Joe Keery

Joseph David Keery, also known by his musical stage name Djo, is an American actor, singer, musician, and songwriter. He rose to international prominence for his role as Steve Harrington in the sci-fi series Stranger Things. He has also starred in films such as Spree and Free Guy and the fifth season of the crime drama series Fargo.
As a musician, Keery was a founding member of the psychedelic rock band Post Animal, which he left in 2018 due to acting commitments. Following the departure, he took on the stage name Djo for his solo musical projects and released the albums Twenty Twenty, Decide, The Crux and The Crux Deluxe. Decide featured "End of Beginning", which became a sleeper hit and his first Billboard Hot 100 entry after it went viral on TikTok in 2024. He rejoined Post Animal in 2025, during which time he also headlined his solo Back on You World Tour with Post Animal as a supporting act.

Early life

Joseph David Keery was born in April 1992, in Newburyport, Massachusetts, the second of five children. He attended Newburyport High School. When he was young, he participated in Theater in the Open, a performing arts camp at Maudslay State Park. He acted during high school at his older sister's insistence. He joined The Theatre School at DePaul University in Chicago, graduating in 2014 with a BFA in acting.

Career

Acting

Keery's breakthrough role was as Steve Harrington in the Netflix sci-fi series Stranger Things. Having initially auditioned for the role of Jonathan, he later sent in a tape for Steve and was cast in late 2015. The show premiered in 2016 to critical acclaim. He was promoted from recurring cast to a series regular starting with the second season. Before Stranger Things, Keery had appeared in KFC, Domino's, and Amiibo commercials, and had roles in Empire and Chicago Fire. His first appearance in a full-length film was in Stephen Cone's 2015 indie, Henry Gamble's Birthday Party.
Following Stranger Things, Keery acted in several independent films, including starring in the 2020 satire Spree. He also played the role of Walter "Keys" McKey, a game developer, in the 2021 action comedy Free Guy, which went on to become a box-office hit. In 2022, he was cast opposite Liam Neeson in the sci-fi action film Cold Storage and as Gator Tillman in the fifth season of Fargo. In 2024, he played both Steven Malkmus and himself in the biopic Pavements. In 2025, he voiced John Greenwood in the PBS documentary mini-series The American Revolution.

Music

In his early twenties, Keery released music under the stage name Cool Cool Cool. From 2014 to 2018, he was a co-founder, drummer, guitarist, and vocalist for the Chicago-based psychedelic rock band Post Animal. Keery originally contributed drums on their first EP Post Animal Perform the Most Curious Water Activities, before current drummer Wesley Toledo joined during their second EP The Garden Series. Their debut full-length album When I Think of You in a Castle saw Keery performing guitar and vocals.
Keery stopped touring with the band in 2017 and officially left due to acting commitments in 2018. He stated in a Bustle interview, "It's important to disassociate Steve from Stranger Things to the band because I think it will eventually hurt the band... 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."
On July 19, 2019, Keery self-released the single "Roddy" under the stage name Djo. Djo released a second single titled "Chateau " on August 9, 2019. On September 13, 2019, Djo released his debut album Twenty Twenty. In a positive review of the album, NME called Keery "a musician of very high calibre who... dabbles in the kind of inventive, warped psychedelia that gently twists your melon and constantly shapeshifts around you" and compared his music to that of Tame Impala and Ariel Pink.
On September 9, 2020, he released a new single, "Keep Your Head Up", which is currently the only single by Djo to not be included in a larger album or re-issue. In 2022, he took part in a summer music festival tour. His second album Decide was announced in June 2022, along with the release of its first single "Change". The album was released on September 16, 2022, and received positive reviews. In 2024, the sixth track of the album, "End of Beginning", was released as a single after gaining popularity and becoming viral on social media.
On April 4, 2025, Djo released his third album, The Crux, which was preceded by the singles "Basic Being Basic", "Delete Ya", and "Potion". The album was well received, and the album cover, credited under art director William Wesley II, was nominated for the 2026 Grammy Award for Best Album Cover.
Djo went on the Back on You World Tour in early 2025 to promote the album, with Post Animal as openers for the majority of show dates. On May 2, the tour was extended with the Another Bite Tour, a second leg that mostly covered the United States. During the tour, Post Animal announced their new album Iron, along with Keery's involvement in the album and him re-joining of the band. Iron was preceded by three singles: "Last Goodbye", "Pie in the Sky", and "What's a Good Life" before releasing on July 25th, 2025, around the end of the tour's first leg.
In September 2025, Djo released the singles "Carry the Name", "It's Over", and "Awake" before surprise-releasing The Crux Deluxe on September 12. Despite the album's cover and design mirroring that of The Crux, the album was not a reissue and instead featured 12 new tracks that were written at the same time as the first album and recorded after The Crux's release.
On November 4, Djo announced another tour in South America and Mexico to begin in March 2026.

Joe Keery

Early life

Career

Acting

Music

Personal life

Filmography

Film

Television

Music videos

Video games

Discography

Studio albums

Extended plays

Singles

Other charted songs

Accolades

Tours