Chasing Happiness (2019) - full transcript

A behind-the-scenes look at the life and work of The Jonas Brothers as they prepare their first album in six years.

-[lock opens]

-[man shouting]

[pounding on door]

NICK: Before we kind of step

into this again,

I think there's a lot that we

probably could discuss

about the ways the old Jonas

years worked--

-[girls screaming]

-[fingers screeching on window]

...and how even the three

of us felt about

the way things

were supposed to be.

[crowd screaming]

And that fear that

everything would go away--

[crowd screaming]

...at any minute.

To do this the right way,

we need to make sure everyone

feels comfortable...

and just focus

on being brothers.

[crowd cheering]

-Hey.

-Hey.

-It was a good one.

-Hey!

And probably stop

looking at it through

rose colored glasses too.

Actually have an open

conversation about it.

Yeah.

Like, some things

just won't work.

Like what?

I don't know yet.

I haven't figured it out.

I think just having that open

dialogue instead of rehearsals

being like,

"This is what it's gonna be."

What are you really saying?

I don't understand.

Building a set list--

-I'm saying I will do that.

-Yeah, yeah.

-Yeah, that's what I'm--

-Okay, sorry.

I'm a little tired.

I'm trying.

I think you're afraid

to be confrontational.

I mean, it's fine.

No, not at all.

I'm not at all.

-Um...

-[chuckles]

Begin.

-[laughter]

-Fight!

♪♪

♪ Nights flying down 10 ♪

♪ Nearly 2 a.m. ♪

♪ Happiness begins ♪

♪ Days lifted in a haze ♪

♪ We were just a phase ♪

♪ We were just pretend ♪

♪ I remember no lows

and highs ♪

♪ We threw our hands up ♪

♪ Palms out to the skies ♪

♪ It was fun

when we were young ♪

♪ And now we're older ♪

♪ Those days around the world,

they seem to glow now ♪

♪ We were up and down

and barely made it over ♪

♪ But I'd go back and ride

that roller coaster ♪

♪ It was fun

when we were young ♪

♪ And now we're older ♪

♪ Those days when we

were broke in California ♪

♪ We were up and down

and barely made it over ♪

♪ But I'd go back and

ride that roller coaster ♪

♪ With you ♪

NICK:

Someone asked me the other day

if I had unfinished business

with anyone or anything

in your life

and you had a chance

to handle it before you died,

what would it be, and...

-Hello.

-What's up, man?

-What's up, dude?

-[bag clatters]

-How you doing?

-Love you. Love you, man.

-Love you too. Missed you.

-Welcome to Australia.

I need a coffee and a mimosa,

and I'll be good to go.

Okay, yeah.

Well, let's get you sorted.

KEVIN: It had been nearly

six years since we had spent

time together...

just the three of us

as brothers.

Holy shit!

[laughing]

How'd they get

you out of America?

This is impressive.

-It is impressive.

-[laughing]

Good to see you.

You're actually surprised.

-I am surprised.

-Yeah, man.

I jetted right after

the recital.

KEVIN: In order to move

forward together,

we had to revisit our past.

JOE: Welcome to Oz, Kev.

This is what Australia's

all about.

KEVIN:

Cool. Welcome.

-Happy meeting, boys.

-Cheers.

Have you liked being here, Joe?

It speaks for itself,

I think.

And I feel real lucky

to be able to, like,

call this a second home now.

I often wonder

how it happened.

What?

All of it. Us.

You know how many people

in similar situations to what

we all went through together

can't even stand to be

in the same room?

I mean, we were not

supposed to

get out of Jersey.

-No.

-[chuckles]

You know what I mean?

[chattering, indistinct]

Welcome to the Jonas family--

[stammering]

-Ready?

-[stammering]

Welcome to the Jonas family

household. This is our life.

DENISE:

Oh, here we go. Hi!

NICK: From the beginning,

my brothers and I

were always very close.

We did love doing

everything together.

Wrestling, backyard sports.

Every vacation.

JOE:

Most of time we would just

run around the neighborhood.

We didn't really grow up with,

like, a lot of family around.

There were friends

with my parents,

musicians, singers,

people that they knew.

Other than that,

it was kind of just us.

We had a really

tight-knit family.

We became each other's

best friends.

[singing note]

GRANDFATHER:

Hold that note! Hold it!

NICK: From an early age,

it was kind of like

the Von Trapp family.

♪♪

What are you doing?

Get out of here.

NICK:

Music was just always there.

GRANDFATHER:

Man, you playing that guitar.

Where you learn how

to play like that, Nicholas?

In our household, it wasn't

"No singin' at the table."

It was encouraged

to sing at the table.

GRANDFATHER:

This is my grandson's stage.

Very talented young man.

He got a piano.

He's got a guitar.

Look at that guitar there, man.

Wow! And where is he?

KEVIN SR.:

Nick was three years old,

and he's walking down the hall.

GRANDFATHER:

...bring to the stage Nicholas!

KEVIN SR.:

And he hit kind of a bum note.

♪ La-la, la-la, la ♪

And he went--

And he backed up,

rewound himself.

Started walking--

♪ La-la, la-la, la ♪

And he smiled.

Kept walking.

And I turned around

to my wife, and I went,

"Did you see that?"

♪♪

We immediately went

into his room...

took out the lullabies,

threw them away.

Put in Stevie Wonder's

"Definitive Collection."

♪♪ ["Superstition"]

NICK:

I remember I was with my mom

at a hair salon in Jersey.

I was about six.

Just hanging out and singing.

The woman next to my mom

leaned over and said,

"My son is on Broadway

right now

"doing 'Les Mis.'

Your son could do it."

DENISE: Nick looks at me

and says, "Mom, I'm gonna

be on Broadway."

And then he told us what shows

he was going to be in.

I was like, "Who is this kid?"

♪ I'll get you,

I'm Captain Hook ♪

♪ King of the island,

cheapest crook ♪

♪ Only one enemy

do I know ♪

♪ Peter Pan,

my cheapest foe ♪

♪ Aha, aha ♪

♪ Ah-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha ♪

When I auditioned for

"A Christmas Carol,"

and I started working.

It was the first time I really

felt like I belonged somewhere.

He was kind of the first

to try at this,

and he had this confidence

that he could just go

and sing in front of people.

It came natural for him.

NICK: I loved being around

kids who were like me

that liked to sing

and dance and act.

All these adults, too,

that were so kind

and so different to

any people that I'd met.

JOE: Think I was probably

a little bit envious,

somewhat jealous.

There was always competition

as brothers.

I mean, that was just natural.

Whether it was who could do

the most flips on the trampoline

to who can sing

the highest or lowest.

So looking up on stage

and seeing Nick

getting this attention,

I remember saying

to my parents,

I think I want

to start auditioning.

GRANDFATHER:

Joseph! What are you doing?

He was suddenly becoming

this comical person.

like, all the time.

GRANDFATHER:

What? Hold on!

Wait, wait, wait, wait.

Joe was just kind of

a goofball.

Dude! Cool! Yeah!

JOE:

I wanted to be an actor.

I wanted to be a comedian.

Definitely was doing standup

comedy in the basement.

Here's Joseph Jonas. Whoo!

JOE: I remember making, like,

a fake talk show at night.

He wanted to be on "All That,"

the variety show on Nickelodeon.

[vocalizing]

JOE:

The first show I was in

was "Oliver."

It was an off Broadway

production.

Really opened me up as

a singer and performer.

And being on stage and

hearing the reactions,

it felt great.

I knew that this was

where I was supposed to be.

MAN: Action.

"76 Trombones."

♪ 76 trombones

led the big parade ♪

Growing up, I always did kind of

odd extracurricular activities.

You know, whether

it was gymnastics,

pole vaulting,

magic.

KEVIN SR.: Good one!

KEVIN: Those are not

the most popular things

that young boys

would see as cool.

And also, we didn't

have money at all.

My clothes were

just was what it was.

I became a target.

Kids are cruel at that age.

They would call me gay,

they'd call me fag,

they would, you know,

call me pisshead.

It would break me down.

I remember coming home

from school,

and like crying

to my parents.

But I think what was

really hard was...

I never felt like I could

find the place that I fit in.

Even though I had things

I loved,

I just never felt like

I connected with anyone truly.

I found my other avenues.

Pop in the E-Brain CD,

and you can choose from

eight different menus!

KEVIN SR.:

Kevin started doing commercials

KEVIN:

I started getting booked

right away.

-[belch]

-[laughing]

It was kind of

a crazy season

where their talent started

opening up opportunities.

We had Joe and Nick

in Broadway shows and

Kevin doing commercials.

♪♪ [piano]

NICK: We lived 45 minutes

from New York City.

