The Artists of Disney Channel and How They’ve Grown Up
cover art: Mikayla Alpert
I admittedly didn’t watch a lot of Disney Channel growing up. I did, however, listen to a lot of music by Disney Channel stars. I only caught the occasional episode of Hannah Montana, but Miley Cyrus’ 2008 album Breakout was in constant rotation on long car rides with my family. I have memories of choreographing dance routines to Aly & AJ songs with my sisters. Back when my usage of YouTube was regulated to the family desktop computer, I would spend time watching Selena Gomez & The Scene music videos.
The musical heights reached by the Disney Channel in the 2000s seems nearly unparalleled by any other child-oriented corporation. There will always be music for kids, (heck, Kidz Bop just turned 20 years old and is going as strong as ever), but the mass appeal of the music from Disney Channel back in the day was more than that. The musical output was squeaky clean and kid-friendly, and the teen stars Disney produced were household names. Their music had radio crossover success with not just kids, but adults as well.
It’s been years since then. These teen stars have grown up into full-fledged pop idols with adult images and audiences. The nostalgia for their earlier work lingers, but they’ve carved out a completely new appeal. So, how have they changed? I’ll dissect the early singles from these artists’ careers, and then compare them to their most recent work.
The Jonas Brothers
The Jonas Brothers have had an interesting career trajectory. During their duration on the Disney Channel, they starred in their own TV show, (Jonas/Jonas L.A.), the Camp Rock franchise, and participated in a slew of other successful crossovers. I may not have watched all that much Hannah Montana in my youth, but even I remember what a big deal it was when they guest-starred. Their Disney image was squeaky-clean boy band, the brothers even donning promise rings for a while.
I revisited some of the Jonas Brothers’ biggest early hits, “Year 3000”, “Burnin’ Up”, and “S.O.S.”. Fun fact: “Year 3000” is a cover of the song by the band Busted. The Jonas version has great energy, despite their very juvenile-sounding voices. Subsequent hits “Burnin’ Up” and “S.O.S.” feel more polished and confident. The songs are solid pop-rock outings, with a refreshing rambunctiousness.
After their success on Disney, the brothers disbanded off into their own, more mature, solo ventures. Nick Jonas released a solo album in 2015 that showed him venturing off into crooning, R&B-splashed pop. Joe Jonas released a solo album in 2011 but had more success as the frontman to the band DNCE. Kevin Jonas retreated from music, starring in his own reality show Married to Jonas alongside his wife Danielle. The extended hiatus left many fans wondering if the group would ever reunite.
Then, the group came back in 2019 with their smash hit single “Sucker”. It was, in many ways, a return to form. “Sucker”’s success could be chalked up to cashing in on childhood nostalgia, but it also cemented Jonas Brothers’ celebrity status. The music video is a celebration of the star-studded relationships within the family, (Nick Jonas married actress Prianka Chopra in 2018, and Joe Jonas Game of Thrones star Sophie Turner in 2019). With the single came the Brothers’ first album in nearly a decade, Happiness Begins.
The hits off Happiness Begins are a mixed bag. Singles “Cool” and “Only Human” gained significant traction, but not to the extent of “Sucker”. The sound of these songs is as family-friendly and appealing as ever, but that youthful spunk isn’t as prevalent. Makes sense, as the brothers have grown up, “Cool”, calm, and collected. But if they continue as a band in the future, the nostalgia factor won’t be as prominent to push them towards success. They’ll need to add a bit more heat.
Miley Cyrus
Miley Cyrus made her start on Hannah Montana, a Disney Channel series following the life of a teenage girl and her secret identity as a pop star. This ambiguous identity has followed Cyrus even as she shifted away from her Hannah Montana image In the years following her Disney career. She’s become one of pop’s most adaptable figures. She’s released music under genres spanning from alt-pop to hip hop, psychedelic rock to flashdance, all in a matter of years.
I have memories of several Miley Cyrus albums from throughout my childhood. Cyrus’s official rebrand post Hannah Montana came with the album Meet Miley Cyrus in 2007. While it packages itself as an introduction, it felt like a retread of Hannah Montana material, and Cyrus’ voice still had a bit of that juvenile tone. The following albums Breakout and The Time Of Our Lives do a bit more to shed the Disney feel. The production and vocals feel a bit richer but still youthful. The most notable song on Breakout is the single “7 Things”. The song starts out wistful before exploding into rock-fuelled catharsis flaming with resentment, before quietly recollecting the pieces to admit lingering feelings. Ballad The Climb offers plenty of shmaltz with a touch more maturity than the Hannah Montana fare.
