Chino Moreno On DEFTONES’ TikTok Popularity: “My Daughter’s Friends Started Showing Interest In Our Band”

For years now, Deftones have experienced a resurgence as younger audiences continue to discover their music. Platforms like TikTok have been a major driver of that growth, introducing the band to new fans and helping push them to arena-headlining status in the U.S. earlier this year.

What makes their rise even more unique is that it’s happened decades into their career — and largely without new singles driving the surge. The band leaned into that momentum on their 2026 headlining tour, which sold out numerous dates well before the announcement of their tenth album, private music.

That record debuted this past August, moving 87,000 album-equivalent units in its first week and landing at #5 on the Billboard 200. In a new interview with Metal Hammer, frontman Chino Moreno reflected on how the band has connected with younger generations and how TikTok played an unexpected role in it all.

“The funniest thing is probably when my daughter’s friends started showing interest in our band. I was like, ‘Really?’ And back then, she was still in high school – she’s in college now. And then I was curious about it, because I’ve never had a TikTok account, so I didn’t see any of that physically. I was just being told about it.”

While social media trends are often fleeting, Moreno believes DEFTONES’ continued growth shows something deeper at play.

“Part of it could be a trend. But it’s been a good three or four years since the trend started. And it’s only growing, which is great, but also it’s unsolicited, too. I think if we were on TikTok and we were just like, ‘Yo, check this out’, and trying to market ourselves to the younger generation, it would probably come off that way. And the fact is that we don’t do that, it’s kind of what now is word of mouth, which is those platforms.”

In the same interview, Moreno also opened up about private music, his experiences with therapy, and what led him to sobriety.

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