My mom had given birth

to Frankie

and was driving me

to the city most days.

Hours and hours in the car.

Seven days a week.

Just a lot.

Especially with

a newborn child.

Sometimes my dad

would do a shift.

On the way home,

he said,

"Try writing something."

So we'd start writing songs

on the way home

from the Broadway shows.

Eventually, we sat down

at the piano

and properly wrote a song.

♪♪

♪ When I'm lost ♪

♪ And I just

can't find my way ♪

-♪ There you are-- ♪

-Wait, wait.

Nick and my dad write this

song, "Joy to the World:

A Christmas Prayer."

And they put it on a CD.

♪♪

Somehow that CD ends up

with David Massey...

at Sony.

I first met Nicholas Jonas

as he was then

as a ten year old.

♪ What I know you wanna see ♪

♪ That I can hold on

through these trials ♪

♪ But I need you

to leave this love ♪

♪ Because I can't take it

no more ♪

He was an amazing singer.

He was really naturally

charismatic.

♪ So I can dance now ♪

His voice even then was

absolutely undeniable.

♪ Thank you, yeah ♪

You could already tell at 10

he was just that guy.

I actually signed him

then and there.

[applause]

[truck approaching]

Kevin and I started

to feel like, wow, like,

he's actually doing it.

We started to kind of

write on our own.

And me Joe and Nick were

in our little room,

and we played guitar

together just for fun.

KEVIN: And we're playing

around, it goes--

♪ They come and go ♪

♪ But they don't know ♪

♪ That you are my beautiful ♪

We wrote a song called

"Please Be Mine."

♪ I'll be there forever ♪

The song just, like, literally

wrote itself in 10 minutes.

♪ Our hopes

and our dreams ♪

I think that was the moment

we all looked at each other

and were like,

"This could be something."

Very few feelings in my life

as sure...

as that.

♪ For you ♪

♪ Till the end ♪

♪ The end of time ♪

♪ Please be mine ♪

And then Nick wanted me

to meet his brothers.

-Such a sweet place.

-There's a huge fish in here.

DAVID:

They came into the office,

they told me they had

written a song

called "Please Be Mine,"

and they stood in

a semi-circle,

I'll never forget it,

and sang me this great song,

and I was blown away

by their chemistry

together as brothers.

Then I added the other

two brothers to the mix

and the Jonas Brothers

was born.

KEVIN: I was in high school

at this point--

Why are you following me?

...and I was so excited.

But I wasn't allowed

to tell anyone

that we were signed,

because my dad was

the pastor of a church.

♪♪

Doubt in yourself

and doubt in your god will

keep you from your destiny.

[applause]

KEVIN:

We didn't tell anyone

at the church at the time,

'cause we didn't want my dad

to lose his job potentially.

We were signed

to a secular label,

and we weren't making

a Christian album.

We lived two doors down

from the church.

And we were there

pretty much every day.

It was a humongous part

of our life.

DENISE: The community

we lived in in Wyckoff,

it was amazing.

Always friendly.

And we were so happy

to be there.

JOE: All of our friends

were the kids that went

to this church,

and they were a part

of the family.

The way we saw it was our dad

went on stage every Sunday,

and it was like this big thing.

[applause]

[overlapping chatter]

NICK:

There were people

in the church all the time,

people that really needed

that place.

You could feel they expected

a lot of my dad.

Being the pastor's family,

you're kind of a first family

in a sense of the church.

There was a lot of

responsibility on us...

and also a lot of eyeballs.

There's a pressure

to be the example.

Everything should always look

like we're this perfect family,

and nothing's ever wrong.

As a kid, it was hard

to understand that,

like, there's no way that

doesn't affect the family.

[overlapping chatter]

That's not your pitch.

-One, two--

-Look at him.

Hold on.

Let me get my composure.

One, two, three, four.

♪♪ [singing tones]

JOE:

Overnight, we're a band.

It wasn't something that we,

like, sat around for years

or months and started

writing music

and then presented

this stuff to anyone.

We had to figure out who we were

and what we were creating.

♪ Wouldn't it be nice

if I had some tissues ♪

♪ Wipe away the tears ♪

♪ That's right

you've got issues ♪

We weren't great writers,

obviously, at the time.

And we were in--

We were kids.

But we were trying hard.

♪ 'Cause you love me ♪

♪ And I hate you ♪

♪ I'm right, you're wrong ♪

♪ Move on ♪

The first day I met

the Jonas Brothers,

you just could feel that

this was something unique.

It was less about how

amazing they sounded,

and it was just more

about a connection

between the three of them.

I just remember thinking

there's something so special

about this family.

NICK: The label had

a vision that we would be

a punk rock band.

One of the fundamental issues

selling the Jonas Brothers

as a rock band is that we--

we were not

a rock band at all.

Okay, you guys ready?

I gotta go to the bathroom.

Sorry.

The idea was, we're gonna

put together a band.

♪♪

We spent a lot of time

at SIR in New York,

nonstop rehearsals

all day long.

♪♪

To me, that was

the ultimate band camp.

We were just there every day

perfecting three or four songs.

We were there 12-hour days,

six days a week,

every day but Sunday.

It was a crash course

in how to do rock and roll.

♪♪ [singing indistinctly]

People have this in their

mind that the Brothers was

manufactured by some machine

at Disney World.

Put in, like, a bunch of kids

with moppy hair and guitars

in their hands,

and, like, we came out.

-Good morning, Kevin.

-Good morning.

Today's the big day.

What's the special day?

Today is my 18th birthday.

It's a good day.

We're going to the show,

and then we're driving back

to Jersey.

JOHN TAYLOR: It's really easy

to look at the Jonas Brothers

and just think,

"Oh, they were

this huge thing."

But there was, like,

two years of tried and true,

like, rock and roll

cutting your teeth.

KEVIN: We were starting to play

little shows here and there

around, like Jersey, Boston.

GREG:

We would wake up at 4 a.m.

and then start loading gear.

It felt like we were

a real band.

♪♪

KEVIN: We're were doing

two shows a day.

We'd wake up at the crack of

dawn and do a school assembly,

and then later play a club.

We had equipment and suitcases

and sleeping bags on the floor.

And on a long road trip,

we'd be actually really excited.

We're in Boston,

about to do the concert.

It's gonna be so awesome.

We're really excited.

So we're getting

the big mama out.

This is the big mama.

GREG: We'd be fully set up,

ready to go, before school

started.

So we would be ready

by about 8 a.m.

♪♪

It was awesome, 'cause we

would win those kids over

by the end of every assembly.

KEVIN:

We would drive all

the way to Boston,

do the show in Boston,

drive all the way home,

to then drive back to

Connecticut the next day,

because the gas money was

cheaper than buying a hotel

and we couldn't afford both.

♪♪

[cheering]

JOE: We didn't look at it

as, like, roughing it.

You look at it as,

like, we're doing it.

We're living our dream.

Once upon a time,

there were three brothers

who all love music.

Even more, they love making

music together,

and now they're living

the rock star dream.

Please welcome

the Jonas Brothers.

♪♪

KEVIN: The numbers at the show

were starting to grow.

It went from, like, 50 people,

all of a sudden to,

like, 200 people.

♪ Mandy used to be that girl ♪

♪ The one that

never said a word ♪

♪ But she only sang

S Club 7 ♪

♪ And all those boy bands ♪

When you saw them play,

there was no question about it.

There was some chemistry there

that you hadn't seen before.

And their success came from

hard work. It wasn't luck.

♪ Mandy always laughs

when I act stupid ♪

♪ I am unaware

that I'm a nuisance ♪

♪ With her

it's never wasted time ♪

NICK:

There was a spark about it.

It was evident to everybody.

And then it started to bubble.

These guys hail from right

across the river in New Jersey,

and they're about to take

the world by storm.

TRL, show some love

for the Jonas Brothers.

[cheering]

KEVIN:

Out of nowhere,

the "Mandy" video becomes

the number one song on TRL.

You walked down the hallway,

and there was fans

waiting for you outside.

That was it.

You see retirement

after that.

♪ Nick J. is off the chain ♪

♪ America, feel his name ♪

♪ Nick J. is off the chain ♪

GREG GARBOWSKY:

It's important to remember

that at this time,

Nick is very, very much

the leader of this group.

♪ What's my name?

Say it once again ♪

♪ Nick J., Nick J.,

Nick J., Nick J. ♪

That year saw a lot of change.

Nick started getting

a little more moody.

We were hearing from

a couple of the band members

that his personality

was getting...

direct, uh, more agitated.

GREG GARBOWSKY:

He would demand that

we would pull over

and get pizza and Diet Coke.

And he would say,

"I need it."

KEVIN:

Every time we would stop,

Nick would get this

massive Big Gulp.

