On Sunday, April 20, The Chainsmokers dropped a video on Instagram where they were just… randomly DJ-ing at some college party in Arizona. But that didn’t last too long.
Less than 15 minutes later, cops showed on stage

13 minutes into the party, the cops rolled in and looked like they were about to shut the whole thing down.
One of them grabbed a mic and called out to the audience, “Listen up, if you are under the age of 21, I’m gonna tell you to leave right now or I’m gonna start writing tickets and start arresting folks.”
They had to pay to keep the party going

So, even though the cops shut it down, Alex was like, “We got shut down by the cops already, but we’re paying the fine. We’re gonna get another 15 minutes.”
Whole crowd went crazy.
There was enough time to play all the classics before time ran out

Once they locked in that extra time, Alex and Drew just went for it. They dropped “Roses,” then “Closer” with Halsey, all the big songs. Everyone was singing, jumping, just vibing hard.
I guess paying the fine was totally worth it
Even with the chaos, Alex and Drew still handled the situation just right. They got through all the classics and didn’t let the whole cop situation stop the show.
The Chainsmokers’ rise started with a viral selfie track

Back in 2014, their track #Selfie blew up and basically gave a little headstart to their fame. After that, in 2015, they dropped “Roses”.
But they gained a reputation they didn’t like so much

In a 2022 chat with Billboard, Alex and Drew talked about this one story from 2016 that painted them as these wild party animals who “rage every night.” Drew admitted, “I remember reading that and thinking, ‘I can’t believe this is what people are going to think of us,’ and ‘Do we come off this way? I don’t want to be this person, you know?’”
They came back in 2022 with a new mindset

After taking a break and coming back in 2022, Alex and Drew said it felt like they were starting fresh, like “we’re a new band starting over in a lot of ways.”
Drew opened up about his alcohol struggles in a song

In 2023, Drew opened up about his struggles with alcohol in the song “Self-Destruction Mode.” He posted on Instagram, saying, “I’ve struggled with drinking throughout my career as it’s an addiction that’s woven into the environment we exist in.” He talked about how the guilt of not feeling good enough made everything worse, leading him back into old habits.