Twenty One Pilots initially released the standalone single “Level of Concern” in April 2020, in the midst of that global pandemic that brought live music, and any community event really, to a screeching halt. The lyrics evoke the bleak conditions during this time, which often feels like something that happened to some other planet in some other timeline. On the flip side, it also encouraged hope and perseverance through those unprecedented times.
Universal trauma aside, Twenty One Pilots chose to do something unusual with “Level of Concern”. The duo started a YouTube livestream on June 21 and kept it going until December 16. They invited fans to submit their own homemade music videos for the song. Then, these were added to the livestream as it played on a continuous loop.
In total, the livestream ran for nearly 178 days (177 days, 16 hours, 10 minutes, and 25 seconds if you want to get technical). It clocks in at a whopping 4,264 hours. With this bold undertaking, Twenty One Pilots broke the Guinness World Record for Longest Music Video by a huge percentage.
The previous record was set in 2013 by Pharrell’s “Happy” video, which was only 24 hours long. It consisted of 360 clips of people dancing to the song around Los Angeles, stitched together to form the final video. There were many celebrity cameos, and fans could navigate anywhere throughout the clips to find their favorites.
Twenty One Pilots Smashed the previous Guinness World Record With ‘Never-Ending’ Music Video
On December 16, after 4,264 hours, 10 minutes, and 25 seconds of collaborative videography, Twenty One Pilots drummer Josh Dun “accidentally” pulled the plug on the livestream. Because the video is literally 4,000 hours long, there’s no existing record of the entire thing. However, there’s still the original music video from April 2020, which is a mix of camcorder and professional footage of Tyler Joseph and Josh Dun performing in what looks like a home studio. Their families make brief appearances as well, in keeping with that whole global lockdown theme.
While the livestream aimed to boost morale among fans, the proceeds from “Level of Concern” went to help road crew members out of work. Crew Nation, a relief fund started by Live Nation, received a portion of the song’s revenue. This helped the fund in supporting touring crews and music venues at the time.
“Level of Concern” was a decent hit in the mainstream world, all things considered. But it struck a chord for Twenty One Pilots fans around the world. It became their fourth-most popular song, falling behind “Stressed Out”, “Heathens”, and “Ride”, each from around 2015 and 2016.
Nowadays, live music has made a triumphant return, and Twenty One Pilots released their eighth album, Breach, in September 2025. It debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, their second album to do so, pulling massive vinyl sales in its opening week. Most recently, as in literally a couple of days ago, Josh Dun and his wife, actress Debby Ryan, welcomed their first child. Excuse me while I go text my little sister about this.
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