NICK:

Drinking a ton of water.

KEVIN:

Like, so much liquid.

KEVIN SR.:

The band members,

they were a little concerned,

he was really thirsty.

JOE: We would stop

every 15 minutes

'cause Nick

really had to pee,

and it was like

a running joke.

GREG GARBOWSKY:

We would pull out on the side

of the turnpike in New Jersey,

he would run into the woods

and pee and then hop back in,

and then two miles later

we'd have to pull over again.

KEVIN:

One day, me, Joe and Nick

are all sharing a room,

and Nick is changing.

I looked at him

and I could see

every single bone

in his body.

NICK:

I look in the mirror

and I'm like a skeleton.

Feel like I'm dying.

I wouldn't see Nick

for 10 days sometimes.

Every time he'd come home,

he was little bit more thin.

JOE:

I, like, went to my parents

and I was crying,

and said,

"Something's wrong with Nick,

like, we have to go--

bring him to the doctor."

NICK:

My pediatrician looks at me,

and I tell her the symptoms.

She starts to tear up

and I get kind of concerned,

and says don't go home,

don't pack a bag,

just go straight to

the hospital.

She's like...

you have diabetes and...

he asked if he was gonna die.

I had dealt with people

in church life

that had diabetes.

I forgot everything I knew.

It's just this amazing thing

when it comes to your own kids

or your family.

And we all started crying.

I passed out in

the hospital room

because I couldn't see him,

like, all hooked up to

these wires,

and it was like a really...

life-shifting moment

for everybody.

DENISE JONAS:

Nick as we had known him--

happy, smiling...

smiling...

singing at the top of his

lungs when he wakes up--

he was different after that.

We were worried for him,

but there was also

professional concern.

We actually had a show,

and we didn't know,

should we cancel

the show or not,

all the executives from Sony

were gonna be there.

I got out of the hospital

and we said,

let's not tell the label,

'cause it'll make 'em think,

uh, he won't be able to work.

You don't want to give a label

an excuse to drop you,

which would have been

the lowest thing

anybody could have done,

but... it's a crazy business.

And Nick said,

"Get outta my way.

We're doing a show,

and we're gonna kill it."

And he went from

the hospital to the stage,

and the three of them

just rocked it.

MAN: So, Nick, man,

where we goin'?

We are going to

the heart of Boston.

Gonna go to some cool places.

Last time we came here to do,

like, the school shows,

I was sick, so I couldn't

go out with the guys,

but this time I'm going out.

Gonna be awesome.

♪♪

I haven't been back to Wyckoff

in, I think, about 10 years.

It's about

the same for me,

-maybe-- maybe more.

-Maybe more, yeah.

-Twelve years?

-Wow.

New Jersey.

It gets a bad rap,

but it really is beautiful.

This is, like,

kind of where it all

started for us out here.

Like anybody's story,

the good, the bad and the ugly,

so I think there's like a--

a mix of emotions

that we'll all be

feeling today.

♪♪

-Oh, shit. There it is.

-Holy shit!

-There it is.

-Wow.

Let's go check it out.

KEVIN: Hold on, Joe,

wait for the cameras.

They'll follow.

Come on.

KEVIN: They're not even

close to being ready.

Whatever.

I want to see it, too.

I'm not just here to, like,

be filmed.

Oh, my God.

So crazy.

Weird, man.

[traffic noise]

♪♪

This is so trippy.

It's at a complete standstill.

Frozen in time.

We haven't been back

in so long.

We wrote "Please Be Mine"

in that living room

right there.

Where that window is,

with the red curtain.

I mean, it's even trippier

'cause there's, like,

nothing's changed

about the house at all.

-Yeah.

-Feels like we would just

walk back in there

and be six years--

seven years old.

There's a lot of

firsts for us here.

First song.

First hospital visit.

Mom and Dad got pregnant

with Frankie there.

-Whoa...

-That church.

♪♪

This is, like,

the first place I sang.

It was at the church, yeah.

I played on the worship team

here every Sunday.

We were here

every single day.

Should we go in or--

-No.

-MAN: Go inside.

-We could go underneath--

-No.

So...

Let's-- Let's go.

KEVIN: Things began to shift

in the church.

That became

really challenging.

Once we started doing

our own thing in music,

there were people starting to

speak about our dad

in-- in a negative way.

There was this perception

that was put on us

that we were

supposed to be these

squeaky clean, perfect kids.

Dad's job

essentially hinged on it.

NICK: I think that there was

some judgment on us

for not being

a Christian band.

Singing about girls

started to become

a bit of an issue.

JOE:

There was so much going on

that our dad and mom

never told us.

I think in their minds

they were protecting us,

but for us as kids,

it just was scary.

NICK: I just remember my dad

being so stressed out.

I started to realize our dream

that we were chasing

freaked a lot of people out

in the church.

You know, that's a totally

different lifestyle,

than I think they expected

a pastor's son to be in.

KEVIN: And they just

started a whole platform

to kind of get my dad removed.

KEVIN SR.:

The day I resigned at Wyckoff

was really... devastating.

I couldn't even read

my resignation letter.

But I made the mistake of

thinking that was just me,

uh, that was hurting.

JOE: I'll never forget,

my parents spoke to us,

it was, like,

we're leaving the church,

that means we're

leaving the house,

and Columbia's decided to

not work with you anymore,

to drop you.

I remember feeling, like,

scared and worried.

That was like the world

was crashing on us.

We couldn't believe it.

NICK: For me, it became

really, really tough.

These people that

we had invested

so much of our time

and life,

and especially my parents.

Really disappointing.

JOHN TAYLOR:

It was like a really

brutal blow to them.

Their whole community

kind of wasn't there anymore.

KEVIN:

My dad at this point

had put $90,000

of his life savings--

essentially our college fund--

into the band.

Maxed out his credit cards,

and had no money,

like, we were done.

It hit when we were

already at a low,

and took us even lower.

DENISE JONAS:

We lost our home.

We lost our friends

and our social life.

Everything they knew for

10 years of their life, gone.

NICK:

I mean, it's sort of...

perfect.

JOE: It's really trippy.

I mean, literally,

30 minutes ago

we were crunching ice cream

outside Dairy Queen

-in the sunlight.

-JOE: Yeah, like it's sunny--

like, July 3rd,

all American day.

And then it was just, like--

And this is our old church.

-[imitates thunder]

-Fire and brimstone.

NICK: This may sound

a certain way, I don't know,

but it's weird that

we go to a place where

we're not accepted.

Like, there's two buildings

in the world that I can think of

where we're told, no,

you may not enter.

It's, like,

the house we grew up in,

and the church

that we helped...

build, you know?

♪♪

KEVIN: Then we leave the church

and we go to this house

in Little Falls.

The chief of police of our town

was so gracious to us,

and rented this house to us

for nothing.

Because we didn't have

an income anymore.

We were playing roulette,

you know, on the boys.

KEVIN:

Four boys in one bedroom,

my parents in the other.

JOE:

The Little Falls house

felt like we were trapped.

We were dealing with

so much at once.

It was overwhelming.

Our parents were fighting,

like, every day.

I constantly wanted to

get out of that house,

to get out of the vibe.

JOHN TAYLOR:

Joe is naturally, like,

a really sensitive,

caring type of person.

I remember when Kevin Sr.

was talking to us about,

"We hope you stick around

for the ride,"

and Joe was

looking at us, like,

"Please stay with us."

He was worried that

we were gonna be upset.

And it's, like,

I'm just a dude with a gig,

and maybe I can

go get another one.

Like, I haven't poured my

entire life into this thing,

my identity like you have.

But he didn't

think of it that way.

It was, like,

is everyone gonna be okay?

Are we all gonna

make it together?

[indistinct chatter]

JOE: Having the pressure

to go out there

and tour to make money

became a different reality

setting in, like,

we have to do this

so we can survive,

rather than this

just being, like...

we were out there doin' it

when it was like

free and fun.

And that's a lot of pressure

for somebody that age.

Everything was a mess.

The label shut you down,

you're trying to do it

on your own,

you're spending

a lot of money.

It was going to be difficult.

KEVIN:

Uh, we're playin' in the mall,

super early,

none of the stores are open,

and we are getting booed by

the old people

that are walking around.

-MAN: Senior citizens.

-Senior citizens.

KEVIN: The band

at a certain point was, like,

"Hey, are we gonna

get paid this week?"

And it was, like, "Okay,

I'll-- I'll get it covered."

And then it was

the next week.

It was getting really tight.

♪♪ [guitar]

NICK:

The great part about, like,

being a young person

writing music,

is that everything is the most

important thing in the world.

Okay, one more time.

♪♪

NICK: We wrote a bunch

of songs in that house

out of the pain and the hurt

and the abandonment.

