Joe Keery

Joe Keery was born in Newburyport, Massachusetts, on April 24, 1992.⁠[1]

He began acting at Theater in the Open, a summer performing arts program held at Maudslay State Park in Newburyport; at Newburyport High School a teacher, Stephanie Williams, drew him into building sets and effects for school productions.⁠[2]

In 2014 Keery graduated from the Theatre School at DePaul University in Chicago with a BFA in acting. He then went on countless auditions and landed occasional commercial work.⁠[3][2]

Before his acting breakthrough Keery was part of Chicago’s indie rock scene, playing guitar and drums in the psych-rock band Post Animal while making DIY music as Cool Cool Cool and delivering pizza. He later left Post Animal because of his filming schedule; on the band’s 2018 debut album, When I Think of You in a Castle, he sang lead on “Ralphie” and “Dirtpicker.”⁠[4]

Keery first auditioned for the role of Jonathan Byers in the Netflix series Stranger Things; three months later he was asked to tape for Steve Harrington, a high school bully. He recalled: “I remember being like, ‘Oh this guy? This guy’s a total jerk.’”⁠[2]

He has played Steve Harrington since the series debuted in 2016. Producer Shawn Levy said that midway through the first season the Duffer Brothers began writing more for the character, and by the third season Steve Harrington was at the center of the story.⁠[1][2]

From late May 2019 Keery filmed Free Guy in Boston, directed by Shawn Levy and starring Ryan Reynolds. Levy recalled that he, Reynolds and Blake Lively decided to cast Keery “three or four lines in” to his audition tape. The film was released in 2021.⁠[2][1]

In July 2019, about three weeks after the premiere of Stranger Things 3, Keery released the single “Roddy” under the name Djo, followed about two months later by his solo debut album, Twenty Twenty. To stay anonymous he wore fake mustaches and monochrome jumpsuits.⁠[4][1]

In 2022 Djo released his second album, Decide, recorded by Keery and his longtime collaborator Adam Thein in their Los Angeles home studio; “End of Beginning,” a late addition, was the only song made entirely at the Sound Factory studio.⁠[1][4]

In August 2022 Keery joined the main cast of the fifth season of Noah Hawley’s anthology series Fargo on FX, alongside Lamorne Morris and Richa Moorjani. He had just wrapped the romantic drama Marmalade with Camila Morrone and Aldis Hodge.⁠[5]

In early 2024 “End of Beginning,” an album track from Decide that had not been released as a single, went viral through a TikTok trend of travel videos. It gave him his first appearance on the UK Official Singles Chart, entering at No. 100, and became his first Billboard Hot 100 entry, peaking at No. 11.⁠[1][6]

As of March 2025 the song had about 1.4 billion plays on SpotifySpotifySpotify is an audio streaming subscription service offering on-demand music, podcasts, and audiobooks through a free ad-supported service and a paid Premium subscription. Its parent company, Spotify Technology S.A., is incorporated in Luxembourg, has its principal operations in Stockholm, Sweden, and is listed on the New York Stock Exchange (ticker SPOT). It helped move the recorded-music business from buying and owning music to on-demand streaming and is one of the largest audio streaming subscription services by users.Open the full entry and was the sixth-most streamed song in the world in 2024. Keery said: “It was rewarding and cool that people like that song—still lost on me, to be honest with you, that so many people like that song.”⁠[4]

In January 2025 Djo announced his third album, The Crux, with the lead single “Basic Being Basic”; the album came out through AWAL on April 4, 2025, alongside a world tour running from February to June with Post Animal supporting on some dates.⁠[7]

Keery recorded The Crux with Adam Thein and Wesley Toledo at Electric Lady Studios in New York, with his former Post Animal bandmates and his four sisters also taking part. He described a shift toward acoustic guitar and piano: “Instead of being more production-forward, [The Crux] is more song-forward.”⁠[4]

In July 2025 “Basic Being Basic” topped BillboardBillboardBillboard is a music and entertainment magazine and media brand headquartered in Manhattan, New York City. Founded in 1894, it is known for music charts including the Billboard Hot 100, the Billboard 200, and the Billboard Global 200; it began as a trade publication for the billposting industry, shifted its focus to the music industry in the mid-20th century, and is now operated by Penske Media Corporation.Open the full entry’s Alternative Airplay chart, his first No. 1 on a Billboard chart.⁠[6]

On September 12, 2025, Djo surprise-released The Crux Deluxe, a 12-track set Keery called “the punk little brother of The Crux.” At the time the three-part final season of Stranger Things was scheduled to premiere in late November that year.⁠[6]

Beyond Stranger Things, Keery has appeared in the independent films Slice, Spree, Marmalade and Pavements; in Pavements he plays Pavement frontman Stephen Malkmus.⁠[4]

Djo: Official website: https://www.djomusic.com/ (opens in a new window).⁠[8]

X: Public account: https://x.com/joe_keery (opens in a new window).⁠[9]

Djo (X): Public account: https://x.com/djotime (opens in a new window).⁠[8]

YouTubeYouTubeYouTube is Google’s video-sharing and creator platform, founded in 2005 by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim and acquired by Google in 2006. Built around video uploading, viewing, and creator earnings, the platform has developed Shorts, YouTube Music, Premium, YouTube TV, and products for children, and is headquartered in San Bruno, California, United States.Open the full entry: Public channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChwJDTqACGvdzI7-BI_BX5w (opens in a new window).⁠[8]