Once upon a time there was a little boy named Nick who grew up with his mommy and his little brother Drew, not too far from his daddy. One year for Christmas, Nick’s daddy gave Drew a brand new baseball hat. This did not please Nick at all. All he got was a stupid Star Wars figure that his relatives got at a discount because they worked for Mattel. Not only was it discounted, it was missing a leg. Drew was so proud of his hat. He wore it everywhere, to school, to church, to choir practice, swimming, and even to bed. Nick didn’t like this. His friends made fun of Luke Skywalker. "Your dad must like Drew better! At least his hat has a bill on it!"

Nick was so upset by his friends’ teasing that one day he ran home from school and tackled Drew to the floor. He ripped the well worn Cincinnati Reds hat from Drew’s head and ran off. Drew could only sit there and cry. Nick ran outside to his friends and said "Look! I got a hat of my own!" and tried to put it on his head. His friends laughed when they saw him struggle to get it on his head. "Fathead! Fathead" they all chanted. This reduced Nick to tears and he ran back inside and tackled a crying Drew and ripped the hat up right in front of him.

This did not sit well with either of Nick’s parents. Nick was grounded for two weeks, while Drew got a brand new Cincinnati Reds hat. This one was a tiny bit big, so he stuffed his right ear inside of it, just to make it fit perfectly. The new hat only angered Nick more, and he vowed to one day seek revenge on his little, but better, brother.

The years passed and now Nick was a senior at the School for Creative and Performing Arts. Drew was a sophomore. Since that fateful day 8 years before, Nick had not attempted to put a hat on. But, graduation day was rapidly approaching and there was no way around wearing a cap with his gown.

Nick avoided putting on his cap until the very last moment. When he did, he had the fight of his life to get it around his head. His family was all there and everyone tried their best to help him, but poor Nick was inconsolable. Drew did his part to try cutting his hair to make his head smaller, but when he left the safety off the clippers and took a big chunk out of his hair World War III almost broke out. Drew shrugged and said "It’s not MY fault you have a fat head" and ran off before Nick had a chance to sprint after him. Nick graduated wearing his cap, slit up the back to accommodate his whole fat head.

This was enough humiliation for Nick. Half of Cincinnati knew about Fathead Nick. There was even a small story run in the Cincinnati Enquirer. Nick had to escape. So, off he went to USC. This lasted a year, until he joined a barbershop quartet, where he was required to wear a hat. Nick adamantly refused to don the hat, and was kicked out of the choir . Unfortunately, participating in the choir was a requirement for one of his classes and ultimately he failed it. So, once again, Nick’s fat head got the best of him.

So, back to Oxford Nick went, to enroll in Miami University. Nick had friends there from high school, but tried his best to make new ones. Nick pledged into Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity and all was going well until the final night of pledge week when all the pledges had to wear beanies. Nick decided not to fight with his beanie and just set it on top of his head. He was doing just fine until a big gust of wind came up and blew it off his head and out of sight. Nick still got pledged in, but he was on kitchen and bathroom duty for a whole year.

Finally Nick got his big break. His friend Jon called him and asked if he’d like to make a fresh start in LA with him and his new buddy Jeff. Nick jumped at the opportunity to FINALLY start over with a clean slate. He packed up the convertible and headed out to LA. This was just what Nick needed! To make a long story short, 98° was formed. Things were going well, they made one album which was moderately successful, and then finished work on their second album, 98°…and Rising. The first single off this album was "True to your Heart", a duet with Stevie Wonder. The guys of 98° were so thrilled and honored to be working with a legend. All was fine until the video came along. Nick had developed a small following of female fans already by that time and knew that if these women really loved him, they’d love him no matter what he looked like. So, Nick took a big risk and brought out his alter-ego, Fathead, for the video shoot. The 3 other guys laughed at Nick, but behind his back (see, Nick had bulked up a bit over the years and could do more damage than when he was 10). Stevie heard the laughter and asked the guys what was going on – and Justin, in his best calm cool collected manner, explained it to him. Stevie laughed so hard, his braids almost came undone. Nick, meanwhile, was oblivious. So, the video shoot went on, and Nick never had a clue. It wasn’t until Nick finally saw the video that he realized what a mistake he made.

Nick spent the next year or so in fear of hats, in general. But during this time his female following had quadrupled, if not more. So when the time came to head out on tour in the summer of 1999, he figured that All That was not just the name of the tour, but it was also a description of him. So, out came the hat again. Not only did the guys laugh at Nick, but so did the dancers, the band members, and security. But no one ever laughed to his face. A pissed Nick is not a good Nick. (oh wait, wrong website). Nick insisted on wearing his hat for every tour date. He figured that his sculpted muscles and chiseled features would make up for his fat head. He was wrong. But no one ever told Nick.

Then finally one day, Nick met a wonderful girl named KC. KC had seen Nick in all his glory wearing a hat. KC took Nick aside and in her most reassuring and passionate manner, convinced Nick that his head really was fat. Nick cried for hours, but KC consoled him. KC told him that she’d never leave him, ever, even for someone with a normal sized head. Then, KC did something for Nick that boosted his confidence to new heights. She took him shopping. And bought him a bandana. No longer did Fathead have to worry about squeezing his head into a snug hat. HE had control now. Nick could make it as loose or as tight as he wanted. Nick thanked KC in countless way for her thoughtfulness (or maybe that was just a really good dream that KC had) and from then on became the confident, carefree stud that we all know and love!