, Chris, was also a coach at Worthington Christian High School from 96–2005, and is a school principal. Joseph played basketball from a very young age and went on to play point guard for Worthington Christian. In 2008, the basketball team placed second in the Division IV state tournament.

After seeing a songwriter perform at a High Street club, he rejected a basketball scholarship offer from Otterbein University and began playing music after finding an old keyboard in his closet, a Christmas gift from his mother, and mimicking radio melodies.

Twenty One Pilots

Twenty One Pilots was formed in 2009 in Columbus, Ohio. Initially an idea from Joseph, he eventually called his high school friends Nick Thomas and Chris Salih to form a band. He came up with the band's name while studying All My Sons by Arthur Miller, a play about a man who must decide what is best for his family after causing the death of twenty-one pilots during World War II, because he knowingly sent them faulty parts for the good of his business. Joseph explains that this story of moral dilemma was the inspiration for the name of the band. On December 29, 2009, they released their debut, self-titled album and began touring Ohio, which was followed by their second album, Regional at Best in 2011, which consisted only of Joseph and Dun.

Twenty One Pilots' third album, Vessel, was released on January 8, 2013. They also embarked on a tour in support of the album, in which they named "Quiet Is Violent Tour".

The band's fourth album, Blurryface, was released on May 17, 2015, two days ahead of its intended release date. Joseph and drummer Josh Dun embarked on two international tours in 2015 and 2016: the Blurryface Tour and Emotional Roadshow World Tour.

At the 59th Annual Grammy Awards, the duo won the award for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance.

Other ventures

Joseph has had a solo project where he released an album entitled No Phun Intended. The release is still available for listening purposes on his PureVolume account. The album was recorded in Joseph's senior year of high school, from 2007–2008, in his basement. The song "Save", off the release, was redone and released as a free download for some time on Twenty One Pilots' official website before it was then pulled. A song entitled "Whisper" from his solo career has also been released on the internet.

In 2010, Joseph was featured in the song "Live" by the Christian rapper Joseph Michael Langston (better known by his stage name Jocef), who is a friend of Joseph from college, along with two other rappers, Juda and Alon. The song is the opening track to Jocef's debut album, In Search Of: L.O.V.E. The track was co-written by Tyler Joseph and Jocef. Jocef eventually returned the favor a year later by being featured on the song "Be Concerned" off of Twenty One Pilots' 2011 album Regional at Best.

In 2011, Joseph was also the lead star in Five14 Church's three episode mockumentary entitled "The (moderately inspiring tale of the) Longboard Rodeo Tango". According to the mockumentary, Joseph was an intern at the church at the time.

In 2012, Joseph was featured in an internet-use awareness video entitled "What's Your Story?" by Mark C. Eshleman (the producer of many Twenty One Pilots music videos) for an annual contest put on by Trend Micro, also called What's Your Story? The room used in the video is the same room in which the original music video for "House of Gold" was filmed.

On December 24, 2013, Christmas Eve, Joseph participated and sang "O come, O come, Emmanuel" at Five14 Church's Christmas With the Stars in New Albany, Ohio. The official video of the performance was uploaded to YouTube on February 14, 2014. He also performed a magic segment with the church's host and emcee, David McCreary for the show.

Joseph has also contributed to a few tracks for Five14 Church's worship albums by the gospel band, Whittaker.

In December 2014, Joseph contributed backing vocals to the song "Sickly Sweet Holidays" by Dallon Weekes of Panic! at the Disco.

Personal life

Joseph is a practicing Christian and his faith influences the music he writes. He was homeschooled in his childhood. He married Jenna Black on March 28, 2015, after becoming engaged on July 8, 2014.

His first real exposure to music was the Christian hip hop group DC Talk.

Joseph has a three-part tattoo that represents "something that saved his life". Though it is assumed it deals with his Christian faith, Joseph has been specific about the fact that he doesn't want the meaning of his tattoos spread across the internet. However, he has stated a few times that he is willing to tell people one-on-one if they decide to ask him in person.

Both Joseph and Twenty One Pilots drummer, Josh Dun also have an "X" tattoo on their body symbolizing their dedication to their hometown fans in Columbus, Ohio. They received it on stage during their hometown show at the Lifestyle Communities Pavilion on April 26, 2013. Joseph's is located on his right bicep and Dun's is located on his neck behind his right ear.

Discography

As solo artist

Twenty One Pilots