Although it wasn't mentioned during last night's broadcast, it appears that Twenty One Pilots took home the Best Rock Video award at the 2016 MTV Video Music Awards. The Columbus, Ohio alternative duo nabbed the award for their Suicide Squad soundtrack hit, "Heathens."
"Heathens" came out on top among the category's other popular nominees; All Time Low's "Missing You," Coldplay's "Adventure of a Lifetime," Fall Out Boy's "Irresistible" and Panic! at the Disco's "Victorious" all shared the VMAs' Best Rock Video nomination with Twenty One Pilots.
However, it wasn't immediately clear on Sunday night that "Heathens" had won the recognizable MTV "Moon Man" trophy. The VMAs ceremony ended without a Best Rock Video winner being announced, nor was it promptly posted on MTV's website with the other VMAs winners. As now confirmed by Alternative Press, "Heathens" has emerged victorious as Best Rock Video champ.
"Heathens" was written by Twenty One Pilots' Tyler Joseph and Josh Dun specifically for director David Ayer's Suicide Squad. Nevertheless, as recalled by PopBuzz, Joseph said he took steps to make the song identifiable as a Twenty One Pilots original and not simply soundtrack fodder:
"As I was writing the song I was like, I want this song to be a Twenty One Pilots song first. And I want it to resonate with our fans and make sense at our show. Even though the themes in the movie inspired the beginning of it, as the lyrics came together, and as the song came together, I realized, like, this was our song."
The success of "Heathens" mirrors that of Twenty One Pilots' summer 2015 smash single, "Stressed Out." As "Stressed Out" rocketed Twenty One Pilots and their Blurryface album to stratospheric heights last year, Joseph rejected the notion of the song as a "millennial anthem" to Billboard:
"I wasn't thinking about any of that stuff. I was thinking about my brother and our relationship now and our relationship when we were growing up. He was my only friend for a big part of my life. I don't think that's a generational thing -- I think my dad relates to that song as much as I do."
Watch the 2016 VMAs winner for Best Rock Video, "Heathens," below.
