- Frontman Nick Jonas has managed 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 these two anniversaries have influenced his life and how he leverages his music to raise awareness for type 1 diabetes.
In 2025, the number 20 holds particular meaning for iconic singer Nick Jonas.
As the Jonas Brothers celebrate their 20th year together, 2025 also marks 20 years since their frontman's type 1 diabetes discovery.
“The alignment is remarkable,” 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 world’s greatest fans.”
Alongside 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 lows, while advocating and connecting with others through his role and through his foundation 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 amazing people from all corners of the world who are navigating their own diabetes journey, 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 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 best it’s ever been, actually, most recently,” he revealed.
The show was attended by members of a global community — a network of more than 30,000 people globally who discuss their experiences with diabetes to help promote a message of resilience, determination, 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 reflective and to tap into sort of what life looks like for me as a now thirty-three-year-old person living with this condition,” he said.
Jonas offered the song “A Little Bit Longer” — a melody he wrote early in his career and diabetes experience, to those affected by 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 effect it still has to this day with the audience,” he said.
While the song has assumed a new meaning for him as an adult, he said it is still pertinent.
“Now I [have] this great, big community that I belong to that has supported me in so many different moments. I think my outlook is possibly a lot more positive now. It is possible to live a full, active life while living with this disease and mindset and viewpoint and all that is an important piece to powering through.”
Progress in Diabetes Management
Not long ago, life with type 1 diabetes meant more than five insulin injections a day and glucose checks 10 or more times daily. This was a never-ending cycle of injections, guesswork, and care, as stated by a board certified endocrinologist.
“Delivery devices replaced multiple daily insulin injections. With time, insulin pumps became less bulky and smarter, and eventually learned to ‘talk’ with the glucose monitors,” the doctor noted.
“Algorithms began modifying insulin on their own, creating hybrid ‘artificial pancreas’ systems that lift some of the cognitive load people with type 1 carry every day.”
Jonas is amazed with how far technology has advanced since he was first identified.
“The fact that I can receive instant data of my glucose directly on 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 managing diabetes and slowing or altering the disease itself are in development.
“The first immune-therapy capable of delaying type 1’s onset was approved, and research into preserving or even replacing the body’s insulin-producing cells acquired real momentum. In labs around the world, scientists are growing stem-cell–derived pancreatic beta cells and testing ways to shield them from immune attack,” the doctor continued.
“Smart insulin” is also being engineered to activate only when glucose levels increase, promising a future where insulin works as naturally as the body once did.
“More advancements will absolutely continue to emerge. We’re no longer just enhancing devices; we’re getting closer to changing the disease itself,” the physician stated.
Nevertheless, while a family physician concurs that further advancements will continue to develop, he points out that managing type 1 diabetes remains an demanding undertaking — in terms of health, cognitively, and emotionally.
“I truly hope that we’ll see more and more attention to discussing and helping with the challenges and the demands of living with and controlling T1D. We need much more of that, too,” he commented.
Jonas Turns to Personal Wellness to Manage His Diabetes
Beyond medication and technology, Jonas shared some strategies he leans on to manage his diabetes.
First, he said he learned to be less hard on 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 take a deep breath, recalibrate, and know that it’s going to be OK on the other side is really crucial,” he said.
While this is difficult to do at times, he said he learned to practice this early during his diagnosis.
Recently, he has prioritized taking vitamins, looking after his skin, and staying hydrated.
“It’s a basic thing, but the more water I drink, my glucose levels are better. I don’t know exactly why, but I just find that hydrating has a lot of health benefits,” 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 walks daily for 30 minutes or longer for his bodily, mental, 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 venue or on a film set or something,” he said.
He leans on his therapist regularly, too.
“I think it’s really vital to do that personal development,” Jonas said.
Most of all, he urges everyone managing type 1 diabetes to engage with the diabetes community.
“There will be positive days, there will be challenging days, but you can climb this mountain, and there’s some remarkable people out there whose experiences will really motivate anybody that’s going through tough moments,” he concluded.
