- Frontman Nick Jonas has been living with type 1 diabetes for 20 years.
- The group's “JONAS20: Greetings from Your Hometown Tour” marks its 20th anniversary concurrent with Nick Jonas’s two-decade experience with diabetes.
- Nick Jonas shares how these two anniversaries have impacted his life and how he uses his music to promote understanding for type 1 diabetes.
In 2025, the number 20 holds particular meaning for iconic singer Nick Jonas.
While the band commemorates their 20th year together, 2025 also marks 20 years since their lead singer's type 1 diabetes discovery.
“It’s crazy how it lined up,” 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 fortunate 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 two decades, he said he has had great and tough moments living with diabetes. The difficulties of managing his condition have been the lows, while advocating and engaging others through his role and through his non-profit have been a source of happiness.
“In summary, I’m really grateful to have been able to be open about [type 1] and to connect with all these wonderful 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 isolated in it,” said Jonas.
The Singer's A1C Announcement to Fans
To show appreciation to supporters, on World Diabetes Day (November 14), he took to the stage during a Jonas Brothers concert and delighted his audience by sharing an inspiring 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 most favorable it’s ever been, actually, most recently,” said Jonas.
The show was visited by members of a worldwide group — a network of more than 30,000 people globally who discuss their experiences with diabetes to help spread a message of strength, perseverance, and optimism.
“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 sort of what life looks like for me as a now 33-year-old person managing this condition,” he said.
Jonas dedicated the song “A Little Bit Longer” — a tune he wrote at the start of 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 impact 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 great, big community that I belong to that has lifted me up in so many various moments. I think my perspective is perhaps a lot more optimistic now. It is feasible to live a big, busy life while managing this disease and outlook and viewpoint and all that is an essential piece to persevering.”
Advancements in Diabetes Management
In the past, life with type 1 diabetes involved more than five insulin injections a day and finger sticks 10 or more times each day. This was a constant 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 smarter, and eventually learned to ‘talk’ with the sensors,” the expert explained.
“Algorithms began adjusting insulin automatically, creating hybrid ‘artificial pancreas’ systems that alleviate some of the mental burden people with type 1 bear every day.”
Jonas is impressed with how far technology has advanced since he was first diagnosed.
“The fact that I can receive real time readings 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 managing diabetes and delaying or modifying the disease itself are in development.
“The first immunotherapy capable of delaying type 1’s start was authorized, and research into protecting or even substituting the body’s insulin-producing cells gained real momentum. In labs around the world, scientists are growing stem-cell–derived pancreatic beta cells and testing ways to protect them from the body's defenses,” said the specialist.
“Responsive insulin” is also being engineered to activate only when glucose levels rises, promising a future where insulin works as naturally as the body once did.
“Further progress 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 additional innovations will continue to appear, he notes that managing type 1 diabetes remains an demanding undertaking — in terms of health, mentally, and psychologically.
“I truly 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 much more of that, too,” he told.
Jonas Turns to Self-Care to Control His Diabetes
Beyond medication and technology, Jonas shared some strategies he relies on to handle his diabetes.
To begin, he said he learned to take pressure off 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 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.
Lately, he has focused on 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 focus 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 emotional 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 indoors for hours at a concert hall or on a movie location or something,” he said.
He leans on his therapist regularly, too.
“I think it’s really important to do that personal development,” Jonas said.
Most of all, he urges 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 challenge, and there’s some remarkable people out there whose stories will really motivate anybody that’s going through difficult times,” he concluded.