KEVIN:

After we got dropped from Sony,

we wrote the entire

Jonas Brothers Album

in the basement of that house.

I think we felt that

people didn't believe in us,

so we were gonna

prove 'em wrong.

♪♪

JOE:

And then we got a phone call

from Disney,

they were, like,

"We know you need something.

"Well, we have it.

We're gonna hand you

a record deal."

Yeah, boy!

And at that time,

it was a huge opportunity.

But for us, it really meant

we're getting out of

Little Falls.

PHIL MCINTYRE:

We went from working with

a company that didn't

understand teens,

to having an opportunity

with a company that

specifically spoke to

that audience.

To us, it was a no-brainer.

KEVIN: So pretty.

We're in L.A., boys.

JOE:

Where's the Hollywood sign?

Is it around here?

NICK: Kind of felt like

we had a second chance.

Like we were given

another go at the plate,

to try and hit the ball

out of the park.

Okay, go!

[laughing]

NICK: When we got to

Hollywood Records,

I felt a warmth

I'd never felt.

And a desire to make it great.

Bathrooms are down

to the left,

kitchen's around

to the right.

Great.

[indistinct dialogue]

NICK: We were in this big,

beautiful house

with John Fields

and just doing

whatever we wanted.

Um, this--

got it all.

He was encouraging us

in our craft

at that young age,

and letting us

play instruments,

write songs with him.

JOHN FIELDS: I knew

this was gonna be special.

You could just tell

meeting the-- the boys.

It's like there is

an energy there

that is undeniable,

and the songs were amazing.

And it started to become

this...

sort of like little unit.

♪♪

KEVIN: We would play,

we would write, we would sing.

We pumped out, like,

a song or two a day.

"S.O.S.," "Hold On,"

"Goodnight, Goodbye,"

"Just Friends."

It just felt so passionate

and-- and exciting,

and there was nothing

holding us back from

creating this.

JOHN FIELDS:

Energy through the roof.

Everyone was just stoked

to be on this new path.

KEVIN:

So we're working at studio

early in the morning,

8 a.m. 'til 11:00 at night,

and we had this song

we recorded.

NICK: Shot a music video for,

but never released,

"Year 3000."

♪♪

It was a video we did at

Columbia Records,

and when we got dropped,

we carried it with us.

♪ One day when I came home

at lunch time ♪

♪ I heard a funny noise ♪

♪ Went out ♪

♪ With my neighbor

called Peter ♪

GREG GARBOWSKY:

You're done

watching your TV show,

all of a sudden here's

"Year 3000,"

you watch another show,

here's the "Year 3000,"

and it just got played

constantly.

♪ He said I've been to

the year 3000 ♪

JOE: It was just,

like, skyrocketing.

We were, like,

oh, my God.

♪ And your great, great,

great granddaughter ♪

KEVIN SR.:

The next day they were top 10.

[indistinct chatter]

♪♪

Ready? ♪ La ♪

KEVIN:

And then we get a phone call.

Joe has just been offered

the lead in this movie

called "Camp Rock"

on the Disney Channel.

♪♪

KEVIN SR.: We debated it

and talked about it,

and ultimately said,

we can't split

the brothers up.

KEVIN:

My dad called the president of

the Disney Channel and said,

"What if instead of just Joe,

it was a band?"

We were filming

four hours north of Toronto.

We were in no-man's land.

NICK:

When I was acting on TV,

I felt like that was my zone.

I really enjoyed myself.

I mean, Kevin and I

were barely in it,

but you're 13 years old and

you get to go make a movie,

it was incredible.

KEVIN: But what we didn't

know was that

in America, the band was...

blowing up.

MAN: Don't forget

the marionette show.

And it sure is a lot

of fun for the kiddoes.

KEVIN SR.:

I receive a phone call

from the promoter

of the Texas State Fair,

and he said there was

a traffic jam to Oklahoma.

JOE: We just assumed,

like, oh, well,

everyone's just

trying to get there.

They're, like, no,

it's the concert

you guys are putting on.

What?

KEVIN SR.: He said,

"I'm sending helicopters."

I thought the guy was crazy.

And he said,

"You don't understand."

[whirring]

JOE: I remember

getting in the helicopter

and looking down at the crowd,

and thinking, "Oh, this--

that must not--

that's someone else's stage."

Oh, my God!

There was more people than

I've ever seen in my life,

just thousands of people.

KEVIN:

We had no idea that, like,

people were getting excited

about the Jonas Brothers.

Well, we found out that day.

KEVIN SR.:

The boys walked on stage.

There's no way to describe

that sound.

♪♪

♪ So don't give up

stand 'til the end ♪

KEVIN SR.:

The roar that went up.

♪♪

Everything was different.

♪ So hold on ♪

♪ Hold on ♪

♪ Hold on ♪

♪ Hold on ♪

JOE: I also remember us

being shocked

at how many people knew

our words to our songs.

They were singing our music

back to us.

We were, like,

they're fans.

These are not just people

that came to this,

these are 50,000 fans.

[screaming, cheering]

PHIL MCINTYRE:

It was so validating

to how much sacrifice

had gone into it,

and to the family

being able to fight through

those tough seasons

to be able to get to

the other side of that,

and see them get on stage.

It was one of the most

incredible moments of

my career.

NICK:

Hey, what's up, everybody?

We're the Jonas Brothers.

-I'm Nick.

-I'm Kevin.

I'm Joe.

And you are on our

Myspace page.

Listen, guys. One week

our album's coming out.

This is--

I'm gonna run in traffic.

NICK:

We embraced the internet

in a way that I--

I don't think

a lot of people had

before us.

KEVIN: We were making

15 second videos

on YouTube.

Like, one was,

we walk into a room,

turn a table around.

Oh, how the tables

have turned.

Just look into the camera.

That's the video.

Hey. I'm Nick Jonas.

And today

we're talking about anger.

[clattering]

We actually really comment

you guys on Myspace.

It's actually us.

We are actually sitting there.

JOE: And we started growing

such a big fan base.

I think there was

a hundred followers on Myspace,

and we freaked out.

Yeah!

Jonas Brothers!

And then a few thousand,

and we were, like,

"Wow, it was, like,

happening."

-Hey, we're the Jonas Brothers.

-And we want to tell you

that we want to go on

a date with you.

We want to go on a date,

we're gonna hold hands,

we wanna just walk on

the beach, whatever it is.

Bill, the Jonas Brothers

have no idea

what they've

gotten themselves into.

How much did you sleep

last night?

Um, probably about

two hours at most.

I think my brothers and I

became closest

when we found a common ground

beyond music and family.

Girls.

[chuckles]

WOMAN: Do you have

a favorite Jonas brother?

-Not yet. We like 'em all.

They're hot.

-Yeah.

Yeah, they're all

pretty hot.

I love Joe and, um,

he should come and

meet me, please.

-[screaming]

-I love you, Nick.

Oh!

Kevin, don't get married.

Please.

I'll wait for you.

While I was in high school,

I couldn't get a date

no matter how much I tried.

I could not get a date.

After the Disney Channel

played our music video,

life immediately changes

as a teenager for me.

♪♪

[no audible dialogue]

I would hug you but,

it would be a little--

Me and Joe were, like,

wing-manning each other

constantly.

-Write me on Myspace.

-Okay. Of course.

[indistinct chatter]

We got to be on the

"Hannah Montana" episode

on the Disney Channel.

Great mama,

it's the Jonas Brothers!

That changed girls

for Nick forever.

Wow. You're pretty.

Nice save.

I'm Kevin.

We met Miley,

I think that kid's head

exploded.

NICK:

I started writing about love,

and I actually knew

what it felt like, you know.

♪ Called you for

the first time yesterday ♪

♪ Finally found

the missing part of me ♪

♪ It felt so close

but you were far away ♪

♪ Left me without

anything to say ♪

♪ Now I'm speechless,

over the edge ♪

♪ I'm just breathless ♪

♪ I never felt that

I'd catch this ♪

♪ Love bug again ♪

♪ Hopeless,

head over heels ♪

♪ In the moment ♪

♪ I never thought

that I'd get hit ♪

♪ By this love bug again ♪

For the first time,

I was asking them

the kinds of questions

that only a younger brother

can ask their older brothers.

Hey, Danielle,

it's Kevin.

How are you?

Rockin',

I want to give you

a little bit more information

about tonight if I can,

So, um, great

doors open at 9:00,

so we go on,

I think at 10.

-or shortly there--

soon around.

-[indistinct whispering]

And, um-- and if there's

any issues,

I'm gonna give you a number

right now to call.

She's our-- She--

No, no, I know I'm moving,

like, a million miles an hour.

I'm-- I'm having a lot--

But I'm just so excited

for you to--

to see you tonight, so...

