- Lead singer Nick Jonas has been living with type 1 diabetes for 20 years.
- The band's “JONAS20: Greetings from Your Hometown Tour” celebrates its 20th anniversary alongside Nick Jonas’s two-decade experience with diabetes.
- Nick Jonas discusses how these two anniversaries have influenced his life and how he leverages his music to raise awareness for type 1 diabetes.
This year, the number 20 carries special significance for renowned artist Nick Jonas.
As the Jonas Brothers celebrate their 20th year together, 2025 also marks 20 years since their lead singer's type 1 diabetes discovery.
“The alignment is remarkable,” 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.”
Parallel to the band’s experience over the last two decades, he said he has had wonderful and challenging moments managing diabetes. The difficulties of managing his condition have been the low points, while advocating and engaging others as a spokesperson and through his foundation have brought him joy.
“In summary, I’m really grateful to have been able to be open about [type 1] and to connect with all these amazing people from all corners of the world who are experiencing their own diabetes path, and it’s a really big thing to feel like you’re a little less isolated in it,” he added.
The Singer's A1C Announcement 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 inspiring message of hope, accompanied by a shout-out to his A1C.
“My A1C, which is a average of numbers over a 90-day period, was the best it’s ever been, actually, most recently,” said Jonas.
The show was visited by members of a worldwide group — a collective of more than 30,000 people worldwide who share their experiences with diabetes to help promote a message of strength, determination, and positivity.
“It was really special for me to get to use the Jonas Brothers’ stage as a place to speak about something that’s obviously very personal to me and on World Diabetes Day, I think it’s natural to get reflective and to explore sort of what life looks like for me as a now 33-year-old person living with this disease,” he said.
Jonas dedicated the song “A Little Bit Longer” — a tune he wrote at the start of his career and diabetes experience, to those living with 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 significance for him as an adult, he said it is still relevant.
“Now I [have] this vast, supportive community that I am part of that has supported me in so many various moments. I think my outlook is perhaps a lot more positive now. It is feasible to live a big, busy life while living with this disease and outlook and perspective and all that is an essential piece to persevering.”
Advancements in Type 1 Diabetes
Not long ago, life with type 1 diabetes involved more than five insulin injections a day and glucose checks 10 or more times each day. This was a never-ending cycle of injections, estimation, and vigilance, according to a licensed endocrinologist.
“Insulin pumps replaced multiple daily insulin injections. With time, insulin pumps became less bulky and smarter, and eventually learned to ‘talk’ with the sensors,” the doctor noted.
“Automated systems began adjusting insulin automatically, creating hybrid ‘automated delivery’ systems that lift some of the cognitive load people with type 1 carry every day.”
Jonas is impressed with how far technology has advanced 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.
In addition to technology, new therapies aimed at controlling the condition and slowing or altering the disease itself are being researched.
“The first immunotherapy capable of delaying type 1’s start was authorized, and research into preserving or even replacing the body’s insulin-producing cells gained real momentum. 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.
“Smart insulin” is also being developed to activate only when blood sugar increase, 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.
Nevertheless, while a family physician agrees that further advancements will continue to appear, he notes that managing type 1 diabetes remains an intensive task — in terms of health, cognitively, and emotionally.
“I sincerely hope that we’ll see more and more focus to talking about and addressing the challenges and the demands of having and managing T1D. We need far more of that, too,” he commented.
The Singer Employs Self-Care to Manage His Diabetes
Beyond medication and technology, Jonas discussed some strategies he relies on to manage his diabetes.
To begin, 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, 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 apply this soon after his diagnosis.
Lately, he has prioritized taking vitamins, looking after his skin, and staying well-hydrated.
“It’s a simple thing, but the more water I drink, my glucose levels are better. I don’t know exactly why, but I just find that drinking water has a lot of health benefits,” said Jonas. “I didn’t put as much focus on it when I was younger as I do now, and it’s been really beneficial.”
He also walks daily for 30 minutes or longer for his physical, cognitive, and emotional health.
“It really centers 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 indoors for hours at a venue or on a movie location or something,” he said.
He relies on his therapist regularly, 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 good days, there will be tough days, but you can scale this mountain, and there’s some remarkable people out there whose stories will really motivate anybody that’s going through tough moments,” said Jonas.
