Since 2001, Dirty Heads have mixed hip-hop, reggae, and rock to create a unique sound that both fully embodies their Southern California roots and resonates with audiences around the globe.

Dirty Heads are currently out-streaming some of the biggest alternative acts in the U.S., with over 1.34 MILLION digital track sales and over 3.2 BILLION global streams. Dirty Heads also have over 2.4 million unique monthly listeners on Spotify.

The band’s global appeal reached new heights in 2021, when their hit “Vacation” (originally released in 2017) garnered over 6 billion views and streams across social media via the ubiquitous #VacationTransition challenge that originated organically with users on TikTok.

The group formed when punk rocker Dustin Bushnell (aka Duddy B) asked his friend, rapper Jared Watson (aka Dirty J), to collaborate on a project that would focus on positive vibes and infectious grooves. Watson added singing to his vocal skills, and later with percussionist Jon Olazabal, drummer Matt Ochoa, and bassist Dave Foral, Dirty Heads began building an immense audience.

In 2008, Dirty Heads released their acclaimed album Any Port in a Storm, with a deluxe edition following in 2010. The deluxe version featured the track “Lay Me Down” with special guest Rome Ramirez of Sublime with Rome. The song reached number one on Billboard‘s Alternative Songs in May 2010, and nine weeks later it established a record as the song with the longest stint atop the chart for an independently released title.

They followed up two years later with Cabin by the Sea and later recorded an acoustic version of the title track. This, in turn, led to an entire acoustic album in 2013 called Home: Phantoms of Summer. Dirty Heads’ next album, Sound of Change, proved to be a breakthrough for the now-veteran band, debuting at number eight on the Billboard Top 200 while topping the Independent and Alternative Albums charts upon its May 2014 release.

Building on their renewed success, Dirty Heads enlisted a bevy of industry hitmakers to work on their self-titled 2016 follow-up, which — thanks to its mainstream appeal — again charted high on the Billboard Top 200. The following year saw the band drop its sixth studio album, Swim Team, featuring the singles “Vacation” and “Staloney.”

Inspired by current events and the fan interpretations of their music in the #VacationTransition challenge, the band went into the studio to work on new music. In 2021, Dirty Heads released The Best Of Dirty Heads compilation, which included a new collaboration, single “Rage,” with Travis Barker and Aimee Interrupter of The Interrupters. The band also released their highly anticipated 8th studio album, Midnight Control, in August 2022, which featured 10 all-new songs, including their take on Joe Walsh’s 1978 hit “Life’s Been Good.”

In 2023, Dirty Heads released the digital deluxe version of their album Midnight Control, featuring 23 tracks, including acoustic versions of hit songs “Rescue Me,” “Life’s Been Good,” and “Island Glow,” lo-fi versions of 3 album tracks, 3 unreleased songs, and more in addition to all 10 tracks from the original album.

Before performing their Top 5 hits “Life’s Been Good” and “Rescue Me” on The Today Show in 2023, hosts Hoda & Jenna presented the band with a RIAA platinum plaque for their hit “Vacation,” acknowledging sales of more than 1 million digital downloads since its release by Better Noise Music. The band’s take on “Life’s Been Good” has been streamed over 34 million times since its release and climbed to the Top 5 on the Mediabase Alternative chart. Dirty Heads also completed 29 dates on their Slightly Dirty Summer Tour across the U.S. with co-headliners Slightly Stoopid