Okay, the number is...

-810--

-Yes.

-Okay.

-8622

Yes! He did it.

Um, this is--

Her name is Felicia.

-She handles all of our--

-Oh, there you go.

You know, she's with us,

she like a--

I don't want to call her

a personal assistant.

[chuckles]

That's good, that's good.

Yeah, essentially, yeah.

She takes care of all

that stuff.

Um, so, sweet, that is

the number to call, I hope,

and I can't wait to see you.

Not a problem. No, no, no,

it's not gonna be a problem,

uh, just, you know,

10:00 we hit the stage.

So be there

or be square.

Oh, wow.

Yeah, that's--

that's totally cool,

I hear you.

No, um, I think--

And then we're hanging out

a little after,

like, I think there might be

a little chill out time

after the show.

Stop.

Okay.

Rockin', I will see you

in a little while, then.

Awesome, bye.

-Good job.

-You-- Don't talk to me

while I'm on the phone

anymore.

-Sorry for--

-We're just really excited,

because she's your wife.

[crowd shouting]

KEVIN SR.: I mean,

they're almost out of room.

They're on the--

KEVIN SR.:

I know, they-- they see you.

Guys, ready?

Watch this.

PHIL MCINTYRE:

That's unbelievable.

They see you.

[crowd screaming]

[shouting]

The line in the--

So far, and is huge, packed.

They said there's

15 right now, 15,000.

A lot of people.

Wow.

[woman talking on TV]

WOMAN 1 [on TV]:

The Big Apple has never seen

dedication quite like this.

These die-hard fans

have been here since

Tuesday morning.

WOMAN 2:

You're some of the biggest

Jonas fans here, huh?

GIRLS: Yeah!

WOMAN 1: All for their chance

to see Kevin...

PHIL MCINTYRE:

We definitely hit

a tipping point

where we entered

a new stratosphere.

It was uncharted territory

for all of us.

WOMAN: We're in Times Square.

We are waiting for

the Jonas Brothers

"A Little Bit Longer"

CDs to come out at midnight.

JOE: Every time we would

release an album,

we would go to Times Square

and celebrate.

Wait in line at midnight

and hold it in our hands.

7:30, that's like,

five more hours--

four and a half more hours

until they come.

KEVIN: We release

"A Little Bit Longer,"

and, just like tradition,

we go to Virgin Megastore

in Times Square.

Whoo!

KEVIN: So two years prior,

there's eight people there.

The next year there was maybe

30 or 40 people there.

Let's go.

Let's roll.

This time,

it's a little different.

Seriously, like, for safety,

if we say we gotta go,

that means we gotta go.

Before we even left,

we were getting calls

that it was

complete pandemonium.

BIG ROB:

I'm gonna tell you straight,

stick to us like

white on rice. Okay?

MAN: Is he all right

or is he--

-WOMAN: She is so happy.

-MAN: I hear people.

Oh, my gosh.

This is incredible.

Like,

it's actually happening.

-Holy cow.

-Oh, my God. Wow.

-Look at those barricades

in the middle of the street.

-Are you kidding me?

Are you kidding me?

[screaming]

Oh, my-- Yes!

MAN: You may have to

walk us in like the pope, man.

I don't know that

we're gonna be able to

go through this crowd.

-Goodness!

-Oh, my--

-It's New Year's Eve.

-I've never seen anything

like this.

BIG ROB:

Open the doors here.

-[screaming]

-This is incredible.

Oh, my God, there are

so many people here.

[screaming]

[chanting]

[screaming continues]

You see outside?

MAN: Boys.

[shouting]

BIG ROB:

We shut down Times Square

for seven to ten minutes.

There had to have been over

20,000 plus people there.

No movement, cars, people,

the fire department.

It's just-- We thought

it was just mayhem.

GREG GARBOWSKY:

2007 started off

with us playing

in food courts in malls.

And we went to theaters

and arenas

in a really short

amount of time.

REPORTER: Something close

to a mob scene

in Sacramento this afternoon.

[screaming]

♪♪

♪ Come on, girl ♪

[horns honking]

BIG ROB: The pace that it's

growing at right now--

it's goin' so fast.

I mean, I've been

doing this 14 years,

and the things that

we're doing with these--

I-- I've never done

before in my life.

These guys put a tour on sale

and they sell clean at

Madison Square Garden,

and they're, like,

we're gonna add another date,

and they sell clean at

Madison Square Garden,

like, we're gonna add

a third date,

and they sell that clean,

and we didn't have room

to add a fourth.

Please welcome

the Jonas Brothers!

-Jonas Brothers!

-WOMAN: Jonas Brothers!

Jonas Brothers.

Ladies and gentlemen,

the Jonas Brothers

KEVIN SR.:

They had three albums

in the top ten,

a gold record in a week,

"Camp Rock" went platinum,

they're first album

went platinum,

this record was going

multi-platinum.

The Grammy nominees for

the Best New Artist are

the Jonas Brothers.

JOE: Right now, we're making

a demo with Stevie Wonder.

We're performing with him

on the Grammys.

And to have Stevie Wonder

out there playing it with us,

is gonna be

absolutely amazing.

These are the nominees for

the Best New Artist.

Come on, Stevie!

♪♪

How you doin'?

You feel good,

you feel great?

I can't stop smiling.

I don't know,

you can't make this shit up.

The experiences are priceless.

I mean, we were on an airplane

playing our new album

before our other album

had come out

while the numbers were

coming in for the tour.

And it was like,

"We just sold out Idaho,"

as we were, like,

listening to the new record.

It's like stuff

that's in a movie.

but it was really--

it was happening.

[shouting]

JOE:

I mean, think about it.

Two years ago, we're in

a minivan touring.

And now we're chartering

a 757 to go on tour.

It's-- It's just insane.

♪♪

JOHN TAYLOR: Hey, there's

no other way to put it.

Literally, like,

pinch me, this is happening,

like, oh, my gosh.

And, like, Joe would be,

like, "Dude, this is crazy,"

like the energy was--

was unimaginable.

NICK: I dreamed of

being on a chart.

The fact that we were on

"the chart"

was just amazing.

♪ Baby, you turn

the temperature hotter ♪

♪ Come on ♪

♪ I'm burnin' up, burnin' up

for you, baby ♪

♪ Burnin' up, burnin' up ♪

♪ For you, baby ♪

[screaming]

I think that fans fell

in love with the brothers

because they represented

something to them.

I think that they meant

more than the music.

I think that they meant

more than the concert.

You know, they were such

a positive force.

People really

appreciated that.

It was amazing to see--

amidst unstoppable...

ascent to fame--

the continuous gratitude

from these guys.

They were never

taking anything for granted.

What was crazy for me was

these songs that we'd written

in a two and a half

bedroom house

in Little Falls,

New Jersey,

um, were being sung by

70, 80,000 people

in countries where English

was not the first language.

♪ I'm hopeless ♪

♪ Head over heels

in the moment ♪

♪ I never thought

that I'd get hit ♪

♪ By this love bug again ♪

One of the few times I wish

I could go back and just

relive that experience,

because it was

so mind blowing

and such a beautiful sight.

[screaming]

KEVIN:

Three guys from Jersey

that, like,

really never had much,

to now, all of a sudden,

have fame and people know

your name.

Like, it felt cool.

NICK: I don't think I really

processed the magnitude of it.

♪♪

Jonas Brothers are here.

Sasha and Malia are huge fans.

♪♪

♪ Speechless,

over the edge ♪

♪ I'm just breathless ♪

♪ I never thought

that I'd catch this ♪

♪ Love bug again ♪

♪ Now I'm hopeless ♪

♪ Head over heels

in the moment ♪

♪ I never thought

that I'd get hit ♪

♪ By this love bug again ♪

Jonas!

♪ Oh ♪

♪ Love bug again ♪

[screaming]

KEVIN: At a certain point,

it was so big.

It was insane.

[screaming]

KEVIN:

It shifted from being, like,

this hype is super cool to...

should we be, like, scared?

♪♪

[screaming]

GREG GARBOWSKY:

I think what started to happen

is that it gets so big that

you can't control it.

[screaming]

And there's too many

moving parts.

Instead of bringing in

more people that they trusted,

They each took on more

themselves.

[screaming]

MAN: Joe, where are we going?

Uh, we're going to...

catering, but we're

going to do interviews.

JOE: It always felt like

it could go away in

the blink of an eye.

That's why we did

every interview,

we did every meet-and-greet.

We really never said no

to the point of exhaustion.

This game I played

a few days ago

it's fun 'cause

it's questions

we either have to

answer ourselves

or it might be directed

towards everybody else.

And I think you take

a big gulp of your drink

if two people know

that you didn't answer

fully honestly.

