Nat and Alex Wolff, also known as The Naked Brothers Band, are some polarizing figures. The two brothers found their way into the spotlight after being picked up for a self-titled show on Nickelodeon that received some mixed ratings; however, the two brothers had some staying power in their musical prowess. Read on more to find out about the Wolff brothers’ journey and where they are in 2016 today.
The Naked Brothers Band and their Career Beginnings
Nat Wolff was born on December 17, 1994 and Alex Wolff was born on November 1, 1997. Nat, as the older brother, joined a band named “The Silver Boulders” when he was young, and quickly began to explore the world of songwriting and music production. Alex wanted to join Nat, but Nat felt that it was uncool to have his younger brother following him around. The two brothers were born to Michael Wolff, the bandleader of the “Arsenio Hall Show” (a variety/talk show that ran from 1989 to 1994) and actress Polly Draper, who is famous for having starred on ABC’s Thirtysomething show.
Nat, six years old at the time, wrote a song called “Firefighters” in response to the September 11, 2001 attacks in Manhattan that devastated not just a city, but the nation. The song was played outside of their Manhattan apartment, and raised more than $45,000 in the end that went to the children of the firefighters that were either killed in the attack, or died due to complications in the proceeding aftermath. Alex so desired to be a part of the concert, so Nat gave him a fake saxophone and pleaded with him to just look the part and not actually make any noise.
After the concert, Alex found inspiration from Ringo Starr of the Beatles, so Alex quickly took up the drums. Alex would watch videos of Ringo and begin to teach himself the same time-keeping techniques and drum patterns, and eventually, Nat acquiesced and allowed for Alex to join his band. After some time, with both Wolff brothers in the Silver Boulders Band, Alex and Nat founded The Naked Brothers Band. The name allegedly came from their childhood, when they would be in the bathtub together and loudly proclaim, “We’re the naked brothers!”
After The Naked Brothers Band had officially formed, Nat allegedly began to plead with his mom to become a child start. Polly Draper eventually allowed Nat to film his own show, and this eventually led to Alex and Nat asking their father, Michael Wolff, to produce a music album for them. This led to Michael arranging a recording session for himself and his two sons; whilst in the studio recording, Polly came up with the idea of making a mockumentary about the band.
In 2004, the film began production at the family’s lower Manhattan apartment and proceeded to film on location in various parts of Toledo. The Naked Brothers Band: The Movie began as a family project, with a budget of $1 million, but became an anomaly due to its charming nature. The movie featured a variety of celebrities who were friends with Polly and Michael and would offer to do the movie for little or no pay; as a result, The Naked Brothers Band Movie includes a star-studded roster of celebrities like Cyndi Lauper, Ann Curry, Uma Thurman, Ricki Lake, and Arsenio Hall. The soundtrack for the movie was written by Nat and Alex Wolff, with Polly Draper, Michael Wolff, and Tim Draper all serving as producers on the movie.
The movie would enter into the Hamptons International Film Festival and subsequently win an award for best family feature film. Nickelodeon then picked up the movie, and eventually, The Naked Brothers Band received their own show. The movie aired on January 27, 2007, with the television show airing a week after. Albie Hecht was the executive producer of the show, and Worldwide Biggies was the production company of the show.
The show made it through three seasons and 35 episodes. The Wolff Brothers eventually returned to their musical roots and wrote their second album, “I Don’t Want to Go to School” in 2007 and 2008. The album was released on April 15, 2008 with 12 tracks and some bonus goodies that were part of an exclusive deal with Wal-Mart, including a DVD that features behind-the-scenes footage. After this, the brothers then shifted from their television production lives into making music. The Naked Brothers Band Show ended on June 13, 2009 with the series finale, “No School Fools’ Day.”
