- Frontman Nick Jonas has been living with type 1 diabetes for two decades.
- The band's “JONAS20: Greetings from Your Hometown Tour” celebrates its 20th anniversary alongside Nick Jonas’s two-decade experience with diabetes.
- Nick Jonas shares how both milestones have influenced his life and how he uses his music to promote understanding for type 1 diabetes.
This year, the number 20 carries special significance for iconic singer Nick Jonas.
While the band commemorates 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,” Jonas remarked. “It’s been a wild journey in both… in the Brothers sense, it’s been the adventure 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 most amazing fans.”
Parallel to the band’s experience over the last two decades, he said he has had wonderful and challenging moments living with diabetes. The struggles of managing his condition have been the low points, while raising awareness and connecting with others through his role and through his non-profit have been a source of happiness.
“In summary, I’m really thankful to have been able to be transparent about [type 1] and to interact with all these wonderful people from all corners 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.
Nick Jonas’ A1C Shoutout to Fans
To thank his fans, on World Diabetes Day (November 14), he stepped onto the platform 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 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 network of over 30,000 people worldwide who share their experiences with diabetes to help spread a message of strength, determination, and optimism.
“It was really meaningful for me to get to use the Jonas Brothers’ platform as a place to speak about something that’s clearly very personal 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 managing this disease,” he said.
Jonas dedicated the song “A Little Bit Longer” — a melody he wrote early in his career and diabetes experience, 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 experiences when I was 14 and to see the impact it still has to this day with the audience,” 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 great, big community that I am part of that has supported me in so many various moments. I think my outlook is possibly a lot more positive now. It is feasible to live a full, active life while managing this disease and mindset and perspective and all that is an important piece to persevering.”
Advancements in Type 1 Diabetes
Not long ago, life with type 1 diabetes meant more than five daily shots a day and finger sticks 10 or more times each day. This was a never-ending cycle of injections, guesswork, and vigilance, according to a board certified endocrinologist.
“Insulin pumps replaced multiple daily insulin injections. With time, insulin pumps became lighter and more advanced, and eventually learned to ‘communicate’ with the glucose monitors,” the doctor noted.
“Automated systems began adjusting insulin on their own, creating combined ‘automated delivery’ systems that alleviate some of the mental burden people with type 1 bear every day.”
Jonas is amazed 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 treatments aimed at managing diabetes and delaying or modifying the disease itself are in development.
“The first immune-therapy capable of delaying type 1’s onset was approved, and research into protecting or even substituting 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 the body's defenses,” said the specialist.
“Smart insulin” is also being developed to become active only when blood sugar increase, promising a future where insulin works as intuitively as the body once did.
“Further progress will absolutely continue to emerge. We’re no longer just enhancing devices; we’re getting closer to changing the disease itself,” the expert concluded.
However, while a family physician concurs that additional innovations will continue to develop, he points out that managing type 1 diabetes remains an intensive undertaking — in terms of health, mentally, and emotionally.
“I truly hope that we’ll see more and more focus to talking about and addressing the burdens and the requirements of living with and controlling T1D. We need far more of that, too,” he told.
The Singer Employs Personal Wellness to Control His Diabetes
In addition to 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 very diligent with 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 hard to do at times, he said he learned to practice this soon after his diagnosis.
Lately, 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 exactly why, but I just find that hydrating has a lot of health advantages,” he noted. “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 bodily, mental, 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 venue or on a film set or something,” he said.
He leans on his therapist frequently, too.
“I think it’s really important to do that personal development,” Jonas said.
Above all, he urges everyone managing type 1 diabetes to engage with the diabetes community.
“There will be positive days, there will be tough days, but you can climb this challenge, and there’s some remarkable people out there whose experiences will really inspire anybody that’s going through difficult times,” he concluded.