That work?

The more we drink,

the more the questions

are gonna be answered,

-so...

-[chuckles]

Joe.

Okay.

"Is there someone in your life

you hold real

resentment towards?"

-Uh, yeah,

the ballerina that--

-[laughing]

That talked about

your small penis?

[laughing]

She talked about my penis,

she didn't-- I don't--

She didn't talk about

a small penis.

[laughing]

That ballerina,

to this day

I think she was talkin' shit,

and I don't--

I'm not cool with it.

[laughing]

-Drink all that.

-Drink it all.

That was the truth, though.

Doesn't matter.

It's a terrible answer.

Ready?

One, two, three--

Boom! Nick.

Bowl it.

"Do you regret anything?"

Yeah, of course.

Regret, like, so much shit

all the time.

Let's say specifically

to this-- the Brothers.

Well, yeah, I mean,

it's all encompassing.

Um, biggest regret

in regards to the Brothers.

Um... season two of "Jonas."

[chuckles]

That's a big regret.

We shouldn't have done that.

It really stunted

our growth, you know?

I feel like it was...

just a bad move.

-Yeah.

-Like, it was just not

the time and--

Literally, we--

we couldn't evolve

because of it.

♪♪ [harmonica]

KEVIN: The way it was

presented to us was

the show will help continue

the brand around the world.

It'll keep it relevant in

the times you can't tour.

Let's not be those guys who

wear their sunglasses at night.

♪♪

KEVIN:

The show was not good.

JOE: It didn't feel like

it was us anymore.

It felt young.

And-- And we're

becoming adults.

KEVIN: It was not

on brand for us,

as, like, the band

that we were becoming,

the songs we were writing.

It was almost like two

very different identities.

BRAD WAVRA:

It was made for

eight-year-olds,

or ten-year-olds.

It just was going to

make you uncool.

KEVIN: I think that affected

the perception of the band,

that we were a joke,

this is-- They're not real,

they're robots.

And then it was--

And cut.

Great video shoot, guys.

This is bull puckey!

Yeah, we've had it,

gosh darn it!

"South Park"

did an episode about

Disney and the purity rings.

What's all this

I'm hearing about

not wearing the purity rings?

They were saying

Disney created a band

who are these cookie-cutter

boy band brothers,

that everything was perfect,

and they used Christianity

and purity rings

as a way to sell

music to kids.

Well, we don't want

to be selling sex

to little girls anymore.

Rings stay on.

Maybe we'll just

refuse to go on stage.

[grunts]

I mean...

they weren't far off,

that's for sure.

God's favorite virgins,

the Jonas Brothers,

will be performing at

the VMAs this year.

Oh, my God!

JOE: In the church,

it was encouraged that

we go through this program,

and it was, like,

wait for the right person

and wait 'til marriage.

All the kids that I grew up

with were doing it,

so I was, like,

oh, this is cool.

Probably by, like,

I don't know, 15,

I was like, what?

[laughs]

What is this?

The property has

six bedrooms,

and it's located in

a gated community.

Why do three virgins

need six bedrooms

-is what I want to know.

-[audience laughs]

That was not who we were,

like, it was just

something that we did

when we were young kids,

but we wore the rings through

the first bit of the band

starting to explode.

At that point,

it was already too late

because it was in the media.

In case you were unaware,

each of the Jonas brothers

does wear a tiny ring

as a mark of their

commitment to God.

I'd take it a little bit

more seriously

if they wore it on

their genitals.

KEVIN: We had

all of this success,

and that's the only thing

we could, like,

hear or focus on.

What things that people

were saying about us.

NICK: It was embarrassing

to be aware of this joke

in real life with people.

When I would go to

a sporting event,

and they would put me on

the jumbotron or us, whatever,

they would boo us.

As a sports fanatic,

I would be so hurt

'cause I was, like,

I am one of you.

I'm just like you.

KEVIN: It's funny 'cause,

like, we never really,

like, talked about

the disappointment

of those things.

You know, we always just

went into more work.

[screaming]

JOHN TAYLOR:

It created a recipe for

fear and paranoia,

and insecurity.

I think it started to take

its toll on the guys.

JOE: Do you think that's when

things started changing?

I think I became frustrated

because...

I was in those sessions

to write the music,

and, like, you guys

didn't want to do that,

and so I just felt, like,

a little bit of resentment,

that seed of getting angry

that you guys weren't...

in it with me there

-Mm-hm.

-creatively felt shitty.

The way I said it is

after this year,

we need some--

-There needs to be

a legit--

-Pause.

Like, think about it.

♪♪

Felt like it was just

a ticking time bomb.

-MAN: Let's go.

-A reality we might

have to face in our--

in our artistry as well as--

that this record

we're doing right now

might not be as big as

"A Little Bit Longer."

Do you think that one of you

might turn out to be,

uh, like Justin Timberlake

and break away from the group?

-Joe?

-You know,

we always talk about

solo projects--

-Mm-hm.

-And I think for us,

it would never be

a solo project,

-it would be a side project.

-Really?

There's no way

we can just break up

because, I mean, I live in

the same house as them,

so it's gonna be

pretty difficult.

♪♪

NICK: I was frustrated

creatively,

feeling like I've got

some music in my head

that I could make on my own

or with a side project,

and instead of

getting frustrated

with the fact that

I can't do that with

this creative outlet,

why don't I just

do it somewhere else.

♪♪

I saw the Administration

as a great escape.

It felt great to be in

an environment

where I knew if I,

like, hear something,

tell them a reference,

give them a feeling,

and everyone in the room

could do it.

The initial idea with this--

with this record

was that it was side project,

and-- and that's still

the-- the whole concept.

Me and my brothers

breaking up

is not something you need

to be worried about.

MAN: And, Nick, this way.

NICK:

After the Administration,

I moved to New York City.

And it was really

sort of like a--

a college experience

in a sense,

where, you know, I...

was on my own

for the first time.

Real independence.

♪♪

When I first went in to do

the rehearsals for

"How To Succeed,"

I was a little nervous.

And it was...

exhilarating.

♪♪

I really felt like

the work on stage

was being recognized.

I was having so much fun.

♪♪

JOE:

I was so thrilled for him,

because I knew

how happy he was,

but I was scared.

It was in, like,

the peak of the Jonas Brothers.

The dude was getting a taste

of what it's like on his own,

and it was awesome.

At the time, I felt like

I needed to go

and try to live

a normal life

and do my own thing.

-Excuse me, guys. Thank you.

-Have a good night, man.

Go travel,

meet girls, date,

just have time off.

I was trying to find myself.

I was outside of the Brothers

for the first time ever.

Finding independence,

and just seeing

what was out there

besides the Jonas Brothers.

I felt inspired,

and I-- I just couldn't wait

to put my attention and focus

into music of my own.

And I made, like,

an R&B pop record.

It was definitely, like,

an exciting time.

♪ Do you hear what I say? ♪

I was really trying to

prove myself

probably to my brothers,

but to everyone out there

that I can do it

without Kevin and Nick.

And I started

dressing differently,

I started acting differently,

and the music didn't do

as well as I anticipated.

I guess a little taste

of reality.

♪♪

My mind's, at the time,

like...

here's my first failure.

I think it was

really tough for me

because I felt like

I can't do anything

without my brothers,

like, it was embarrassing.

So instead of staying with

the band and the hype,

and, like, rolling in,

like, another tour,

and more music and kind of,

like, pushing that envelope,

we were, like, let's take

a pause and take a break.

And at the time, for me,

it was like--

[exhales]

Danielle was the normal girl

from New Jersey

who was a hairdresser.

We fall in love

and we get engaged.

I feel like...

I'm my own man.

Kevin,

you may kiss your bride.

[cheering, applause]

After four years of,

like, craziness,

I was living my best life.

It was nice to, like,

just be together.

You know,

like, we needed it.

Age wise,

I'm five years older

than Nick.

You know,

like I would have been

out of college at this point,

I would have had

all those experiences,

I would have been able to

just go on a normal date.

After I got married,

my priorities shifted

a little bit.

And then we got offered

a reality TV show.

[chuckles]

I wanted to do it.

All of a sudden,

they sent a crew of people

to our Denville house

in New Jersey,

and we were shooting

a pilot.

For the first time it was,

like, this is my thing.

I felt like I could

really do well

in this environment.

We filmed all of this stuff,

and then it all kind of

changed when, like,

the Jonases show up

and it's, like,

all weird.

Our whole life was

a closed-door meeting,

and Kevin invited cameras

into that meeting finally,

and we felt like

he was going to air out

a lot of our shit

that we didn't want people

to know about.

KEVIN: Joe and Nick

didn't want to have

anything to do with it.

