CONTACT 2018 Spotlight: The Chainsmokers
December 7th, 2018
Grammy-nominated DJ duo The Chainsmokers bring their genre-blurring music to BC Place for Canada's largest winter music festival on Saturday, December 29th.
Made up of Alex Pall and Drew Taggart, The Chainsmokers are known for mixing indie, dance, and pop sounds into hits like "Closer," "Don't Let Me Down" and "Something Just Like This." With their music continuing to top the charts and garnering hundreds of millions of views on YouTube, The Chainsmokers skyrocketing success shows no signs of slowing down.
Here are some facts you may not know about the duo:
- Alex and Drew met on a business blind date arranged by Alex's manager in 2012. Alex was moonlighting as a DJ and Drew was making beats in his bedroom at his parents' house.
- Their breakthrough hit "#Selfie," which mocks Instagram culture, was released as a free track to promote an upcoming show, but ended up going viral and leading to a record deal in 2014.
- The Chainsmokers produced two songs, "Erase" and "Rookie," with Bollywood superstar Priyanka Chopra.
- Their 2016 hit single "Closer" featuring Halsey spent a record-tying 32 weeks in the Billboard Hot 100 Top 10, matched only by LeAnn Rimes' "How Do I Live" in 1997-98.
- The Chainsmokers made an estimated $45.5 million this year, making the duo the second highest-paid DJs in the world.
The Chainsmokers headline Day 2 of CONTACT Winter Music Festival 2018 on December 29th. Tickets can be purchased here.