Canadian punk quartet Billy Talent spent the latter part of the 1990s building a hard-won grassroots following before breaking out into mainstream success in 2003 when their Juno Award-winning debut went multi-platinum, sending them on an upward trajectory for much of the decade. As they began to incorporate new elements into their music, their fans followed along, helping to lift each of their subsequent studio albums to the top of the Canadian Albums chart. By the time of 2016's Afraid of Heights, Billy Talent had become a highly decorated rock act with an international fan base and years of hard touring to their credit.