RIP to the infamous JoBro purity rings. In their new documentary Chasing Happiness, the Jonas Brothers remember just how annoying it was to have their religion used as a punch line. Joe explains in the film, “That was not who we were. It was just something that we did when we were young kids but we wore the rings through the first bit of the band starting to explode, at that point it was already too late because it was in the media.â€
At the time, comedians had a field day with it, and South Park even aired a skit about the brothers and their rings. “They were saying Disney created a band who were these cookie-cutter boy band brothers and everything was perfect and they used Christianity and purity rings as a way to sell music to kids. I mean they weren’t far off, that’s for sure,†Joe admits. After all the hate, all three decided to get rid of their rings.
Joe also elaborates on the rings’ origins. “In the church it was encouraged that we go through this program, and it was like wait till the right person, wait till marriage. All the kids I grew up with were doing it, so I was like, ‘Oh, this is cool.’ Probably by like 15 I was like, ‘What? What is this?’â€
The jokes and taunts even affected the brothers in their day-to-day lives too. “When I would go to a sporting event and they would put me on the jumbotron or us or whatever,†Nick said, “they would boo us. As a sports fanatic, I would be so hurt like, ‘I am one of you. I’m just like you.’ The stress the rings caused only further escalated group tensions, and contributed to the band’s hiatus in 2011. Chasing Happiness is out on Amazon Prime today and coincides with the band’s upcoming album Happiness Begins, which is out on June 7.