Career
Although Jonas and his two older brothers played music while growing up, his career took off by chance at six when he was spotted singing in a hair salon where his mother was having a haircut. Following a reference to a professional show business manager he landed up performing on Broadway at just seven years of age portraying Tiny Tim in ‘A Christmas Carol’ in 2000 performing opposite Frank Langella.
He went on performing in other Broadway musicals like ‘Annie Get Your Gun’ (2001) and ‘Beauty and the Beast’ (2002) among others, mostly as replacement alternates. His later theatrical performances included ‘Les Miserables’ (2010), ‘Hairspray’ (2011) and ‘How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying’ (2012).
In 2002 he co-wrote a song with his father titled ‘Joy to the World (A Christmas Prayer)’ which featured in ‘Broadway's Greatest Gifts: Carols for a Cure’, Vol. 4., a compilation album, and released the following year to ‘Christian Radio’ via ‘INO Records’ thus marking his debut single.
‘Columbia Records’ took note of the song which was otherwise not a great success. He was signed by Columbia and INO. On September 5, 2004, his eponymous debut studio album, ‘Nicholas Jonas’ released comprising 11 tracks, lyrics of some of which were co-written by him with his father and some with older brothers including ‘Time for Me to Fly’ and ‘Please Be Mine’.
Steve Greenberg, president of ‘Columbia Records’, appreciated Jonas’ voice and liked the song ‘Please Be Mine’ and signed him and his older brothers, Joe and Kevin to ‘Columbia Records’ as a group leading to the formation of ‘Jonas Brothers’ band.
On November 5, 2005, the first promotional tour of ‘Jonas Brothers’ for their upcoming album ‘It's About Time’ began. Several delays led the album to release on ‘Columbia Records’ on August 8, 2006. Meanwhile, the band released their debut single and first single from the album titled ‘Mandy’ on December 27, 2005; the second single from the album, a cover song titled ‘Year 3000’ on March 16, 2006; and made several appearances on different soundtracks associated with ‘Disney Channel’.
‘Jonas Brothers’ were dropped by ‘Columbia Records’ from their roster list shortly after which they signed with ‘Hollywood Records’.
Their single titled ‘S.O.S’ that released on August 3, 2007 brought them fame. It became a huge hit selling over 1.5 million copies in the US and making it to the top 20 hit on Billboard Hot 100.
The real breakthrough came with their eponymous second studio album released on August 7, 2007, that sold over 2 million copies in the US and also ranked among top 5 of Billboard 200 in the US.
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On August 17, 2007, the group featured as special guest stars in ‘Me and Mr. Jonas and Mr. Jonas and Mr. Jonas’, an episode of Disney Channel’s series ‘Hannah Montana’. The episode became the highest-rated one of the series garnering 10.7 million viewers breaking basic cable records and becoming its most viewed series ever telecast.
On May 16, 2008, the first season of the band’s reality television series on ‘Disney Channel’ titled ‘Jonas Brothers: Living the Dream’ premiered which after two seasons ended on May 31, 2010. Jonas’ other television series included ‘Mr. Sunshine’ (2011), ‘Smash’ (2012) and ‘Scream Queens’ (2015) among others. Presently he plays in the sitcom ‘Last Man Standing’.
On June 20, 2008, ‘Jonas Brothers’ made their film debut with ‘Disney Channel Original Movie’ ‘Camp Rock’ starring with Demi Lovato. It is presently the third highest watched DCOM ever that garnered 8.9 million viewers on its premiere. The movie’s sequel starring the three brothers released on September 3, 2010.
*‘A little Bit Longer’, the band’s third studio album released on August 12, 2008, becoming their second multi-platinum album selling over 2 million copies in the US thus cementing their position in the world of American pop rock music.
On February 27, 2009, their 3D biopic titled ‘Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience’ released which not only became a commercial success but also the 6th highest grosser among concert films. That year on May 2 the band started their second television series with the Disney Channel titled ‘JONAS’ which was later named ‘JONAS L.A.’. It wrapped up after 2 seasons on October 3, 2010.
On June 16, 2009, the band released their fourth and last studio album ‘Lines, Vines and Trying Times’ that debuted at the number one spot on Billboard 200 and sold 247,000 copies in the first week of release but failed to match the success of earlier albums. The group later disbanded on October 29, 2013.
In late 2009 Jonas formed his own band called ‘Nick Jonas & the Administration’. Jonas’ albums under the new band include studio album ‘Who I Am’ (2010), live album ‘Nick Jonas & The Administration Live at the Wiltern January 28th, 2010’ (2010) and extended play ‘Stay’ (2010) among others.
On November 10, 2014, his second eponymous studio album ‘Nick Jonas’ released and that received favourable critical reviews and made it to the top 10 in the US and hit the top 20 in the UK, Canada and Mexico. A re-release of the album, ‘Nick Jonas X2’, with three new tracks and four remixes was done on November 20, 2015.
Third solo album and the last released by Jonas so far is ‘Last Year Was Complicated’ on June 10, 2016 that saw him collaborating with Big Sean, Ty Dolla Sign, Tove Lo and Daniella Mason. It reached number 2 on Billboard 200 and number one in the Top Albums sales Chart in the US in the first week of its release.
He released the single ‘Remember I Told You,’ featuring British singer-songwriter Anne-Marie and American singer Mike Posner in May 2017. After four months, his song ‘Find You’ came out. In 2017, he also made an appearance in the adventure film ‘Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle.’