Cyrus’ official reinvention came in 2013, with the release of Bangerz. Cyrus dove into hip-hop stylings, explicit lyrics, and a more boisterous public persona. I find the single “We Can’t Stop” to be a bit ahead of its time. The song offers a stuporous, drowsy look at nightlife years before pop music shifted to a more downtempo feel with darker lyrical themes. As for the ways Cyrus assumed aspects of black culture during the Bangerz era only to drop them later, I’ll redirect you to this article that dissects this part of Miley Cyrus’s career in greater detail.
The most recent release from Cyrus was last year’s Plastic Hearts. The album dove into full 1980s mode. The album is steeped in nostalgia, whether it be the “Heart of Glass” cover tacked onto the end, the Stevie Nicks homage, or the guest verses from Joan Jett and Billie Idol. But the album never falls into pastiche territory. Instead, it shows Cyrus stepping into her most confident and catchy outing yet. Cyrus has tried on many different stylistic costumes, and Plastic Hearts is the one that suits her best. Her journey from her Hannah Montana days has been a long and unpredictable one. Maybe she’ll stay on this path, but when it comes to Miley, one can never quite be so sure what will be waiting on the other side.
Selena Gomez
Selena Gomez rose to stardom on the Disney Channel series Wizards Of Waverly Place. The show ran for four seasons, but Gomez’s place in the spotlight hasn’t waned even slightly since the show ended. Her endeavors in both acting and music have met substantial success.
One of my earliest memories of using the internet is going onto YouTube and watching the music video for “Love You Like A Love Song”, the hit single off of Selena Gomez and The Scene’s album from 2011. But I wasn’t just obsessed with that song. I had a collection of beloved singles from all of Selena Gomez’s albums with the backing band The Scene. “Naturally” is a buzzy shot of pop backed with the genuine thrill of getting to know someone. “You know who you are / and to me that’s exciting” is one of the most romantic lines ever penned by a Disney star. “Who Says” offers empowerment balladry that’s a bit cheesy, but with enough defiance to circle back to being sweet.
Selena Gomez debuted without The Scene in 2013, with the album Stars Dance. But the bigger, well, revival came with her 2015 release. Revival scored several hits, with mixed results. “Same Old Love” works as a brisk kiss-off. “Good For You” plays with the contrast between desire and naivete and falls a bit flat. These hits show Gomez working towards a more mature public persona, and while it did the job of shedding her Disney skin, it could’ve offered more in what her new identity was.
However, we’ve seen glimpses of it since. My favorite Selena Gomez moments have been when she gets weird and leans into the quirks of her voice. 2017 singles “Fetish” and “Bad Liar” were more off-kilter offerings but also didn’t meet much mainstream success. But there’s a wistful vulnerability to these songs that shows Gomez’s potential for the more experimental fare. Gomez isn’t an in-your-face presence, but she is a malleable one, working with several collaborators ranging from Marshmello to BLACKPINK.
However, Selena Gomez’s most recent release, Revelación, shows a shift. The EP combines her cooing pop styling with lyrics in Spanish. The songs offer a fluttery honesty, like Gomez is whispering a secret right in your ear. It shows Gomez’s potential for greater experimentation and emotional intimacy. By going back to her roots, Gomez has shown a bit more of the person she’s become. I, for one, hope she continues in that direction.
Aly & AJ
I’ll admit an immediate bias here. Aly & AJ were one of my favorite artists growing up. And while I never watched Cow Belles, the Disney Channel original movie they starred in, I did constantly spin their album Insomniatic. So, how does it hold up?
Aly & AJ’s biggest hit “Potential Breakup Song” has gone down as a Disney Channel classic with wide, lasting appeal. The pair even revived the song with an explicit rerelease in 2020. Thirteen years after its debut, the bitter, punkish pop still goes just as hard. Other hits like “Like Woah” and “Chemicals React” are enjoyable to me mostly for nostalgic reasons. “Like Woah” is pretty wonky for a Disney song, dappled with warped sound effects and dipping into distortion on the bridge. It’s messy, but so is the situation it describes, being thrilled by the sparks of a new relationship. “Chemicals React” takes on a triumphant atmosphere with a bit more of that peppy Disney cheer, but the emotive performances make it hit harder.
And for the most part, that appeal has lasted. The sisters have great chemistry as performers, a quality that translates well to whatever music they make. Their spinoff project 78Violet only lasted for the release of the single “Hothouse”, a woozy alternative pop track well poised for Summer afternoons. We Don’t Stop from 2020 compiled tracks from their comeback album 10 Years, 2019 EP Sanctuary, and other singles. It’s a great display of their sleek electropop offerings. But the sisters’ most recent release, a touch of the beat gets you up on your feet gets you out and then into the sun takes on a breezier, more laid-back feel, a nice contrast to their usually polished, sparkling pop fare. I remember dancing to Aly & AJ when I was six. It’s been over ten years since, and I’m still dancing to them.