From indie remixes to the highest-paid DJs on Forbes’ list

The name came casually. Alex Pall said he was in college and the domain was open, and later added that he had picked it because of a habit of smoking a lot of cigarettes. It was meant to be a provisional name for flyers. The duo formed in New York City in 2012 under manager Adam Alpert, after Drew Taggart left Maine to replace Rhett Bixler in the act. Pall had been working at an art gallery in Chelsea, while Taggart had interned at Interscope Records.

They began by remixing indie artists. In April 2013 their remix of “Medicine” by Daughter reached number 1 on HypeMachine. They worked with the actress Priyanka Chopra on a single called “Erase”, then released “#Selfie” for free in December 2013. Dim Mak Records picked it up, and it went on to chart as a top-twenty single in several countries. Pall called the song life-changing. Their first live show, as an opener for Timeflies at Terminal 5, did not take place until September 2014.

The Bouquet EP came in October 2015 and included “Roses”, a top ten single in the United States. “Don’t Let Me Down”, with Daya, became their first top-five single and won the Grammy for Best Dance Recording. Then “Closer”, with Halsey, became their first number one on the Billboard chart. The debut album Memories...Do Not Open topped the Billboard 200 in April 2017, with “Paris” and “Something Just Like This” both reaching the top ten.

More albums followed: Sick Boy in 2018, World War Joy in 2019, So Far So Good in 2022 and Summertime Friends in 2023. By then the duo had won a Grammy, two American Music Awards, seven Billboard Music Awards and nine iHeartRadio Music Awards. Forbes put them at the top of its 2019 list of highest-paid DJs, ahead of Calvin Harris after his six years in that spot. A third EP, No Hard Feelings, appeared in 2024.