Joe Jonas has spoken on the pressures around his debut solo album, Fastlife, and how it greatly impacted his mental health.
The musician reflected on his 2011 album on the Tuesday (Aug. 4) episode of podcast Hey Jonas!, co-hosted by his brothers and Jonas Brothers bandmates Kevin and Nick.
Fastlife, which would be Joe’s last album for nearly 15 years, moved just 18,000 copies in its first week and debuted at No. 15 on the Billboard 200, dropping to No. 122 in its second week. The artist’s sophomore album, Music for People Who Believe in Love, released last May.
“The reason I started doing therapy is because of the first taste of like not achieving success,” Joe said around the 24-minute mark of the podcast. “I
released a solo album when I was about 21, 22, and it didn't do as well as I thought it would do, because everything the Jonas Brothers touched back then it would be like gold.”
Jonas added that he “had a lot of high expectations of success” to feel as though he mattered. When this achievement wasn’t met, the pressure manifested into physical and mental angst.
“I like started having panic attacks and physical pain, and I would go to the doctor quite a bit and do like full body checkups and blood work,” he explained.
Joe added that the endocrinologist told him that he was “physically fine” but recommended that he go to therapy, which the musician eventually accepted.
“I finally spoke to somebody. After crying through the first question for an hour, realized how great it was,” he said. “I can definitely be better at consistency, but it definitely was so helpful during that season and it has been throughout my life and other major life things that I’ve gone through.”
Like Fastlife, Joe’s second album saw moderate chart success, debuting at No. 24 on the Billboard 200, where it moved 17,000 pure copies, while he also debuted at No. 3 on the Top Album Sales chart. The Jonas Brothers’ seventh album, Greetings From Your Hometown, dropped last August.
