Can we all take a moment to remember when Nick Jonas had a purity ring/Disney Channel reality show/was in a movie about summer camp? You've probably not been thinking about the reign of the Jonas Brothers, because once you've had the vision of a man in his skivvies grabbing his, ahem, special place, it's kind of the only thing you'll ever see.
But contrary to the tricks your mind might be playing on you, Nick Jonas did not arrive on this Earth with a hot bod, R-rated lyrics, and an alarming amount of rhythm. It was basically the exact opposite.
When you think of his former life as a part of a boy band and the poster boy for purity rings, it's pretty hard to fathom his current hot guy status. How exactly does one become the next Justin Timberlake? Especially when one used to sing lyrics like "One day when I came home at lunchtime/I heard a funny noise/Went out to the backyard to find out/It was one of those rowdy boys."
So we're taking a look at the timeline of Nick Jonas. Let's journey back, shall we?
August 2006: The first Jonas Brothers album is released. Nick was originally signed to Columbia Records as a solo act, but execs eventually decided he was stronger with his brothers providing vocals, instrumentals, and additional purity influence.
August 2007: The Jonas Brothers' second (and self-titled) album debuts and reaches No. 5 on the Billboard 200 in the first week. The nation becomes instantly fascinated by their sweet, sweet harmonies and perfectly marketable baby faces. A million young girls immediately decide that Nick is their favorite.
May 2008: The Jonas Brothers are officially rock stars. What's our proof? They got a reality show. A reality show called Jonas Brothers: Living the Dream. It chronicles their preparations for their upcoming tour, and Nick calls stylist fittings "Kind of like shopping for school clothes, only better."
June 2008: Nick and his bros star in Camp Rock, a Disney Channel original movie about...wait for it...a rock summer camp. The movie, which also featured a then-unknown Demi Lovato, starred Nick as the leader of a band called Connect Three. Marvel at the real-life symmetry! Nick gets to woo a girl by playing an acoustic guitar and singing a song about how he's trying to grow a moustache.
May 2009: America is so hungry for all things Jonas that they develop a scripted series on the Disney Channel just to make up more kind-of-real-but-also-fake Jonas Brothers adventures. In JONAS, Nick and his brothers play—get this—brothers who also rock stars and also—are you following this?—teenagers trying to live a normal life. Nick bakes his brothers cookies when they're bummed and that's pretty much all you need to know about the show.
September 2010: Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam premieres, and the world domination continues. The Jonas Brothers are still virgins.
2010 & 2011: The Nick Jonas solo career seed is planted. He forms his own separate band "on the side" of his work with the Jonas Brothers. He calls it Nick Jonas & the Administration, a group modeled after Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band. Right. He also takes on a few Broadway and other musical roles to become a Serious Actor. He plays Link Larkin in a Hollywood Bowl production of Hairspray, but as far as we know he did not grab his barely-covered crotch at all.
Summer of 2012: Nick begins to lay the foundation of his Master Plan (alternate title: In Which I Become a Sex God). First, the JoBros split with their label. Then Nick signs on to be a guest mentor on X-Factor.
May 2013: Nick co-hosts Miss USA and succumbs to the pressure of female beauty. He meets former Miss Universe Olivia Culpo, they start dating, and his purity ring is presumably sitting at the bottom of the ocean.
October 2013: The JoBros cancel their big reunion tour mere days before the kickoff. It's assumed that Nick would rather spend sexy time with Miss Universe than sing "Burnin' Up" to tweens.
September 2014: Wilhelmina Models comes a-calling. Or, rather, Nick's people asked Wilhelmina to take him on. The result, as we would later find out, was that much-talked-about Flaunt spread.
November 2014: His self-titled album is released. He records several version of the hit single "Jealous," including a gospel version that lets him show off his newfound street cred, and a remix with Tinashe that drops more F-bombs than we've heard from the Jonai combined.
Which brings us to the Nick Jonas of today. He grabs his crotch (again). He talks about smoking weed. He posts Instagram pics with (gasp!) Coors Light. And, he's even got a totally legit role in the upcoming Ryan Murphy TV show.
Nick Jonas, you have arrived.