It happened in May 2021. One minute we’re all processing the "Shy Away" video with Tyler’s long, shaggy brown hair and those weirdly iconic space buns. The next? He’s on our screens with a head of bright, bubblegum pink hair.
Honestly, the transition was jarring. For a band that builds entire universes out of color palettes—red for Blurryface, yellow for Trench—the sudden shift to pink felt like a glitch in the simulation. But Tyler Joseph pink hair wasn’t just a random choice. It was the visual anchor for the Scaled and Icy era, a period defined by forced optimism and the "propaganda" of Dema.
The Lore Behind the Dye
If you’ve been following the Twenty One Pilots storyline, you know nothing is an accident. In the lore, Scaled and Icy is widely accepted as propaganda created by the Bishops of Dema. They took Tyler (Clancy), dressed him up in bright blues and pinks, and told him to smile.
The pink hair was a physical manifestation of that "saturation."
In the lyrics for "Good Day," Tyler sings, "I can feel my saturation leaving me slowly." It’s a heavy line. Think about it. Pink is basically just diluted red. If red represents the fear and anxiety of Blurryface, then pink is that same fear being watered down, painted over, and marketed as something "fun" and "palatable" by the powers that be.
How It Actually Happened (The "Official" Story)
The band actually leaned into the chaos of the hair change. On May 18, 2021, they posted a video on Twitter (now X) that "explained" the new look. In the clip, Josh Dun is messing around with some sort of "superpower" light during rehearsals for the Scaled and Icy livestream. He accidentally hits Tyler with a beam of light, and—poof—Tyler’s long hair is suddenly short and neon pink.
It was a total "Tyler is just a silly guy" moment. But fans weren't entirely buying the "accident" narrative. Many pointed out that the pink matched the specific shade of Keons, one of the more "sympathetic" Bishops.
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Why the Look Was So Polarizing
People either loved it or hated it. There wasn't much middle ground. Some fans missed the grit of the Trench era, where everything was muted olive green and dirt-streaked. To them, the pink hair felt too pop.
But that was exactly the point.
The Scaled and Icy era was supposed to feel "off." It was a colorful mask over a gray city. When Tyler showed up to the 2021 Billboard Music Awards with the pink hair and a light blue suit, he looked like a completely different person than the guy who wore a balaclava and black neck paint a few years prior.
- The Vibe: High-energy, colorful, almost manic.
- The Reality: Deeply isolated, written during the 2020 lockdowns.
- The Hair: A neon sign saying "I'm fine!" while the lyrics said anything but.
Getting the Look: The "Tyler Pink" Formula
If you were around on Reddit or Discord during this time, you saw a thousand people trying to replicate the exact shade. It wasn't a "hot pink" or a "magenta." It was a very specific, pastel-leaning cotton candy pink.
Because Tyler started with dark hair, he had to bleach it to a level 10 blonde first. You could see his dark roots growing in during later performances of the Takeover Tour, which actually added to the "disheveled propaganda" aesthetic.
Common dyes fans used to mimic the look included:
- Good Dye Young (Hayley Williams’ brand) in the shade "Ex-Girl" mixed with a lot of fader.
- Iroiro Pastel Cotton Candy.
- Manic Panic Cotton Candy Pink.
The problem with this specific color? It fades faster than a summer tan. By the time the Icy Tour rolled around in 2022, the pink was mostly gone, replaced by a bleached blonde that eventually transitioned back to Tyler's natural brown for the Clancy era.
The End of the Pink Era
As the band moved toward Clancy in 2024 and Breach in 2025, the pink hair became a relic of a very specific time. It represented a moment when we were all stuck inside, trying to find "saturation" in a world that felt increasingly gray.
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When Tyler finally shaved his head again—a recurring ritual for the start of heavy lore eras—it felt like he was shedding the skin of Scaled and Icy. The pink was gone, the "propaganda" was over, and the real fight was back on.
Looking back, the Tyler Joseph pink hair era was one of the boldest stylistic risks the band ever took. It wasn't just about a hair color; it was about the subversion of the "happy" pop star image. It proved that Twenty One Pilots could play with brightness and still keep things incredibly dark underneath.
To truly understand the transition, you should go back and watch the Scaled and Icy Livestream Experience. Pay close attention to the moment the "magic of television" starts to fade. You'll see exactly why that pink hair was never meant to last—it was a beautiful, temporary lie.