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\n \u201cBeing independent is something I valued big time. I never wanted any money up front.\u201d
\n Photo: Fabien Kruszelnicki\n <\/p>\n
For a few seconds, it looked like Steve Harrington, Stranger Things<\/a>\u2019s well-coiffed reformed bad boy played by Joe Keery, was a goner. Having just triumphed in his plan to use a radio tower in the Upside Down to poke a rift into the Abyss and defeat the Mind Flayer once and for all (one of many shark-jumping moments in the series finale<\/a>), the character lost his footing and seemed headed for <\/strong>a gruesome splat. But Keery wasn\u2019t worried, even at the table read for the <\/strong>final episode of Netflix\u2019s cultural phenomenon. \u201cI didn\u2019t think anybody was going to die,\u201d he says. \u201cIt\u2019s a little different than a Game of Thrones or a Lord of the Rings when you\u2019re losing characters. I thought I might make it out alive.\u201d<\/p>\n The scene was indeed a fake-out, with Steve\u2019s romantic rival, Jonathan (Charlie Heaton), and his stealth deltoids catching Steve in the nick of time, teeing up the group\u2019s final victory. The whole crew lives to tell the tale \u2014 an ending that came too easily, many critics noted after the episode aired on New Year\u2019s Eve \u2014 and, in a flash-forward 18 months later to a rooftop reunion at the radio station, Steve is the only member of his young-adult coterie still living in small-town Hawkins, a beloved baseball coach and sex-ed teacher who hopes to one day be father to \u201csix little nuggets.\u201d You get the feeling Steve is the kind of town mainstay whose obituary will, in several decades\u2019 time, make the front page of the Hawkins Post.<\/p>\n But here in the real, Demogorgon-free world, 33-year-old Keery is one of the most popular musicians of the moment. His song \u201cEnd of Beginning,\u201d which he released as an independent artist under the stage name Djo in 2022, has broken global streaming records for the past two weeks, with the baroque rock tune about appreciating the past bulldozing the usual pop stars<\/a> on Spotify and Billboard\u2019s global charts, including a Showgirl-era Taylor Swift. \u201cEnd of Beginning\u201d already had a resurgence in 2025, but you don\u2019t join the ranks of Spotify\u2019s list of songs with 2 billion streams just because it provided a nice soundscape for a bunch of TikTok videos. (Keery remains skeptical of that Spotify achievement: \u201cA song like \u2018Back in Black,\u2019 you can\u2019t quantify how many barbecues since 1980 it\u2019s been played at. It\u2019s probably been played 10 billion times.\u201d) Though \u201cEnd of Beginning\u201d never appeared in Stranger Things, Keery knows his appearance in the final season likely drummed up interest in his music and helped the song reach a new apex of success. \u201cIt feels like it\u2019s taken on this life of its own,\u201d he says. \u201cIt\u2019s being used to underscore the end of a year and the show coming to an end \u2014 the end of an era and the start of something new.\u201d<\/p>\n \n From left: <\/strong>Keery in the series finale of Stranger Things. Photo: NetflixKeery performing in October 2025. Photo: Erika Goldring\/WireImage\n <\/p>\n \n From top: <\/strong>Keery in the series finale of Stranger Things. Photo: NetflixKeery performing in October 2025. Photo: Erika Goldring\/WireImage\n <\/p>\n Was it surprising to you that none of the main characters died in the finale? What message is being sent with that decision?<\/strong> People will take issue with whatever way you end it. I get it. There are parts of me that are like, Oh man, it would be amazing if you killed this character. You could make an argument for any of the characters. But it\u2019s the brothers\u2019 vision and we\u2019re here to support them. But personally I feel like, What a nice way to wrap up the show. It worked for me.<\/p>\n One of the most central relationships of the show has been Steve and Dustin, so much so that they declared \u201cYou die, I die\u201d to each other before going into battle. Steve calls Dustin his best friend. I\u2019m curious how you would define this duo\u2019s bond and how much they\u2019ve changed each other.<\/strong> After the evil is defeated, Steve frees Derek from inside the Mind Flayer and the camera lingers on his face when Derek embraces him in a hug. Steve seems to be going through a quiet moment of interiority there. Can you tell me about filming that scene and if you were communicating something larger there?<\/strong> In that last scene on the rooftop with Robin, Nancy, and Jonathan, it\u2019s revealed that Steve is the only one who remained in Hawkins during the time jump. What do you think this terrible experience affirmed for him and his purpose in the community?<\/strong> What was the atmosphere like on set for that big farewell?<\/strong> Will these four characters actually be meeting up in Philadelphia every month or did you view it as a coping mechanism to say good-bye? Will they be lifelong friends?<\/strong> Do you have any lingering questions about Steve or any of the show\u2019s narrative decisions?<\/strong> You recommended to the Duffers that they should end Stranger Things with David Bowie\u2019s \u201cHeroes,\u201d and they did. What was it about that song that felt like the ideal send off?<\/strong> You currently have the No. 1 song globally with \u201cEnd of Beginning,\u201d which surged after the finale. The song is about a turning point in your life and moving on from it \u2014 fitting for an end of such a popular show. But is there another reason you think it achieved this feat now?<\/strong> The economics of a viral sensation is interesting to me, because there are only 238 songs in the \u201c2 billion club.\u201d I <\/strong>talked<\/strong><\/a> to Curt Smith recently \u2014 who\u2019s in there with Tears for Fears\u2019 \u201cEverybody Wants to Rule the World\u201d \u2014 and he said they renegotiated the band\u2019s label deal and they\u2019re now getting half of the Spotify royalties. You\u2019re in the position of being an independent artist with no label. How did \u201cEnd of Beginning\u201d change your life, both in the interests of money and creativity?<\/strong> When artists talk about the megavirality of their songs, the one commonality the stories tend to share is that it\u2019s never something that can be planned in a studio. How do you resist the temptation to make a song that sounds similar going forward?<\/strong> Have you recontextualized the song at all now that Stranger Things is over?<\/strong>![\"STRANGER](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/6c1150b9f13caf2cc2ea11f8103c7da0f1-Joe-Keery-Secondary-1.rhorizontal.w700.jpg\")
