Just how much more of the music industry can Stranger Things influence? At the Electric Castle music festival in Romania last week, Twenty One Pilots joined the list of artists who have been touched by the Netflix series. The duo performed a mashup of their track “Heathens” and the ominous Stranger Things theme song, which was composed by Kyle Dixon and Michael Stein. In the video of the live performance released on July 22, the fans in the audience cheer as characters like Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown), Lucas (Caleb McLaughlin), Max (Sadie Sink), Will (Noah Schnapp), Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo), Eddie (Joseph Quinn), and, of course, Vecna (Jamie Campbell Bower) are projected in the background. “Music has the power to save everyone,” the screen behind lead vocalist Tyler Joseph and drummer Josh Dun proclaims in the show’s signature red font.
The official Stranger Things account co-signed the new version on Twitter, declaring that “this performance could save me from vecna any day of the week.” “Heathens,” released in 2016, was originally the lead single for the Suicide Squad movie. But we can’t blame Twenty One Pilots for reusing it for a new purpose, especially given the resurgence in popularity that both Kate Bush and Metallica experienced after having their songs featured in the show. Which artists will be playing in Hawkins and/or the Upside Down when the show returns for its fifth and final season? We don’t know, but we’re betting Twenty One Pilots wouldn’t mind being on the shortlist.