They were, like, kind of

forced to do the show.

JOE: We didn't like

the idea that

the reality show could

dictate who we were.

And to watch it every Sunday

was not fun for us.

NICK: We got the band

back together,

I think, in a lot of ways

'cause we felt like we had to,

uh, but this time,

everything was different.

We thought because of

the success we'd had,

or because of

the familiarity of the name,

the Jonas Brothers,

that it would have success.

We were wrong.

We put out a couple songs

that really didn't connect.

We played some shows

and fewer and fewer people

were coming out,

and it just didn't feel like

anything was-- was working.

JOE: We were three people

all living different realities

of what the Jonas Brothers were.

We lost sight of the fact

that we were just a band

having a good time.

People liked seeing us happy,

and we were not happy.

We just decided that we could

beat it or something, and...

that's not how it works.

NICK: We're about

to go do this tour.

The reality of it all

was starting to hit me.

We're all so frustrated.

And nothing is working.

We hate each other,

basically.

And I called my dad,

and he actually picked me up

and drove me around LA

for two hours,

replaying the night before where

I had a full-on panic attack.

And we sat and talked

through it all.

And I was just full of anxiety.

He said, "I feel like

I'm fighting against

"something that's not working.

"I've given everything

I have to this music,

"but I'm going here,

Joe's going here,

"Kevin's over there,

and I just can't

do it anymore."

It was scary because

I'm not just the manager

at that point.

I'm the dad.

In the car, I just decided

the best way to handle this

was just going to--

was to be as honest as possible.

So we go into that meeting

And Nick actually said to me,

"They probably are even

anticipating this."

They were not.

So me and Joe sit down,

and Nick says,

"As you guys know, like,

things haven't been the same,

and the Jonas Brothers

should be no more."

It was not,

"My heart's not in it,

"and I wanna be real

with you as band members

and brothers,

this is where I'm at."

It was, "The band is over.

"I wanna go do stuff

without you guys,

and I've made up my mind."

And neither one of them were

saying anything.

I just remember

looking at Joe

and being like,

"Wait-- What do you-- What?"

JOE:

I felt betrayed.

I felt lied to,

I felt angry.

Numb.

And Joe said,

"I have nothing to say to you."

Joe has shut down.

I'm looking at my brother

just being destroyed inside.

I was 25-26.

This was all I've known.

This is what I loved

more than anything.

I loved doing this.

And somebody that you loved

and cared about so much

could take it away

from you so quickly,

that was, um...

That was heartbreaking.

It's like you get one taste

of solo success...

and you forget all the work

we put in together.

What hurt the most is

that it came from Nick,

because he is my best friend,

and I thought that me,

Kevin and Nick were

gonna do this forever,

and it was us against

the world, you know?

Then Joe finally broke down.

It was like,

"You want to be done?

Fine. We're done."

Folks, please step out

of the road.

That's when I knew

the band was over,

because Joe and Nick

were thick as thieves.

[crowd cheering]

MAN:

What's up, Nick?

ROBIN ROBERTS:

The fans were just stunned

at the bombshell news

that the band of brothers

were calling it quits.

They are going to set

the record straight.

The burning question, Kev--

Why now? Why?

MAN: Are you guys gonna

break up for sure?

You're not gonna say?

What's the deal, man?

They wanna know, man.

everyone wants to know.

You're not gonna say?

For a while, it was dark.

MAN: All right, man.

Well, have a good one.

I got an eight on Nick.

A 10, oh, it's to me.

"Why did you play

a Jonas Brothers radio show

after we broke up?"

Oof.

KEVIN: What I was told was,

the radio station said,

"If you don't play

these shows,

"we will never play

the Jonas Brothers

or any Jonas individually

on the radio again."

It'll just be like,

"Joe's gonna play his music,

"then Nick's gonna come out,

and Nick's gonna do his music.

"No Jonas Brothers music.

So, Kevin, it's okay,

you don't have to be there."

Okay. Fine. Whatever.

We're not playing together

anyway.

[crowd cheering]

♪♪

KEVIN: The entire set was them

singing all the Jonas Brothers

songs together.

♪ Don't include

your crazy friends ♪

All the big hits,

all the big moments,

and I'm just not there.

I think that might have

been the hardest moment

of my entire life.

[exhales]

Um...

I think it's because we felt

you were holding us back.

That's the truth.

I think there was, um...

moments that...

Nick and I wanted to...

do our own thing,

and we felt like your focus

was not in it anymore,

and it wasn't

a priority for you,

and starting a family was,

and your guitar playing,

kind of,

like, fell in the back seat.

And I think we wanted

to both continue doing music.

And I think we had these

gigs in front of us.

Now, as I think back on it,

I realize how fucked up it is,

going to take

a Jonas Brothers gig

and you weren't on stage,

but it took me time

to understand,

having someone

in my life that--

I'll do fucking anything

to see Sophie for an hour.

All of those years,

our first love was music,

first love was the band.

And so for me as a teenager

and a young adult,

to see you prioritize

anything but was bad.

But it took me a long time

to understand that.

Like, you found love

very young.

Um...

and I do think

you know now, too,

it's a balance.

Back then, we didn't feel

like you even tried that.

It felt like, it was just like,

"The show's done. I'm out."

And it was like, "Well, fuck,

like, sometimes that hang

with brothers is so important."

And I get that.

I love you. I'm sorry that

you had to go through that.

Yeah.

Let's carry on.

Let's leave it there.

[sighs]

KEVIN:

I got my card.

Didn't really see him

for Christmas that year.

Didn't see him the holidays.

[chuckles]

But I think what was

really hard for me was...

when Alena came...

we weren't really talking.

It was the first time I saw

my brothers since the breakup.

-[coos]

-[laughs]

[camera shutters clicking]

Nick came to me

at 21 years old and said,

"I feel like I'm a has-been."

And it was really tough.

NICK: I think a lot

of people in my life

gave my ability to be okay

a little too much credit

during that time.

[overlapping chatter]

NICK: I just didn't feel like

I deserved to...

to unravel because

I had initiated this...

very tough conversation.

[overlapping chatter]

DAVID MASSEY:

When Nick split up

from the band,

it was a very difficult time

for him,

but because our history

was so long,

I was aware of what

he was capable of

as a singer and as a writer,

and he knew it, too.

♪♪ ["Jealous" plays]

His ambition was wholly intact.

NICK: For a while, this

"you need to be great

at something,"

or being the best,

would drive me crazy.

There wasn't a defining moment

that I can look at

and say, "Oh, that was the

moment everything changed."

But when "Jealous" came out,

it was like I was ready

to evolve.

ANNOUNCER: I'm a big fan

of this new song.

DAVID MASSEY: He'd become

more and more charismatic

as a young man.

Congratulations

on all your success.

You could tell he was ready

to be a global superstar.

♪ You're too sexy, beautiful ♪

♪ Everybody wants a taste ♪

♪ That's why I still

get jealous ♪

[crowd singing, indistinct]

NICK: I was operating

with more freedom,

and I was really enjoying it.

I began to recognize that,

when you're enjoying yourself

and having fun, it resonates.

All the stars were

aligning and...

it was like, "Next chapter.

Here we go."

♪♪

[crowd cheering]

Thank you!

Joe came to me and said,

"Hey, I see what Nick's doing,

and there's more

in me as well."

The first batch of songs

I wrote was just like--

I can't explain the style

'cause it's not out there.

And I was like, "I don't know.

I don't think anyone's

gonna get it."

♪ Talk to me, baby ♪

"Cake By The Ocean"--

It's on every single day

of my life.

♪ Ah ya ya ya ya ♪

And I love that it is.

♪ We'll eat cake

by the ocean ♪

♪ Walk for me, baby ♪

JERRY O'CONNELL: It's funny

that you were nominated

for Best New Artist.

I was like, "Wait a minute.

I think he's been around

for a couple years."

ALL: DNCE!

JOE:

DNCE allowed me to be

as wild and as free

as I can possibly be.

I was able to dress

whatever crazy outfits

and change my hair color

every week

and just really, like,

live it.

I became more confident.

I was reverting back

to that young me.

Really finding that space

where I could evolve as

an artist,

and people accepted it.

♪ ...eat cake by the ocean ♪

[crowd cheering]

JOE:

It was my own little paradise.

Your brother's having great

success as a solo artist.

You've got DNCE.

Kev, is he just in--

Where's Kevin?

KEVIN: I don't think

I fully comprehended

what it would do to me

after the fact.

Even to this day...

I get asked if I'm Joe

or Nick every day.

"Are you Joe Jonas?

Are you Nick Jonas?"

And it's like,

"No, I'm Kevin."

[no audible dialogue]

NICK:

My whole life,

I've been so concerned

with success.

