When the Jonas Brothers went on hiatus in 2013, Joe Jonas started making music with DNCE. Formed in 2015, the group — who rose to fame following the release of their debut single, “Cake By the Ocean” — was comprised of the New Jersey native alongside Jack Lawless, Cole Whittle and JinJoo Lee.

Once Joe returned to the Jonas Brothers alongside real-life siblings Nick and Kevin Jonas, the fate of DNCE was left up in the air. But in February 2022, the group revealed that they’re back and better than ever — this time as a trio. Cole is in the midst of working on solo music, so won’t be returning to the group for the time being.

“While I was in the Jonas Brothers again, I put a pause on all things DNCE, with the support of my fellow bandmates,” Joe told Rolling Stone in February 2022. “So it became this thing where we all went and did our own thing and started to look at what else we wanted to do. Cole’s been making really amazing music that’s right up his alley, and I’m really supportive of him.”

The trio launched their comeback with a song called “Dancing Feet” in February 2022. Joe referred to the single as “really happy.”

He added, “I think what DNCE always did so well was bring joy to people, which is what I wanted to do with this new batch of music. Obviously it’s still very tricky times, but it reminds us all of being able to go out there and dance and enjoy life.”

Following the group’s 2015 formation, they spoke with Interview Magazine about the meaning behind the group — especially when it came to the name DCNE.

“DNCE is ‘dance without the a.’ It’s not a perfect word, and you don’t always have to be a perfect dancer to dance,” JinJoo told the publication at the time. “Life is just sometimes not perfect.”

Joe, for his part, explained that the band was something he and Jack, who have known each other for “nine or 10 years,” always wanted to do.

“When it was the right timing, we wanted to do something like this, whether it was a side project or something like this — a full-time band,” the “Toothbrush” singer told Interview. “The last year it’s been really gung-ho and we got the music started. It really came together very quickly.”

They’ve only succeeded since then! Scroll through our gallery to see what the members of DNCE are up to now. 

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