Joe Jonas says weak sales on his first solo album sent him to therapy

Joe Jonas said on the Hey Jonas! podcast, which he hosts with his Jonas Brothers bandmates and siblings Nick and Kevin, that disappointing sales for his 2011 solo debut Fastlife led him into panic attacks and eventually therapy.

Fastlife peaked at Number 15 on the US albums chart, with lead single "See No More" maxing out at Number 92, both of which Jonas considered a disappointment. He said he had expected the project to match the Jonas Brothers' success and treated it as a test of his own self-worth, recalling that "everything the Jonas Brothers touched back then, it would be gold," and adding: "Somewhere in my core, I was like, 'If I do that, then I matter.'"

"I started having panic attacks and started having physical pain," he recalled. A doctor found him healthy but recommended he see a therapist, a suggestion he initially resisted: "I was like, what do you mean a therapist? I don't need a therapist. Why would I need a therapist?" He instead went on long bike rides to get away from his phone before eventually agreeing to go.

"I finally spoke to somebody and, after crying through the first question for an hour, realised how great it was," he said, calling it helpful ever since in dealing with other major life things.

His brother Nick echoed the sentiment elsewhere in the episode, saying therapy helped him stop measuring himself against others and instead "be okay as a person, as opposed to comparing to others."

Jonas returned to solo music last year with Music For People Who Believe In Love, his first solo album under his own name in 14 years, and made a surprise appearance at Coachella 2026 performing the Jonas Brothers' "When You Look Me In The Eyes" with Teddy Swims. Jonas has stayed a fixture of mainstream pop since the Jonas Brothers' 2005 debut.