10 Years Ago, The Jonas Brothers Were Peak Heartthrobs at Their First Grammys

Once the 51st Annual Grammy Awards touched down in Los Angeles on February 8, 2009, Lil Wayne, Coldplay, and Adele were among the evening's biggest winners. As much applause as they derived for their golden trophies, though, it paled in comparison to the deafening shrieks elicited by Grammy rookies Jonas Brothers.


At the time, the trio — Nick, 16, Joe, 19, and Kevin, 21 — were the certified kings of the teen pop world. 2008 had been their breakout year, marked by their hit third album (A Little Bit Longer, which handily debuted at No. 1), a mega-popular Disney Channel Original Movie (Camp Rock, the hugest thing since High School Musical), a Rolling Stone cover, and announcements of future tours, TV shows, and also a 3D concert movie. Despite their near ubiquitousness, though, the musical group had been dismissed by several critics as Residence of Mouse-generated pop fluff, which made their Grammy nomination for Best New Artist later that year even sweeter.


"When you begin in a musical group as an artist you mention, 'One day, I'll be nominated for a Grammy.' It happened, and we're just so honored," Nick told MTV News moments immediately following the nomination announcement in December 2008. "As young guys, we know that this is a privilege, and we do appreciate that. We're grateful."


Two months later, the brothers would show up at the awards show dressed the piece of future Vogue cover stars. They wore sharp designer tuxedos (Burberry and Versace, thankyouverymuch), and their doting mom, Denise, even joined them to brave the onslaught of flashbulbs that followed them down the red carpet.


About halfway via ceremony, Kanye West and Estelle took the mic to announce the nominees for Best New Artist: Adele, Duffy, Lady Antebellum, Jazmine Sullivan, and the definite outliers amongst the female-powered sort, the JoBros. Adele emerged victorious, nevertheless as sad a loss as it was for the categorize, their big night was only getting started.


The Grammys are known for hosting out-of-left-field collaborations, and JB's first and only performance on the show was no different — they busted out a medley of their A Little Bit Longer hit "Burnin' Up" and Stevie Wonder's "Superstition," accompanied by the legend himself. It opened with Wonder singing "Burnin' Up" into a vocoder, before the trio took over in rollicking fashion.


The efficiency itself was just crazy enough to work — JB had busted out live renditions of "Superstition" at their own shows, so they clearly knew and loved the classic. Performing it with Wonder is a completely different story, nevertheless they tackled it with unbridled energy, as a scarf-wearing Nick plus a vest-rocking Joe traded vocals, curly-headed Kevin shredded on guitar, and Nick's puberty-ridden voice repeatedly called out, "C'mon, Steve-ay!"


Though the brothers went residence empty-handed that night, it was still a win in their book. They told Reuters the week right following the show, "There's a little bit disappointment, yet the efficiency was a win for us. That was such a brilliant possibility plus a brilliant teamwork. ... We were blown away."


Jonas Brothers sadly never returned to the show as an audience — they disbanded in 2013, though reunion rumors abound — however 10 years later, we'll routinely remember the night these heartthrobs burned the Grammys up.