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DNCE Talks Equality, Dream Collaborations at the GLAAD Media Awards

Joe Jonas, JinJoo Lee, Cole Whittle and Jack Lawless DNCE
Joe Jonas, JinJoo Lee, Cole Whittle and Jack Lawless of band DNCE attend the 28th Annual GLAAD Awards in 2017. Paul Zimmerman/WireImage

Their latest single “Kissing Strangers” is about exploring sexuality with new people, and DNCE wants everyone to be able to sing along. “The point of our music is just to make people happy and to send the message that we’re all the same and there should just be one community: everybody,” bassist Cole Whittle told Us Weekly exclusively at the 28th Annual GLAAD Media Awards in NYC on Saturday, May 6. “That’s what our music means to us, and with this song it’s the same thing.”

Joe Jonas and Cole Whittle DNCE
Joe Jonas and Cole Whittle of band DNCE perform at the 28th Annual GLAAD Media Awards at The Hilton Midtown on May 6, 2017 in New York City. Jason Kempin/Getty Images

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The band, composed of Whittle, Joe Jonas, JinJoo Lee and Jack Lawless, will continue to churn out smash hits like 2015’s “Cake by the Ocean” and 2016’s “Toothbrush” and “Body Moves,” but don’t expect the new jams in the form of a standard album. “The term ‘album’ seems to be ever-changing,” Jonas, 27, told Us at the event. “We’re going to focus on songs right now.” He also added that the band will “block off a good amount of time to bring some songwriters and friends that we really like working with and see what we can come up with — but we’re kind of always songwriting.” While he notes that the group already achieved one of their dream collaborations by getting Nicki Minaj on “Kissing Strangers,” Jonas adds that they would also love to work with Outkast and Kendrick Lamar in the future.

Debra Messing and Cole Whittle DNCE
Debra Messing and Cole Whittle of band DNCE during the 28th Annual GLAAD Media Awards in 2017. Bryan Bedder/Getty Images

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During DNCE’s performance at the ceremony, Whittle got more than a kiss from a very important stranger. Excellence in Media Award recipient Debra Messing, who was dancing and singing along throughout the set, grabbed the musician’s nipples when he came into the audience. The Will & Grace actress, 48, even shared a snap of the hilarious moment to Instagram. “Yes, that’s right, I DID tweak his nipples,” Messing wrote May 7. “We had a moment. ? #GlaadAwards.”

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