- Frontman Nick Jonas has been living with type 1 diabetes for 20 years.
- The band's “Anniversary Tour” marks its 20th anniversary alongside Nick Jonas’s two-decade experience with diabetes.
- Nick Jonas discusses how both milestones have impacted his life and how he uses his music to raise awareness for type 1 diabetes.
In 2025, the number 20 holds particular meaning for renowned artist Nick Jonas.
As the Jonas Brothers celebrate their 20th year as a band, 2025 also marks 20 years since their frontman's type 1 diabetes discovery.
“It’s crazy how it lined up,” Jonas remarked. “It's been an incredible ride in both… regarding the band, 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 20 years, he said he has had wonderful and challenging moments living with diabetes. The struggles of managing his condition have been the low points, while advocating and connecting with others through his role and through his foundation have brought him joy.
“Overall, I’m really thankful to have been able to be transparent about [type 1] and to connect with all these amazing people from all regions of the world who are experiencing their own diabetes journey, and it’s a really significant feeling to feel like you’re a little less alone in it,” said Jonas.
Nick Jonas’ A1C Shoutout to Fans
To show appreciation to supporters, 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 three-month period, was the most favorable it’s ever been, actually, most recently,” said Jonas.
The show was attended by members of a worldwide group — a collective of over 30,000 people worldwide who share their experiences with diabetes to help promote a message of resilience, determination, and optimism.
“It was really meaningful 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 fitting to get introspective and to tap into sort of what life looks like for me as a now thirty-three-year-old person managing 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 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 relevant.
“Now I [have] this vast, supportive community that I am part of that has supported me in so many different moments. I think my outlook is perhaps a lot more optimistic now. It is possible to live a full, active life while managing this disease and mindset and viewpoint and all that is an important piece to persevering.”
Progress 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 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 smarter, and eventually learned to ‘communicate’ with the sensors,” the expert explained.
“Automated systems began modifying insulin automatically, creating hybrid ‘automated delivery’ systems that lift some of the mental burden 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 directly on 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 amazing thing,” he said.
Alongside technology, new therapies aimed at controlling the condition 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 protecting or even substituting the body’s insulin-producing cells gained real traction. In labs around the world, scientists are growing lab-grown pancreatic beta cells and testing ways to shield them from the body's defenses,” the doctor continued.
“Responsive insulin” is also being engineered to become active only when glucose levels rises, promising a future where insulin works as naturally as the body once did.
“Further progress will definitely continue to develop. We’re no longer just improving tools; we’re getting closer to transforming the disease itself,” the expert concluded.
However, while a family physician agrees that additional innovations will continue to appear, he notes that managing type 1 diabetes remains an intensive undertaking — in terms of health, cognitively, and psychologically.
“I truly hope that we’ll see more and more attention to talking about and helping with the challenges and the demands of having and managing T1D. We need much more of that, too,” he told.
The Singer Employs Self-Care to Manage His Diabetes
In addition to medication and technology, Jonas shared some approaches he relies on to manage his diabetes.
First, he said he learned to be less hard on 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 beyond your influence and being able to take a deep breath, 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 practice this soon after his diagnosis.
Recently, he has focused on taking vitamins, caring for his skin, and staying 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 drinking water has a lot of health advantages,” said Jonas. “I didn’t put as much focus on it when I was younger 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 open air is really important when a lot of my day, too, is spent inside for hours at a concert hall or on a film set or something,” he said.
He relies on his therapist regularly, too.
“I think it’s really vital to do that personal development,” Jonas said.
Most of all, he encourages everyone managing type 1 diabetes to engage with the diabetes community.
“There will be good days, there will be tough days, but you can climb this mountain, and there’s some remarkable people out there whose experiences will really inspire anybody that’s going through tough moments,” he concluded.