I felt like there was

a screwdriver in my head

all the time saying

you have to be successful,

you have chase the dream,

you have to get

the number-ones, all that.

But I found that success

isn't always tied

to fame and fortune

and awards

and those kinds of things.

-WOMAN [on phone]: Hello?

-Hey, babe.

-Hey.

-Hey. What size is Valentina?

What size diapers?

Is she a three, four,

or five? I can't remember.

-She's a four.

-She's a four?

Not the purple,

so then this guy.

All right, cool.

I got it.

All right, cool. Love you.

WOMAN [on phone]:

All right.

Love you. Bye.

KEVIN: My identity now is

just, like, I'm a father.

I'm a husband. I'm passionate

about the things that I like.

[pepper grinder ratcheting]

JOE: I think it was amazing

when Kevin had children.

He-- He became a leader.

And I've never seen Kevin

like that before.

Wanna go see Alena?

I got asked by someone,

"You look really familiar."

My daughter said,

"Well, that's because

he's a Jonas Brother."

You guys all right?

Did you sleep good?

Four-year-old

said to this girl.

But it's starting

to become weird,

because that part

of my life is dead now.

Here.

That's no longer my identity,

and I had to get to a place

where I could say, like,

"Formerly of

the Jonas Brothers."

-[feet pattering]

-You wanna play?

-[static sounding]

-Oh, don't do that.

You wanna be a real rock

and roller,

you gotta do this,

though. Okay?

You gotta put all your hair

in front of your face like that.

Alena, she's only heard music.

She's never seen Daddy

on stage.

Being able to see her

in that audience

see me do what I do did

best for so long...

And she knows me as her dad--

[laughing]

She doesn't know the person

that was great.

NICK: You know, it's funny

how you spend so much time

chasing happiness

and the things

you think will bring you

that joy in life

and not realizing

it's been there all along.

JOE: Letting go of my anger

and my sadness...

It took time.

I'd rather we be brothers

and not have our band

dictate our relationship.

JOE: I think Nick said it

casually, like,

"I really miss performing

with you guys."

And I don't even think

I really heard him.

I just was like,

"Yeah, cool,"

and then kept on moving.

♪♪

JOE: No way in hell

I would do it again.

That was where I was at,

until I was, like,

"No, like, I actually--

I miss it."

♪ Well, they come and go ♪

♪ But they don't know ♪

♪ That you are my beautiful ♪

♪ I try to come ♪

♪ Closer with you ♪

♪ But they all say ♪

♪ We won't make it through ♪

♪ But I'll be there forever ♪

♪ You will see

that it's better ♪

♪ All our hopes

and our dreams ♪

♪ Will come true ♪

NICK: Even after

I found solo success,

I would miss looking over...

and seeing them.

♪ Please be mine ♪

NICK: A little rusty.

But currently we don't

have a label, so--

-Eight years.

-Still a jam.

♪♪

KEVIN: We started

the conversation with,

"I'll do this if we

can have fun together."

[overlapping chatter]

JOE: It's been probably

six, seven years

since just the three

of us just got to hang out.

KEVIN: We spent the last year

traveling the world together

and really just reconnecting.

Laughing and talking,

reminiscing.

These old things that

we used to do together.

And I really missed it.

We laid it all out there.

We really held nothing back.

NICK: This is an adjustment.

I mean, it's not all, like,

rainbows and butterflies.

-Don't touch it!

-Yeah, don't touch it.

-What are you doing?

-Just rolling back--

-Don't touch it.

-Look how you mapped it.

That's bullshit.

NICK: That's part of the

re-establishing of chemistry

and camaraderie

and the brotherhood aspect.

And that will be a process

in this.

-Go back to it.

-Did it go away?

Yeah, 'cause you were,

like, jacking the phone.

Hold on.

NICK: There's already little

things each of us do

that probably annoy

the fuck out of each other.

-Give me my phone.

-Yeah, but we're getting

a tape measure.

I don't give a shit

about your--

I wanna show you

how exact this is.

-[laughing] Give me this phone!

-Bring in the tape measure!

[laughter]

-First time in Australia.

-You brought the rain with you.

-[laughing]

-Cheers.

-Salud.

Salud.

Yeah. Nice to meet you.

♪ Come back to me, baby ♪

♪ I'll come back to you ♪

♪ You know the place

that I go running to ♪

♪ I get scared

when you're scared ♪

♪ But what else can I do? ♪

♪ Come back to me, baby ♪

♪ I'll come back to you ♪

I really want to have

a second chance

with them so I can enjoy

every moment with my brothers...

and I can...

smile more.

It's hard to pick one,

but I think my proudest

memory would be

this past year,

because this is the year that

I have grown as a person,

and I've grown with my brothers.

♪♪

JOE:

It's been a long road.

We've been through so much.

In finding myself,

I was also able

to find a partner.

The impact of falling

in love

has made me want

to be a better man...

a better person...

and ultimately made me

a better brother.

KEVIN:

We all spent the time apart

truly coming into our own.

I focused on my family,

on being the best husband

and father that I could be.

NICK: The time apart

was necessary.

I was able to pursue

different creative avenues

and experiment with life

in a way I never could before.

I was feeling inspired...

and it led me to find something

even greater

than I could ever imagine.

Love.

And this love has

changed my life...

forever.

Everything's amazing.

My husband.

PHIL MCINTYRE:

I think that the brothers

had to grow apart

to be able to get perspective.

They've realized

if you can get through life

with a couple key

relationships intact,

they now have the perspective

just how special that is.

All I cared about was that

they would be okay as brothers.

They made it through.

There are brother bands

that don't speak...

that hate each other.

Not my sons.

And it wasn't about the money,

wasn't about the music,

wasn't about the fame.

It was,

"Hey, brothers...

you wanna do something

awesome again together?"

[crowd cheering]

♪♪

♪ We go together ♪

♪ Better than birds

of a feather, you and me ♪

♪ We change the weather, yeah ♪

♪ I'm feeling heat in December ♪

Can you believe this?

Jonas Brothers back

together out of nowhere,

releasing "Sucker,"

which I love.

But they're actually

the first family band

to ever have a debut number one

song on the Hot 100.

-They're all grown up now.

-I know.

I put my head

on the pillow at night

happy that the Jonas Brothers

are back together.

♪ I'm a sucker for you ♪

I am their number one fan.

I know every lyric

of every song.

I can recite every story

of how they were made.

I love their music so much.

♪ I'm a sucker for all

the subliminal things ♪

♪ No one knows 'bout you ♪

♪ 'Bout you, 'bout you,

'bout you ♪

♪ And you're making

the typical me break

my typical rules ♪

♪ It's true ♪

♪ I'm a sucker for you ♪

♪ I'm a sucker for you ♪

Thank you.

I chipped my tooth

during a show.

I had the mic,

and I was, like--

Right here.

I chipped my tooth.

Can you see it? Yeah.

♪ We weren't meant to

get out of Jersey ♪

♪ Two stops past the parkway

and that old cemetery ♪

♪ We weren't born

to grow in early ♪

♪ But it rained hard

in the Garden State,

and we shot up like weeds ♪

♪ Walking out of the red

brick house, yeah ♪

♪ I could hear it screaming ♪

♪ Please don't leave ♪

♪ Like, hey,

where you going? ♪

♪ Don't you want to talk about

it before you walk away? ♪

♪ Like, hey,

where you going? ♪

♪ When there's still

so much left to say ♪

♪ Hollywood's a lot

like the Bible ♪

♪ Both take faith,

and if you want grace

then you gotta believe ♪

♪ Holding on

was always a battle ♪

♪ Even the Father, Son,

and the Holy Ghost ♪

♪ Don't always agree ♪

♪ There was always room

for one of us, but

not enough for three ♪

♪ So, who's it gonna be? ♪

♪ Saying, hey,

where you going? ♪

♪ Don't you want to talk about

it before you walk away? ♪

♪ Like, hey,

where you going? ♪

♪ When there's still so much

left to say to each other ♪

♪ If we're broken,

rather be honest ♪

♪ Than unspoken words

that can hurt, but ♪

♪ What could be worse ♪

♪ Than that final curtain

comin' down? ♪

♪ Like, hey,

where you going? ♪

♪ Don't you want to talk about

it before you walk away? ♪

♪ Like, hey,

where you going? ♪

♪ When there's still

so much left ♪

♪ There's still

so much left ♪

♪ Still so much left

to say ♪

♪ I am what I am,

I know what I'm not ♪

♪ I'm not the type of guy

that doesn't know

how good he's got it ♪

♪ And I won't back down,

won't come around ♪

♪ Saying that I changed

'cause that's not how

it's going down ♪

-♪ And I know ♪

-♪ I know ♪

♪ I go ♪