The Jonas Brothers are hot, and they’re not.
The amiable, good looking trio is right now selling out Madison Square Garden. They’ve got three nights next month — August 21, 22, and 23 — and so far sales look pretty good.
Three nights at MSG is a big deal. One night would be a big deal. If they really sell out the run, that’s over 50,000 tickets.
Amazing.
But there’s a weird disconnect with Kevin, Nick, and Joe from New Jersey. Their popularity playing live, doing commercials, appearing in social media is undeniable. Plus Nick is on the big screen right now in John Carney’s highly praised movie, “Power Ballad.”
The problem is they sell no records. They used to, of course. But most of that was almost 20 years. Then, in 2019, they had a resurgence with a single called “Sucker,” and a hit album titled “Happiness Begins.” At the time, they’d been disbanded for a decade, so it seemed like they were born again.
But since then, record sales have been nil with one exception. Joe Jonas had a massive hit called “Cake by the Ocean” with an outfit called DNCE. It was a one off, a miracle of a record that found no follow-up. It’s still a unicorn that can get anyone on the dance floor.
Both Nick and Joe have released solo albums recently. A few years ago, Nick appeared on “Saturday Night Live” to promote a solo album. There was no sales pay off.
It’s not like the records are bad. They’re perfectly fine pop concoctions. But either the fans just want to hear the old songs, or there’s a radio and marketing issue. The new tour is named for a 2007 single called “Burning Up,” so they know where the strengths lie — in nostalgia.
Meantime, their last two albums were disasters — in 2023, “The Album” (what a terrible title and idea) sold just 52,000 copies. Last year, “Greetings from Your Hometown” didn’t even register. It was DOA.
And still, ticket sales for the live show are booming. It’s a headscratcher. Right now, on Ticketmaster, the “queue” for pre-sales is around 4,000 per night. But you do see the brothers in photos from all over the world on exotic vacations, and living it up. So the formula works whether we understand it or not.