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For me, the show isn\u2019t about people living or dying. The message that\u2019s so powerful, and the thing I think is genius about the way they wrapped it up, is that <\/strong>it\u2019s about saying good-bye to your childhood and your innocence. That\u2019s almost more sad, in a way. That\u2019s why the end of the show hits so hard \u2014 because it\u2019s heavy and everybody goes through that, saying good-bye and knowing it\u2019s not coming back. And that\u2019s punctuated by the fact that it has been ten years for all of us on the show and for everybody watching. A lot of younger kids who started watching when they were, say, 10 \u2014<\/strong> this is exactly that for them. That\u2019s why it hit so hard for me, and I think that\u2019s why it hit hard for other people as well.<\/p>\n
<\/strong>When you pair two characters that don\u2019t have a lot in common together, they can enlighten each other in different ways. Especially in the earlier seasons, you see a lot of the contrast of who these two people are. And when you have someone in your life that forces you to grow and pushes you, you can\u2019t help but feel a debt of gratitude to that person.<\/p>\n
No, not really. I\u2019m just doing my job and standing and looking that way. No, I\u2019m kidding. I guess it\u2019s a testament to working with him. He\u2019s such a great kid<\/a> and in a lot of ways reminds me of Gaten Matarazzo. I think he was 14 when we were filming, lived in Chicago, and has a great family. When you\u2019re working with younger actors, there\u2019s something amazing about what they can do. They feel less inhibited, maybe, by the social pressures of being an adult. I was touched by his performance, so that\u2019s what you\u2019re seeing.<\/p>\n
<\/strong>I think he\u2019s just a guy who likes simple pleasures. He knows what he wants \u2014 he wants a family, peace and happiness, and to be around people he loves. I\u2019m sure he\u2019s ambitious, but he has his priorities straight. I would never stay in Hawkins, personally.<\/p>\n
<\/strong>Ten years basically poured into this final day. There was a moment going up to set where we were driving to base camp and I looked over at Charlie and it was like, Here come the waterworks. The whole day was riding this high of whatever that emotion was. It felt like the real closing of a chapter.<\/p>\n
<\/strong>I have no opinion on it. They have the best intentions, but who\u2019s to know if they actually do?<\/p>\n
<\/strong>No.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m a big David Bowie fan and in a previous season there was a Peter Gabriel \u201cHeroes\u201d cover in an episode. I feel like that song is an anthem for people who feel like they\u2019re outcasts. That\u2019s kind of what the show is all about for me. It feels like a fist-in-the-air victory. I\u2019ll take credit where it\u2019s due, but the brothers are the real reason it worked. The credits at the end wrapped it up in a perfect way.<\/p>\n
<\/strong>I\u2019d be a fool, obviously, to say it wasn\u2019t driven by Stranger Things. It definitely is. But the song had a life of its own about a year and a half ago. It was TikTok mixed with the way modern music is shared, especially with social media. And then the message, too. When it happened the first time, afterward people were like, What did that feel like? Oh my gosh, that must\u2019ve been crazy. This time it feels even more that way.<\/p>\n
I already came from a big point of privilege because I was using the money I was making working on Stranger Things and using that to fuel my music project. It afforded me the ability to be an independent artist and not have to sign to a label. The expenses and the overhead weren\u2019t high. I was doing it at home for the most part. And then there would be maybe a couple weeks in the studio, so I paid for that time \u2014 <\/strong>flying people out to be in the studio. So now it\u2019s allowed me to have the music side fueling itself. There\u2019s a song called \u201cBack on You<\/a>\u201d on The Crux with a kids\u2019 choir. That was something I always wanted to do. Being able to have an idea that\u2019s pricey, or maybe just crazy, and using that money to fund it, or renting instruments you\u2019ve never used \u2014\u00a0that\u2019s the luxury. And you\u2019re right, being independent is something I valued big time. I never wanted any money up front. That\u2019s not what I needed. What I was really interested in is having the ownership for the longevity of the project, and it ended up working. I mean, it was working before that song really popped off. It was already self-sustaining, and it further helped me in that way.<\/p>\n
<\/strong>That\u2019s a pretty easy temptation to resist for me because I feel like the goal is to do something different every time. I think any artist is always trying to push past into new territory or mine deeper. Nobody wants to repeat themselves because that\u2019s not really fun \u2014 you\u2019ve already made that. But it\u2019s interesting to have gone through this little bump before, when I was making the last record. So now this song\u2019s doing really well again and we\u2019re making another record. When I was making \u201cEnd of Beginning,\u201d it was about something in my life that was compelling enough to put into song. So it\u2019s about continuing to try to find that and put something that evokes something in me out in the world.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s funny. You go through this process of getting really sick of it, and then it comes back, you get really sick of it, and then it comes back. This past year we were performing it a lot, so I had a newfound understanding of it. But no, for me, it\u2019s really linked to that specific time in my life. I do get a little taste of that every time I hear it. But sometimes I skip it. You open the internet, you hear that song, you\u2019re like, I can\u2019t listen.<\/p>\n