'Stranger Things' Star Joe Keery Tops Taylor Swift With Hit Song
It's been a big week for Stranger Things star Joe Keery, who plays Steve Harrington in the hit Netflix series, and it just got even better.
Not only did Keery get to celebrate the series finale of Stranger Things, which officially hit Netflix on New Year's Eve, but he is also getting a surge of attention in his other career, too, even topping global pop sensation Taylor Swift.
Keery the Musician
In addition to his career as an actor, Keery is also a musician. 2015 to 2018, Keery was a drummer, guitarist, and vocalist for Chicago-based garage and psych-rock band Post Animal. He left the band in 2018 when the band started to get more attention from Stranger Things fans.
"It’s important to disassociate Steve from Stranger Things to the band because I think it will eventually hurt the band," Keery saidin an interview with Bustle. "I think it's important that they're hitting the pavement for a while and making a name for themselves and it's not necessarily associated with Stranger Things."
In 2019, Keery began releasing music as a solo artist under the name Djo. He has since released three studio albums: Twenty Twenty, Decide, and The Crux.
Keery Tops Taylor Swift
Ever since the release of her latest album, The Life of a Showgirl, Taylor Swift has sat at the top of the Spotify charts with her hit song “The Fate of Ophelia.” Now, after 78 consecutive days, her reign is over.
This week, Keery officially dethroned Swift as his hit song "End of Beginning" took the top spot on the Spotify charts.
Originally released back in 2022 as part of his Decide album, "End of Beginning" has seen a surge in popularity over the past few weeks due in large part to its reflexive lyrics, which are relevant to both the end of 2025 and the end of Stranger Things.
The song is about growing up and looking back fondly at a specific time in life – in Keery's case, growing up in Chicago. It acknowledges the bittersweet feeling of moving on, viewing past moments as both endings of that era of life as well as new beginnings.
Taylor Swift is a Fan
While Keery may have knocked her off the top of the charts, it sounds like Swift is actually a fan of his music. In fact, Keery recalled a time when she even complimented the very song that has now surpassed her on the Spotify charts after running into him at a recording studio.
“I just happened to be there the day that she was there. And she’s really nice. I mean, I’ve met her a couple of times,” Keery recalled on “The Spout Podcast” in 2024. “Before anything happened with this track, she said, ‘Hey, I really love that track of yours, ‘End Of Beginning.’ She just said that she had heard the song and, you know, obviously I’m like, ‘What? You heard that song? How the hell did you hear that song?’”
“But she’s like a music lover, really. And she’s also so hip to new music and things that are coming out,” he continued. “And so, I guess it’s not shocking to me because she’s like a big fan of music and just digs around and finds stuff. So, somehow it came across her desk, and she listened to it and then said that she liked it. Really, really nice of her.”
As for a possible collaboration, it sounds like Keery wouldn't be opposed.
“Maybe that would generate something. Maybe that experience generated something in the universe, but I don’t know,” Keery said.