During a recent episode of the “Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard” podcast, American recording artist and actor Nick Jonas discussed a significant event from his career—the “tragic guitar solo debacle” that took place during a live performance in 2016. The incident occurred at the 2016 Academy of Country Music Awards when Jonas joined country artist Kelsea Ballerini on stage to perform their duet, “Peter Pan.” Jonas’s mistake during the guitar solo had a profound impact on him, leading to therapy and shaping his perspective on perfectionism and self-imposed pressure.
Recalling the incident, the now 30-year-old Jonas described feeling confident and well-rehearsed before the performance. As he began playing the guitar solo and approached Ballerini, something unexpected happened. Jonas went blank, hit a wrong note, and found himself unable to recover from the mistake. The experience was so disorienting that he described “blacking out” momentarily, fully aware that he had made an error.
“I come out for my thing. I rehearsed it a million times. I’m feeling really confident about it — not even really thinking about it like it’s a thing that’s going to be problematic,” Jonas said. “I started off, it was fine and as I walked towards her, I just went completely blank and I hit a wrong note and blacked out basically and clocked that it was wrong and I couldn’t stop.”
Following the performance, Jonas experienced a mix of emotions, ranging from shock to trauma. Recognizing the magnitude of the mistake, he expressed concern about the incident’s potential impact. He was rushed to a car and then a plane, all the while reflecting on the performance and its implications. This event became a turning point, shaping the immense pressure Jonas placed on himself to always strive for perfection.
Jonas didn’t shy away from discussing the incident’s effect on him. He admitted that the mistake haunted him for some time and compelled him to seek therapy. The experience made him realize the unrealistic standards he set for himself and the need to prioritize self-compassion over an obsession with perfection. The incident served as a profound lesson for Jonas, who vowed not to let the fear of making mistakes hinder his growth as an artist.
Jonas’s Twitter post after the performance demonstrated his ability to maintain a sense of humor and self-awareness. Acknowledging his mistake, he referred to it as a “huge brain fart,” displaying a lighthearted perspective on the situation. Despite the initial embarrassment, Jonas was able to find amusement in the aftermath.
“In retrospect, I can kind of laugh about how big I thought it was. But it did travel more than I wish it would have, and it did cause me to go to therapy,” he said of making an error during the performance.
