- Lead singer Nick Jonas has been living with type 1 diabetes for two decades.
- The band's “JONAS20: Greetings from Your Hometown Tour” marks its 20th anniversary alongside Nick Jonas’s two-decade experience with diabetes.
- Nick Jonas discusses how these two anniversaries have impacted his life and how he uses his music to raise awareness for type 1 diabetes.
In 2025, the number 20 carries special significance for renowned artist Nick Jonas.
As the Jonas Brothers celebrate their 20th year as a band, 2025 simultaneously signifies 20 years since their frontman's type 1 diabetes discovery.
“It’s crazy how it lined up,” the singer stated. “It's been an incredible ride in both… in the Brothers sense, it’s been the ride of a lifetime, and we’ve been so blessed to be able to do this for 20 years now and to have the support of the world’s greatest fans.”
Alongside the band’s experience over the last 20 years, he said he has had great and tough moments living with diabetes. The struggles of controlling his disease have been the low points, while raising awareness and connecting with others through his role and through his foundation have brought him joy.
“Overall, I’m really grateful to have been able to be transparent about [type 1] and to interact with all these amazing people from all regions of the world who are navigating their own diabetes journey, and it’s a really significant feeling to feel like you’re a little less isolated in it,” he added.
Nick Jonas’ A1C Shoutout to His Audience
To show appreciation to supporters, on World Diabetes Day (November 14), he stepped onto the platform during a Jonas Brothers concert and surprised his audience by sharing an uplifting message of hope, accompanied by a mention to his A1C.
“My A1C, which is a collection of numbers over a three-month period, was the most favorable it’s ever been, actually, most recently,” said Jonas.
The show was visited by members of a global community — a collective of more than 30,000 people worldwide who discuss their experiences with diabetes to help promote a message of resilience, perseverance, and optimism.
“It was really meaningful for me to get to use the Jonas Brothers’ stage as a place to speak about something that’s clearly very personal to me and on World Diabetes Day, I think it’s fitting to get reflective and to explore sort of what life looks like for me as a now 33-year-old person living with this condition,” he said.
Jonas dedicated the song “A Little Bit Longer” — a tune he wrote early in his career and diabetes experience, to those affected by the disease.
“It’s a really important time for me to get to speak on stage like that and play a song that I wrote about these challenges when I was 14 and to see the effect it still has to this day with the fan base,” he said.
While the song has taken on a new meaning for him as an adult, he said it is still relevant.
“Now I [have] this vast, supportive community that I belong to that has supported me in so many different moments. I think my perspective is perhaps a lot more positive now. It is possible to live a full, active life while managing this disease and mindset and viewpoint and all that is an essential piece to persevering.”
Progress in Diabetes Management
Not long ago, life with type 1 diabetes meant more than five daily shots a day and finger sticks 10 or more times daily. This was a never-ending cycle of needles, guesswork, and vigilance, as stated by a licensed endocrinologist.
“Insulin pumps replaced multiple daily insulin injections. With time, insulin pumps became less bulky and more advanced, and eventually learned to ‘talk’ with the sensors,” the doctor noted.
“Automated systems began modifying insulin automatically, creating combined ‘automated delivery’ systems that lift some of the cognitive load people with type 1 carry every day.”
Jonas is amazed with how far technology has advanced since he was first diagnosed.
“The fact that I can receive real time readings of my glucose directly on my phone or smart watch or it can be [shared with] my wife or other family members when I am apart from is just an amazing thing,” he said.
Alongside technology, new treatments aimed at controlling the condition and delaying or modifying the disease itself are being researched.
“The first immune-therapy capable of delaying type 1’s start was authorized, and research into preserving or even replacing the body’s insulin-producing cells acquired real traction. In labs around the world, scientists are cultivating stem-cell–derived pancreatic beta cells and experimenting with ways to protect them from immune attack,” said the specialist.
“Smart insulin” is also being developed to activate only when glucose levels increase, promising a future where insulin works as naturally as the body once did.
“Further progress will absolutely continue to emerge. We’re no longer just improving tools; we’re getting nearer to changing the disease itself,” the physician stated.
Nevertheless, while another medical professional agrees that further advancements will continue to develop, he points out that managing type 1 diabetes remains an demanding task — in terms of health, cognitively, and emotionally.
“I sincerely hope that we’ll see more and more focus to discussing and addressing the challenges and the requirements of having and managing T1D. We need much more of that, too,” he told.
The Singer Employs Personal Wellness to Control His Diabetes
Beyond medication and technology, Jonas discussed some approaches he leans on to handle his diabetes.
To begin, he said he learned to be less hard on himself.
“You’re never going to have the perfect day while managing this disease and even if you’re super on top of your diabetes management, there are just things that are a little beyond your influence and being able to pause, recalibrate, and know that it’s going to be OK on the other side is really important,” he said.
While this is difficult to do at times, he said he learned to practice this soon after his diagnosis.
Lately, he has focused on taking vitamins, looking after his skin, and staying hydrated.
“It’s a simple thing, but the more water I drink, my glucose levels are better. I don’t know precisely why, but I just find that hydrating has a lot of health advantages,” he noted. “I didn’t put as much emphasis on it when I was younger as I do now, and it’s been really beneficial.”
He also takes walks daily for 30 minutes or longer for his bodily, mental, and psychological health.
“It really grounds me and even when it’s cold out, getting out in the open air is really important when a lot of my day, too, is spent inside for hours at a venue or on a movie location or something,” he said.
He leans on his therapist frequently, too.
“I think it’s really important to do that self-work,” Jonas said.
Most of all, he encourages everyone managing type 1 diabetes to take part in the diabetes community.
“There will be positive days, there will be tough days, but you can scale this mountain, and there’s some incredible people out there whose experiences will really motivate anybody that’s going through tough moments,” said Jonas.
