- Frontman 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 concurrent with Nick Jonas’s two-decade experience with diabetes.
- Nick Jonas discusses how both milestones have influenced his life and how he uses his music to promote understanding for type 1 diabetes.
In 2025, the number 20 holds special significance for renowned artist Nick Jonas.
As the Jonas Brothers celebrate their 20th year together, 2025 simultaneously signifies 20 years since their lead singer's type 1 diabetes diagnosis.
“The alignment is remarkable,” the singer stated. “It’s been a wild journey 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 controlling his disease have been the lows, while advocating and connecting with others as a spokesperson and through his non-profit have been a source of happiness.
“In summary, 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 path, and it’s a really significant feeling to feel like you’re a little less isolated 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 surprised his audience by sharing an uplifting 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,” he revealed.
The show was attended 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’ platform as a place to speak about something that’s clearly very important to me and on World Diabetes Day, I think it’s fitting to get introspective and to explore kind of what life looks like for me as a now 33-year-old person managing this disease,” he said.
Jonas offered the song “A Little Bit Longer” — a melody he wrote early in his career and diabetes journey, to those living with the disease.
“It’s a really significant 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 assumed a new significance for him as an adult, he said it is still relevant.
“Now I [have] this great, big community that I am part of that has lifted me up in so many different moments. I think my outlook is perhaps a lot more positive now. It is feasible to live a full, active life while living with this disease and outlook and perspective and all that is an essential piece to powering through.”
Progress in Diabetes Management
Not long ago, life with type 1 diabetes involved more than five insulin injections a day and finger sticks 10 or more times daily. This was a constant cycle of needles, estimation, and vigilance, as stated by a licensed endocrinologist.
“Delivery devices superseded multiple daily insulin injections. With time, insulin pumps became less bulky and more advanced, and eventually learned to ‘communicate’ with the sensors,” the doctor noted.
“Algorithms began modifying insulin automatically, creating combined ‘artificial pancreas’ systems that alleviate some of the mental burden people with type 1 bear every day.”
Jonas is amazed 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 when I am apart from is just an incredible thing,” he said.
In addition to technology, new therapies aimed at controlling the condition and delaying or altering the disease itself are being researched.
“The first immunotherapy capable of delaying type 1’s onset was approved, and research into preserving or even substituting the body’s insulin-producing cells acquired real momentum. In labs around the world, scientists are growing stem-cell–derived pancreatic beta cells and experimenting with ways to shield them from the body's defenses,” said the specialist.
“Smart insulin” is also being developed to become active only when blood sugar increase, offering a future where insulin works as intuitively as the body once did.
“More advancements will absolutely continue to develop. We’re no longer just improving tools; we’re getting closer to changing the disease itself,” the physician stated.
Nevertheless, while another medical professional agrees that further advancements will continue to appear, he notes that managing type 1 diabetes remains an intensive task — in terms of health, mentally, and emotionally.
“I truly hope that we’ll see more and more focus to discussing and addressing the burdens and the demands of having and controlling T1D. We need much more of that, too,” he commented.
The Singer Employs Personal Wellness to Manage His Diabetes
Beyond medication and technology, Jonas discussed some approaches he relies on to handle his diabetes.
First, he said he learned to be less hard on himself.
“You’re never going to have the perfect 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 take a deep breath, 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 practice this soon after his diagnosis.
Recently, he has prioritized taking vitamins, caring for his skin, and staying well-hydrated.
“It’s a simple thing, but the more water I drink, my glucose levels are more stable. I don’t know exactly why, but I just find that hydrating has a lot of health advantages,” 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 takes 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 inside for hours at a concert hall 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 living with type 1 diabetes to take part in the diabetes community.
“There will be positive days, there will be challenging 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,” he concluded.
