Drag Path
2026 single by Twenty One Pilots
"Drag Path" is a song by the American music duo Twenty One Pilots. It was written by frontman Tyler Joseph, who produced it with Paul Meany. First released on September 12, 2025 as part of a limited-time issue of the duo's eighth studio album, Breach (2025), the song was issued as a single on February 17, 2026, via Fueled by Ramen and Atlantic Records. "Drag Path" peaked at number 57 on the Billboard Hot 100 and became the duo's third-highest-charting single in the UK, peaking at number 23, as well as their highest-charting single in Australia since "Heathens" (2016).
01Release and promotion
"Drag Path" initially appeared as a bonus track on Breach (Digital Remains), a limited-time issue of the duo's eighth studio album, Breach (2025). The edition was available for the first week of Breach's release, with a purchase being required to obtain the track, before being delisted. Despite this, the song went viral on TikTok, garnering over 1.5 billion views and 75,000 recreations on the platform, compelling the duo to officially release it as a single. Upon release, the song was accompanied by an animated music video, directed by Tobias Gundorff Boesen. The duo altered the single version of the song slightly from the original version in an attempt to "save something special for those who purchased it originally."
02Live performances
The duo began performing "Drag Path" while headlining a series of music festivals in 2026. They also performed it at the 2026 American Music Awards after accepting their award for Best Rock/Alternative Artist.
03Composition
Lyrics
By definition, a "drag path" is a trail left behind by an object being dragged on the ground. In this song specifically, the term was used to metaphorically refer to a remnant of past trauma or other loss.
Style
Writing for The Case Western Reserve Observer, Penelope Cloonan noted that the song "packs an emotional punch", containing "raw vocals and grand instrumentation". In comparison between the original and single releases of the song, the single version is shorter and lacks the entire first verse and outro. It also features an additional pre-chorus and additional minor arrangement and production changes. NME has praised the track as "emotional and epic". The single release received mixed reception from audiences: some listeners enjoyed the song, regardless of the edit, while others believed that the original track was "too important" to be left exclusively to those who purchased it originally.
04Music video
The music video for "Drag Path" is an edited version of a 2010 short film directed by Tobias Gundorff Boesen, "Out of a Forest", and was released to accompany the single release of the song on February 17, 2026. The video depicts animated stop-motion characters of clay-constructed animals.
05Personnel
Credits adapted from Tidal.
Twenty One Pilots
- Tyler Joseph, vocals, guitar, bass, piano, keyboards, songwriter, producer
- Josh Dun, drums
Additional personnel
- Adam Hawkins, mixer
- Joe LaPorta, masterer
- Paul Meany, producer
- Unnus Latif, engineer
06Charts
| Chart (2025-2026) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australia (ARIA) | 59 |
| Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40) | 44 |
| Canada Hot 100 (Billboard) | 42 |
| Canada Modern Rock (Billboard Canada) | 23 |
| Colombia Anglo Airplay (Monitor Latino) | 13 |
| Czech Republic Singles Digital (ČNS IFPI) | 46 |
| Germany (GfK) | 80 |
| Global 200 (Billboard) | 57 |
| Ireland (IRMA) | 25 |
| Lithuania (AGATA) | 64 |
| Netherlands (Single Top 100) | 84 |
| New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ) | 31 |
| Norway (IFPI Norge) | 70 |
| Slovakia Singles Digital (ČNS IFPI) | 63 |
| Sweden Heatseeker (Sverigetopplistan) | 3 |
| Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade) | 62 |
| UK Singles (Official Charts) | 23 |
| US Billboard Hot 100 | 57 |
| US Hot Rock & Alternative Songs (Billboard) | 9 |
| US Rock & Alternative Airplay (Billboard) | 13 |
07Release history
| Region | Date | Format(s) | Label(s) | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Various | September 12, 2025 | Digital download | Fueled by Ramen | |
| February 17, 2026 |
|
Atlantic Records |
Sources and credits
This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Drag Path”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.
Images, from Wikimedia Commons:
- Twenty One Pilots - Drag Path.png by Twenty One Pilots, Fair use
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