Nick Jonas: Discovery and solo album (1999–2005)
Main article: Nick Jonas
Main article: Nicholas Jonas (album)
The band started as a solo project of Nick Jonas. When Nick was six years old, he was discovered while singing at a barber shop and was referred to a professional show business manager.[1][2][3] At the age of 7, Nicholas began performing on Broadway.[4][5] He has acted in several plays, including A Christmas Carol (in 2000 as Tiny Tim and Scrooge at eight), Annie Get Your Gun (in 2001 as Little Jake), Beauty and the Beast (in 2002 as Chip), and Les Misérables (in 2003 as Gavroche).[5][6][7][8] After Les Misérables closed, he performed in The Sound of Music (as Kurt) at the Paper Mill Playhouse.[9]
In 2002 while performing in Beauty and the Beast, Nick had written a song with his father called "Joy to the World (A Christmas Prayer)". With background vocals from the Beauty and the Beast cast, Nick performed the song on the 2002 annual Broadway "Equity Fights AIDS" album, Broadway's Greatest Gifts: Carols for a Cure, Vol. 4.[10][11] In November 2003, INO Records received a demo copy of "Joy to the World (A Christmas Prayer)".[12] The label released the song to Christian radio, where it quickly became popular on Record & Radio's Christian Adult Contemporary Chart.[11] While Nick was working on his solo project, Joe followed in his footsteps to Broadway, appearing in Baz Lurhmann's production of La Boheme.
By September 2004, an executive at Columbia Records found out about Nick's song.[13][11] Nick was soon jointly signed to INO Records and Columbia Records and released the single "Dear God".[14] A second single, a new solo recording of "Joy to the World (A Christmas Prayer)", was released on November 16.[15] It was supposed to be followed by a December release of a self-titled solo album Nicholas Jonas, but the album had been pushed back;[16] it did, however, get a limited release.[17] Nick, along with his brothers, Kevin and Joe, had written...