The Naked Brothers Band and Growing Out of Nickelodeon
The Naked Brothers did some growing up and quickly blossomed from musicians that sang about video games and school into musicians that sang about more soulful, meaningful topics. The two brothers had their very first tour in 2008, called “Nat and Alex Wolff: Fully Clothed and on Tour,” which was a little nod towards their original band name. The band expanded to include two guitarists, a keyboardist, a drummer, and numerous vocalists. Just as they were winding down in their very first tour, the two brothers wanted to become full-fledged musicians, but found some difficulty since “The Naked Brothers Band” name was owned by Viacom due to the deal with Nickelodeon. As a result, the two brothers took on their own names and became just “Nat and Alex Wolff.”
The two brothers then began to tour under their own name, playing alongside notable teenage musicians like Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez at the height of the teen pop bubble in 2009-2011. The brothers also performed at the Earth Day Concert in 2010 in Manhattan, which returned many eyes to the two brothers thanks to their dropping of “The Naked Brothers” name. Nat and Alex then covered Bruce Springsteen’s “Dancing in the Dark” and The Beatles’ “A Hard Day’s Night,” which helped to show that the brothers had not only music taste, but actual talent and were not a fluke with celebrity parents.
The brothers produced an extra few albums, but have since then fallen out of love with the music world. The two brothers produced five albums from their beginning in 2005 all the way through their fading away in 2010, which included “Black Sheep” and “Throwbacks.” Both of these albums were produced and released more than 3 years after they were originally recorded, which was not a good decision due to the time and dissonance that had separated Nat and Alex Wolff from their Naked Brothers Band name. “Throwbacks” was the final music album released by Nat and Alex Wolff, and the two brothers would eventually begin to take steps away from the world of music to follow other pursuits.
The Naked Brothers Band – Where are they now in 2018?
Just like all teenage stars, the two brothers eventually grew up into fine young gentlemen. The abandoning of “The Naked Brothers” name also helped, as the two have a lot of talent thanks to being the offspring of actress Polly Draper and musician Michael Wolff. Since their time on Nickelodeon and their departure from the world of music, the two brothers have branched out into the acting world and even the stage acting world.
Alex Wolff, the younger brother of the duo, started his acting career with the 2011 movie “The Sitter” and eventually made it to act in a variety of movies including “Coming Through the Rye,” “Dude,” “Patriots Day,” and perhaps his biggest movie to date, “My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2.” Alex has since been confirmed to eventually appear in the movie “My Friend Dahmer,” which is a story that will cover the story of the cannibalistic murderer, Jeffrey Dahmer. Alex’s rise from a young music star that sang about not wanting to go to school into an actor that is now acting in a serious, gritty movie is an interesting and meteoric rise, to say the least.
Nat Wolff, as the older brother, has found more tangible success and seems to be doing a bit more, primarily attributed to his age and experience. Now, Nat Wolff will be appearing in the upcoming “Death Note” movie, based off the anime story of the same name. This will, without a doubt, be Nat’s biggest role to date; he is starring as the main character, Light Turner.
Prior to Nat’s upcoming marquee debut as Light Turner, he has also appeared in movies including “The Intern,” “In Dubious Battle,” “Paper Towns,” “Palo Alto,” “The Fault in Our Stars,” “Grandma,” and “Behaving Badly.” Nat has also branched out to participate in a Manhattan theater show, titled “Buried Child.” “Buried Child” was written in 1978, and depicts an American nuclear family and their disenfranchising with the American Dream. While not a marquee star in the show, Nat is featured as a prominent character that makes his appearance in the second act and sticks around until the very end. “Buried Child” ran on Off-Broadway from February 02, 2016 all the way through April 03, 2016, receiving some high praise.
Nat Wolff also has received two Teen’s Choice Awards for his appearance in “The Fault In Our Stars,” and has received the Rising Star award for his appearance in numerous forms of media.
Clearly, Nat and Alex making are making a name for themselves after leaving behind their poorly-rated The Naked Brothers Band Show. The Naked Brothers Band show, while introducing the two brothers to us, was quite poorly rated with a 3.2 rating on IMDB and universal panning by critics and average viewers alike.
This article is so full of inaccurate or just plain wrong information! Even the photo captioned “Alex Wolff” is actually a photo of Nat Wolff. My fifth grade niece could have written a better article. Sad.