The Jonas Brothers Have Been Through So Many Career Highs and Lows — Let's Review

In 2005, Columbia Records President Steve Greenberg came across a solo disc recorded by former Broadway baby Nick Jonas. "I didn't like the record he'd made," Greenberg told Billboard in a 2007 interview. "But his voice stuck out, so I met with him and found out he had two brothers." Later, he added, "I liked the idea of putting together this little garage-rock band and making a record that nodded to the Ramones and '70s punk. So Michael Mangini and I went into the studio with the Jonas Brothers and did it."

Joe, Nick, and Kevin recorded "Please Be Mine," their first-ever song, and Columbia Records signed the brothers as a group. Though they considered naming themselves Sons of Jonas, they eventually settled on Jonas Brothers. While working on their debut studio album, the Jonas Brothers toured throughout 2005 with artists like Kelly Clarkson, Jesse McCartney, and the Backstreet Boys, among many others.

After having the release date pushed back several times due to executive changes at Sony, the Jonas Brothers' debut album, It's About Time, was finally released in August 2006. As well as a cover of "Year 3000" from the British band Busted, the album included "Mandy," their first original single, which would later be featured on the Nickelodeon show Zoey 101. "A lot of the songs on the record are about time," Joe explained to MTV in 2006 when asked about the album title. "There's '7:05,' '6 Minutes,' ['Time For Me to Fly'], etc. But also it's about time for it to come out, because we've been waiting."

The brothers also began their relationship with Disney in 2006. They wrote the theme song for the Disney Channel animated series American Dragon: Jake Long, and they covered Disney songs like "Yo Ho (A Pirate's Life For Me)" from Pirates of the Caribbean for the Disneymania 4 album and "Poor Unfortunate Souls" from The Little Mermaid for a special-edition release of the movie soundtrack.

In early 2007, the band was dropped by Columbia Records because of disappointing album sales. According to the band's manager, Phil McIntyre, It's About Time only had a "limited release" of 50,000 CDs, and only 40,000 had been sold by February 2007. "That was disappointing," McIntyre told Billboard. "We'd never gone to top 40, and Sony never put together a proper radio plan. Steve Greenberg did an amazing job of imagining a fan base at a grassroots level, but we were missing that key exposure."

Soon after leaving Columbia, "Year 3000" became a hit on Radio Disney, and after being without a label for a short time, the Jonas Brothers signed with Disney-owned Hollywood Records in February 2007. The brothers' self-titled second album was released in August 2007, just a year after It's About Time.

That same month, the Jonas Brothers made their TV debut when they guest-starred in an episode of Disney Channel's Hannah Montana, titled "Me and Mr. Jonas and Mr. Jonas and Mr. Jonas." Other TV appearances in 2007 included the Miss Teen USA contest, the Teen Choice Awards, the AMAs, the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, and Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve.

In January 2008, the Jonas Brothers embarked on their own three-month When You Look Me in the Eyes tour, with Rooney as their opener. While touring, the band filmed a Disney Channel reality short series called Jonas Brothers: Living the Dream. They also collaborated with Miley Cyrus on her 3D concert film, Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert, which was filmed during Cyrus's Best of Both Worlds tour, when the band sang "We Got the Party With Us" with Cyrus as Hannah Montana.

Later that year, the band made their film debut in the Disney Channel Original Movie Camp Rock, in which they played a band called Connect Three. The movie and its soundtrack premiered in June 2008, and soon after, they started their Burnin' Up tour to promote their third album, A Little Bit Longer, which was also the name of one of the tracks on the album. The song touches on Nick's struggle with diabetes, which he was diagnosed with at 13. "It's really shaped who I am as a person," Nick explained to Entertainment Weekly. "It has an effect on my creative life, the way I approach writing songs and doing all that." The album came out in August, marking their third album in three years.

While filming Camp Rock, the Jonas Brothers cowrote and coproduced six songs for their costar Demi Lovato's upcoming album, Don't Forget, which was released just a month after A Little Bit Longer.

In February 2009, a 3D concert biopic called Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience hit theaters, featuring footage from two shows of their Burnin' Up tour, as well as additional behind-the-scenes footage. Just a few months later, the brothers finished filming the first season of their Disney Channel Original Series, Jonas, which premiered in May 2009.

In June, the brothers released their fourth studio album, Lines, Vines and Trying Times. When asked about the album by Rolling Stone, the brothers explained that it was based on a lot of their own personal experiences. In reference to the title, Nick explained, "Lines are something that someone feeds you, whether it's good or bad. Vines are the things that get in the way of the path that you're on, and trying times — well, obviously we're younger guys, but we're aware of what's going on in the world and we're trying to bring some light to it."

