Few television shows in the streaming era have so fully captured the cultural zeitgeist as Stranger Things. Emerging from Netflix in 2016, the show immediately captivated audiences with its sci-fi spookiness, retro ‘80s throwback feel and endearing cast of kids, who spent the next decade growing up before the public’s eyes through December, when the blockbuster show finally came to an end with its megawatt fifth season finale.
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One thing Stranger Things has been known for over the years is the often surprising popularity of its music, which has delighted audiences by resurfacing older songs to score critical moments in the show — the most famous being the massive surge in streams and attention for Kate Bush’s “Running Up That Hill” in its fourth season in 2022, which pushed the song all the way to No. 3 on the Hot 100 that fall. But its cast has also produced a major musical milestone — in the form of actor Joe Keery, who plays Steve Harrington in the show, and is also a musician performing under the name Djo.
Djo’s been building his music career for years, and has released three albums — Twenty Twenty, DECIDE and The Crux via AWAL — between 2019 and 2025. But it was his 2022 song “End of Beginning,” originally released on DECIDE, that has really taken off — the song went viral on TikTok in 2024, then underpinned Keery’s first major tour last year which saw him play the main stage at Lollapalooza, and then exploded after the Stranger Things finale, even though it didn’t appear in the show at all, such was the popularity of Keery’s character and the song itself. And this week, it has reached official Major Hit Status: “End of Beginning” reached No. 6 on the Hot 100, Keery’s first-ever top 10 on the chart, while also soaring to No. 1 on the Global 200 and on Streaming Songs and Hot Rock & Alternative Songs, a major moment for his music career. And that earns his manager, Stern Management founder Nick Stern, the title of Billboard’s Executive of the Week.
Here, Stern talks about the song’s enduring success, how Stranger Things helped boost Djo’s music career and Keery’s acting career simultaneously, and what makes him more than just another actor dabbling in music. “Touring is the piece that makes this real to people,” Stern says. “The live show highlights just how good he is, how strong the production is, and brings the music to life — and that’s what’s taken this from a hit song to a career with legs.”
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This week, Djo’s “End of Beginning” reached No. 6 on the Hot 100, becoming his first-ever top 10 on the chart, and also soared to No. 1 on the Streaming Songs and Hot Rock & Alternative Songs charts. What key decisions did you make to help make that happen?
We’ve had some experience releasing music around previous seasons of Stranger Things — we launched DECIDE right when season four came out, so we had a sense of what to expect. With this being the final season of the show and knowing how beloved Joe’s character had become over the years, we anticipated a heightened interest Djo given the immense media campaign surrounding it. “End of Beginning” has had an unparalleled run — a song released in 2022 has resonated in a way that simply can’t be manufactured. We don’t do a lot of the things people probably think we do when it comes to marketing. From day one the idea has been to release music he’s proud of and hope people connect, without the games.
We have an incredible team both internally and at AWAL — a full global team who sadly had to deal with me every single day over the holiday break.
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The song also reached No. 1 on the Global 200 this week. Why do you think it’s resonating across the globe, and how are you helping fuel that?
I’ve always believed that you need to have both the business and the audience rooting for you if you’re going to make it. Once you take the huge check, or hire all the people to dance to your songs, fans can feel that and all of a sudden they’re trying to take you down. Joe is someone that everyone continues to root for. He’s not just a talented musician and actor, but he’s a sincere and wonderful person, and that can be felt in everything we do around the Djo universe. The fact that “End of Beginning” broke out of Dublin is a testament to that. There is no Chicago there, but there’s something about Djo and the song that allows Chicago to be anywhere, to anyone.
Following this resurgence, we’re certainly doing some promo pushing the song at radio, both internationally and at home, but the goal is to convert fans of “End of Beginning” to fans of Djo. We were working The Crux single “Delete Ya” before this recent “EOB” wave, and as a result we’re now seeing the song start to connect. The album’s lead single “Basic Being Basic” is also having a major uptick. For us, the real win here has been the huge uplift in people listening to his catalog, engaging beyond “End of Beginning,” and coming on board with Djo in a meaningful way.
What are some of the pros and cons of him becoming a star actor at the same time he has been building his music career?
Joe’s acting career certainly helped launch his music career, but I give it less credit than others might. There are plenty of actors who try to be musicians, but being famous doesn’t make you talented or mean people will actually like and connect with your music. “End of Beginning” connected before most even realized who the musician was behind the song. I started working with Joe in 2019 based solely on his debut album, which I thought was amazing. He writes, produces, mixes and plays nearly every instrument himself.
Joe was making music and in bands long before Stranger Things. I’m of course realistic about the boost this show has been to his career as a musician, but we’ve definitely spent a lot of time and energy trying to educate people about Joe as a musician vs. an actor. It’s logical that if you only know him from the show, you might not give him much of a chance as a musician, so we battle through that. With the launch of The Crux, we made giant leaps forward, globally, establishing him as a musician. This most recent wave is making us do more of that now.
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How do you plan on capitalizing on this moment to help push his career — either in music or as an actor — forward?
It’s crazy to think that before last year, Joe hadn’t toured much. We had one big tour planned following DECIDE, but then he booked Fargo and we had to scrap it. So to go from not having a ton of experience outside of a handful of festivals to the year he just had — I just can’t express how impressive it was. With a new band he went from a warmup show at Music Hall of Williamsburg in January, to playing in front of 75,000 people at Lollapalooza in August and delivering a show that would make you think he’d been touring and playing festivals his whole life. Need to give thanks to Huston Powell at C3 — he’s been the biggest champion, and took a huge bet on Joe last year. Also Kevin French and Andy Cook at CAA, who were Joe’s agents for years without being able to book a proper tour.
Touring is the piece that makes this real to people. The live show highlights just how good he is, how strong the production is, and brings the music to life — and that’s what’s taken this from a hit song to a career with legs. That’s the long-winded way of saying — touring is what’s going to keep this going. Showing people that Joe is an immensely gifted artist and performer. There’s more happening, of course, but to me being able to connect with fans around the world in a live setting is what’s going to really keep this going.
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