Jonas Brothers Set Their First Album in a Decade for June
By Variety Staff
LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – Coming 10 years almost to the week after their previous studio album, the Jonas Brothers’ “Happiness Begins” has been set for a June 7 release.
A date for their full-length comeback has been eagerly anticipated by fans ever since the near-surprise March 1 release of “Sucker,” a single that has just reached No. 1 on the Mediabase Top 40 radio airplay chart. It’s their first No. 1 in the format, all their previous singles in their salad days in the 2000s having fallen shy of that mark.
That still leaves fans waiting for a release date for the Amazon-produced documentary about the brother trio that led to the group recording together again.
The have two high-profile TV gigs scheduled in the lead-up to the album release, with a May 11 “Saturday Night Live” appearance preceded by a number on “The Billboard Music Awards” May 1.
“Creatively, they’ve evolved, as any artists would after a decade,” Republic’s EVP of A&R, Wendy Goldstein, told Variety about the album in a previous interview. “I don’t think it’s tied to any era in particular. They were adamant about making an honest, real and somewhat raw comeback. They draw on their history together, but it’s an exciting new chapter. … There are some really powerful bangers ready to go.” Added manager Phil McIntyre, “I would say that you will be able to see and hear the influences of what Joe did in his solo career and what Nick did in his solo career come together in a very natural way.”
A second single and video from the forthcoming album, “Cool,” were released April 5.
The Jonas Brothers’ previous all-new studio album, “Lines, Vines and Trying Times,” came out June 16, 2009. They attempted to reunite for a followup several years later but abandoned the effort, with a handful of tracks from that abortive effort folded into a 2013 live album released after they’d agreed to go their separate ways.
As of last month, Republic was still unsure about whether to release the new album and the Amazon documentary as separate events or tie them together. With this album announcement, that’s still an unknown. “As of right now they’re separate things,” McIntyre said in March, “but we’re looking at it… (and) playing with just how to kind of roll out the two bodies of work.”
Also yet to be unveiled: timing for a 2019 tour, with discussion of what size venues the Brothers should play — now that their return has gone as smashingly as possible, so far — a hot topic of discussion.