In 2010, Nick started releasing new music and touring with his own band, Nick Jonas & the Administration, and their debut album, Who I Am, came out in February. As Nick explained to USA Today, some of the music he wanted to make wasn't a good fit for him and his brothers to perform. "I had written five or six songs that were on my heart, things that were just pouring out of me with this new and exciting sound," he said. "They weren't necessarily right for the Jonas Brothers, but I thought they could be perfect for something else."

Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam, which began filming just two months after the debut of Camp Rock, premiered on Disney Channel in September 2010. Soon after, the brothers took off on the Camp Rock 2 concert tour with Demi Lovato, but things cooled down when Jonas was canceled by Disney Channel after two seasons. Though the brothers maintained that Nick's band was a "side project," a hiatus seemed inevitable.

The Jonas Brothers took an official hiatus in 2011, with Nick embarking on his second tour with Nick Jonas & the Administration and starring in Hairspray on Broadway. In October, Joe released his own solo album, Fastlife, which received mixed reviews, and in December, rumors of a new Jonas Brothers song called "Dance Until Tomorrow" leaked, but the song was never released. Despite rumors circulating that the brothers had gone their separate ways, Kevin held on to the belief that they would release new material as a band in the future. As he told People, "I think the tides are perfectly lining up for the future of the Jonas Brothers again."

This year started off with more acting projects for Nick, who returned to Broadway as the lead in How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying and, a month later, appeared in the short-lived NBC musical drama Smash. In May, the brothers announced a split from Hollywood Records, whom they'd been working with for the past six years. "This was a decision that we made as a group," Nick told The Hollywood Reporter. "Naturally, as with any partnership, when you do part ways, there is emotion tied to it. We've been blessed to have a lot of success with Hollywood and with Disney, but speaking on behalf of my brothers and our team, we're all looking forward to this next chapter. We're ready for that next step as a group, and being able to take our work with us was so important."

In August, Kevin's new E! reality series, Married to Jonas, premiered, which he starred in alongside his wife, Danielle, as well as his brothers. It was on the show that the Jonas Brothers confirmed they were working on a fifth album, as had been rumored. They also announced a new concert tour, the World Tour 2012/2013, and they even played a reunion concert in October at Radio City Musical Hall, leading fans to believe a comeback was possible.

In May 2013, Married to Jonas was canceled soon after the end of its second season. Though the Jonas Brothers' fifth album, V, was slated for release before their national tour, it was announced in October that the tour had been canceled due to creative differences. As their spokesperson told People, "There is a deep rift within the band. There was a big disagreement over their music direction."

Soon after, the Jonas Brothers decided they wouldn't be finishing V, and they officially split up. Instead, they released five songs from V as part of a live album. During an October Good Morning America appearance, Kevin said it felt like the band had reached its natural end. "I think it was time, and for us it took some time getting there, but we feel like it's time that the Jonas Brothers come to an end," he said.

For the next two years, the brothers continued to concentrate on their solo careers. Nick signed with Island Records and released two solo studio albums: a self-titled album in November 2014, then Last Year Was Complicated in June 2015. He also continued his acting career, landing starring roles in the TV series Kingdom and Scream Queens.

In 2015, Kevin appeared on The Celebrity Apprentice and began working as a contractor, while Joe formed the pop group DNCE with Jack Lawless, Jinjoo Lee, and Cole Whittle. The band's debut single, "Cake by the Ocean," was released in September 2015, and a few months later, they embarked on a 14-date tour called the Greatest Tour Ever.

In February 2016, DNCE joined Selena Gomez as opening acts for her Revival Tour, then later on in November, the pop band released their self-titled debut studio album. Nick concentrated on his acting, starring in the drama film Goat and continuing to star in Kingdom, while Kevin kept out of the limelight, focusing on his wife, two daughters, and contracting career.

In 2018, speculation of a reunion began when the Jonas Brothers' official Instagram account was reactivated. Then, in late February 2019, the Jonas Brothers announced their comeback on social media, and just a day later, they released a new single, "Sucker," under Republic Records. Their second new single, "Cool," was released in April, followed by their new studio album, Happiness Begins, in June. Just three days before the album's release, a documentary titled Chasing Happiness premiered on Amazon Prime Video, featuring deeply personal interviews and never-before-seen footage tracking the three brothers over the course of their 14-year career.