After 10 years and 42 episodes, the hugely popular American TV series, Stranger Things is coming to an epic conclusion. On Thursday, December 18, the Paley Center For Media hosted Stranger Things: The Final Season Celebration.
Despite it being a cold and rainy winter evening, it did not deter fans from waiting outside the entrance to the Paley Museum. Some of whom were camped out as early as 5 hours prior to the star time, with hopes of seeing the actors and writers of the popular series. The sold-out event included a screening of the most recent episode as well as a discussion amongst producers, writers, and actors. Many actors from the series attended the event, including Finn Wolfhard, Gaten Matarazzo, Caleb McLaughlin, Natalia Dyer, Joe Keery, Charlie Heaton, Maya Hawke, and Jamie Campbell Bower. Creator, Executive Producer, Director, and Writers, Matt Duffer, Ross Duffer, were in attendance as well as Senior Producer, Perri Nemiroff, and President & CEO of the Paley Center for Media, Maureen J. Reidy.
The Paley Center and Paley Museum itself is a nonprofit cultural and education institution that dives into the impact and significance that television, radio, and digital media has on our world. Between their location in New York City and Los Angeles, the Paley Museum has a collection of over 160,000 different television and radio programs and advertisements. The museum also hosts programs and events focused around their mission to preserve and celebrate media history as well as promote critical thinking on the media’s role in the modern age.
What people don’t know is how many of the actors are also heavily known in the music and Broadway world. Gaten Matarazzo got his start on Broadway. He was Benjamin in Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (2011–12) and as Gavroche in Les Misérables. His time on Broadway led to his starring role as Dustin in Stranger Things. In 2022, Gaten returned to Broadway to play Jared Kleinman in Dear Evan Hansen. Sadie Sink made a big splash on Broadway when she starred as Annie in the musical, Annie. She is actively starring in the musical, John Proctor Is the Villain. Caleb McLaughlin also starred in the Broadway musical, The Lion King, as Young Simba. He also starred as Tobias in the musical Sweeney Todd in 2024.
If you’ve been following upcoming artists recently, you might have heard the name Djo. Also, known as Joe Keery from Stranger Things. From 2015 to to 2018, Keery was in a psych-rock band called Post Animal. The Chicago-based band grew in popularity and eventually joined larger tours with bands like White Reaper and Twin Peaks. Eventually, Keery left the band when his acting career took off. By 2019, Joe began releasing music under the moniker, Djo. He has since released 3 albums and joined Post Animal’s most recent album, IRON. Djo’s song, End of Beginning went viral on Tik Tok in 2024, reaching over 2.5 billion views on video creations using the sound (song).
The music in the series is really well done and fits into the timeline perfectly. The story itself takes place in the 1980s, which is reflected in the music. The music of Stranger Things, features artists like The Clash, Toto, New Order, Foreigner, Queen, and Madonna. Strategically choosing music to reinforce the storyline is no easy task and we’ve seen how Stranger Things’ popularity has influenced music charts. Kate Bush’s song, Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God), was featured in a pivotal scene in Season 4. The song’s popularity surged on charts across the globe. In 2022, the song reached #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, which means it surpassed its peak rating of 30 from 1985, when it was released. The song Master of Puppets by Metallica was also featured in the series. Just like Kate Bush’s song, the 1986 Metallica hit surged into the Billboard charts of the first time, climbing to #40.
At the Stranger Things: The Final Season Celebration, the Duffer Brothers teased that there is a monumental song featured in the last episode of the series during their interview with Entertainment Tonight. The brothers asked actors, family, and friends extensively for their input on which song to choose for this pivotal moment in the story. Once they finally settled on it, they said it felt right. It’s also a song that has rarely been used as it was never licensed for television. It’ll be interesting to see which song they chose.
While Stranger Things might be a television series, its relation to music and the music industry is one in the same. Many of the actors got their start in acting from their experience on Broadway. For a long time, Broadway and acting were seen as two different entities. In recent years, they’ve become more interrelated than we even realize. As Broadway musicals become movie adaptations, like Mean Girls in 2024, or movie actors join plays, like Tom Felton joined Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, this line between the two is becoming more and more blurred.
The success of Stranger Things across the globe has resurrected songs from the 1980s and made them more popular than ever. It’s helped expose a new generation to a new era of music that they aren’t familiar with. In addition, the show has helped create platforms for artists like Joe Keery, aka Djo, to pursue their own music.
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