- Lead singer Nick Jonas has managed type 1 diabetes for two decades.
- The band's “JONAS20: Greetings from Your Hometown Tour” marks its 20th anniversary alongside Nick Jonas’s 20-year journey with diabetes.
- Nick Jonas shares how both milestones have influenced his life and how he uses his music to raise awareness for type 1 diabetes.
This year, the number 20 holds particular meaning for renowned artist Nick Jonas.
While the band commemorates their 20th year together, 2025 simultaneously signifies 20 years since their frontman's type 1 diabetes discovery.
“The alignment is remarkable,” Jonas remarked. “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 fortunate to be able to do this for 20 years now and to have the support of the most amazing fans.”
Parallel to the band’s experience over the last two decades, he said he has had great and tough moments managing diabetes. The struggles of controlling his disease have been the lows, while raising awareness and engaging others through his role and through his foundation have been a source of happiness.
“Overall, I’m really grateful to have been able to be transparent about [type 1] and to connect with all these amazing people from all regions of the world who are navigating their own diabetes path, and it’s a really big thing to feel like you’re a little less alone in it,” he added.
The Singer's A1C Announcement to Fans
To thank his fans, on World Diabetes Day (November 14), he took to the stage during a Jonas Brothers concert and delighted his audience by sharing an uplifting message of hope, accompanied by a shout-out to his A1C.
“My A1C, which is a collection of numbers over a 90-day period, was the best it’s ever been, in fact, 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 spread a message of resilience, determination, and positivity.
“It was really special for me to get to use the Jonas Brothers’ platform as a place to speak about something that’s obviously very important to me and on World Diabetes Day, I think it’s natural to get introspective and to tap into kind of what life looks like for me as a now thirty-three-year-old person living with this disease,” he said.
Jonas offered the song “A Little Bit Longer” — a tune he wrote at the start of 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 experiences 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 pertinent.
“Now I [have] this vast, supportive community that I belong to that has lifted me up in so many various moments. I think my perspective is perhaps a lot more positive now. It is possible to live a big, busy life while living with this disease and mindset and perspective and all that is an essential piece to powering through.”
Progress in Type 1 Diabetes
In the past, life with type 1 diabetes involved more than five daily shots a day and finger sticks 10 or more times daily. This was a never-ending cycle of needles, estimation, and vigilance, as stated by a licensed endocrinologist.
“Delivery devices replaced multiple daily insulin injections. With time, insulin pumps became less bulky and more advanced, and eventually learned to ‘talk’ with the glucose monitors,” the expert explained.
“Algorithms began adjusting insulin on their own, creating hybrid ‘artificial pancreas’ systems that alleviate some of the mental burden people with type 1 carry every day.”
Jonas is impressed with how far technology has improved since he was first diagnosed.
“The fact that I can receive instant data of my glucose straight to my phone or smart watch or it can be [shared with] my wife or other family members who I’m traveling away from is just an incredible thing,” he said.
Alongside technology, new therapies aimed at managing diabetes and delaying or modifying the disease itself are in development.
“The first immune-therapy capable of postponing type 1’s onset was authorized, and research into protecting or even substituting the body’s insulin-producing cells acquired real traction. In labs around the world, scientists are cultivating lab-grown pancreatic beta cells and experimenting with ways to protect them from immune attack,” the doctor continued.
“Responsive insulin” is also being developed to become active only when blood sugar rises, offering a future where insulin works as intuitively 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 expert concluded.
However, while a family physician concurs that additional innovations will continue to appear, he points out that managing type 1 diabetes remains an demanding task — in terms of health, cognitively, and emotionally.
“I truly hope that we’ll see more and more attention to talking about and helping with the challenges and the requirements of having and controlling T1D. We need much more of that, too,” he told.
The Singer Employs Self-Care to Manage His Diabetes
In addition to medication and technology, Jonas discussed some approaches he leans on to manage his diabetes.
First, he said he learned to take pressure off himself.
“You’re never going to have the ideal day living with this disease and even if you’re super on top of your diabetes management, there are just things that are a little out of your control and being able to pause, reset, 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 apply this soon after his diagnosis.
Recently, he has focused on taking vitamins, caring for his skin, and staying well-hydrated.
“It’s a basic thing, but the more water I drink, my glucose levels are more stable. I don’t know precisely why, but I just find that hydrating has a lot of health benefits,” said Jonas. “I didn’t put as much emphasis on it earlier in my life as I do now, and it’s been really helpful.”
He also walks daily for 30 minutes or longer for his bodily, cognitive, and psychological health.
“It really centers me and even when it’s cold out, getting out in the fresh air is really important when a lot of my day, too, is spent indoors for hours at a concert hall or on a film set or something,” he said.
He leans on his therapist frequently, too.
“I think it’s really vital to do that self-work,” Jonas said.
Above all, he encourages everyone living with type 1 diabetes to engage with the diabetes community.
“There will be good days, there will be tough days, but you can scale this mountain, and there’s some incredible people out there whose stories will really inspire anybody that’s going through difficult times,” he concluded.
