While many of us know Joe Keery because of his beloved Stranger Things character Steve Harrington, these days he’s also known for his music. Using the stage name Djo, the actor/musician has been making waves recently because his song “End of the Beginning” has gone mega-viral on TikTok. Now, as his music starts to hit the mainstream, many are wondering how to pronounce Keery’s stage name, and it turns out, it’s way easier than you’d think.
Much like how I’m frequently theorizing about Stranger Things Season 5 and questions like: Is Eddie Munson really dead? And how will the crew defeat the big bad Vecna? I was equally puzzled by how to pronounce Joe Keery’s stage name. While only three letters, the D at the front was cause for confusion. I couldn’t deduce if you were supposed to pronounce it like d-joe or if it was supposed to be said like an acronym, d-j-o, or if it was something totally different. Well, while speaking with SiriusXM, Keery cleared up the confusion about the pronunciation of Djo, saying:
Joe. It’s my name. What is the most confusing way to spell my name? And that's it.
You heard it from the man himself folks, Djo is literally just pronounced like his name, Joe. It’s as easy as that.
The interviewer then asked the Fargo actor if the idea for it came from the name “Django,” and he told her she was right, explaining that a famous jazz guitarist inspired him:
Django Reinhardt. Yeah. Kind of. I was like, ‘Oh, he did that.’ So, I dunno.
Along with that, Keery also explained when he came up with the name. He noted that this realization was a late-night thought, and he said it was last minute too:
I came up with it maybe like 11 o'clock. I had finished the first record that I did and was trying to, uh, I was uploading it to AWOL myself and was not sure what I was going to call the project and sort of last minute kind of ended up on that. And the rest is history.
How To Watch Stranger Things
Want to watch Joe Keery in Stranger Things? You can stream Seasons 1 through 4 with a Netflix subscription.
The rest indeed is history. Djo’s song “End of the Beginning” currently sits at the top of Billboard’s TikTok Top 50, and many people online are using the track as the soundtrack to their viral videos. This comes a few months into production on Stranger Things Season 5, so I think it’s safe to say that Joe Keery has been staying booked, busy and incredibly successful.
Releasing his first album Twenty Twenty in 2019 and his second DECIDE in 2022, Keery has released multiple singles and two albums under the name Djo. While he’s maintained a mighty fanbase, it’s only been recently that his music exploded online.
However, Joe Keery is no stranger to massive amounts of attention on his work. Stranger Things has been a pop culture phenomenon since it debuted in 2016, and his character Steve Harrington has been a fan-favorite character ever since he turned into everyone’s favorite babysitter in Season 2.
Along with that, Steve became one-half of Stranger Things' best duos when Maya Hawke’s Robin was introduced in Season 3. Funnily enough, Keery’s frequent scene partner is also a musician, and she’s released two albums – her new project, Chaos Angel, is coming in May. However, she just goes by her name, Maya Hawke, so there’s no confusion on how to pronounce it.
Like Stranger Things, Djo – pronounced Joe – is only growing in popularity. Hopefully, by the time Season 5 premieres, many more discover Keery’s talents as a musician and fall in love with him and his funky stage name, just like they did with the Netflix hit.
