- Lead singer 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 concurrent with Nick Jonas’s two-decade experience with diabetes.
- Nick Jonas discusses how these two anniversaries have influenced his life and how he uses his music to raise awareness for type 1 diabetes.
In 2025, the number 20 holds special significance for renowned artist Nick Jonas.
While the band commemorates their 20th year as a band, 2025 also marks 20 years since their frontman's type 1 diabetes diagnosis.
“It’s crazy how it lined up,” the singer stated. “It’s been a wild journey in both… regarding the band, 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 most amazing fans.”
Parallel to the band’s experience over the last 20 years, he said he has had great and tough moments living with diabetes. The difficulties of managing his condition have been the low points, while raising awareness and engaging others through his role and through his foundation have brought him joy.
“In summary, I’m really grateful 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 His Audience
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 inspiring 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, in fact, most recently,” said Jonas.
The show was attended by members of a worldwide group — a collective of more than 30,000 people globally who discuss their experiences with diabetes to help spread a message of strength, determination, and positivity.
“It was really special for me to get to use the Jonas Brothers’ stage as a place to speak about something that’s obviously very important to me and on World Diabetes Day, I think it’s natural to get reflective and to explore kind 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 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 audience,” he said.
While the song has assumed a new significance for him as an adult, he said it is still pertinent.
“Now I [have] this vast, supportive community that I belong to that has supported me in so many various moments. I think my outlook is perhaps a lot more positive now. It is possible to live a full, active life while living with this disease and outlook and perspective and all that is an important piece to powering through.”
Progress in Diabetes Management
In the past, life with type 1 diabetes meant more than five insulin injections a day and glucose checks 10 or more times each day. This was a never-ending cycle of injections, estimation, and care, according to a board certified endocrinologist.
“Insulin pumps replaced multiple daily insulin injections. With time, insulin pumps became less bulky and more advanced, and eventually learned to ‘talk’ with the glucose monitors,” the expert explained.
“Automated systems began adjusting insulin automatically, creating hybrid ‘automated delivery’ systems that alleviate some of the cognitive load 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 when I am apart from is just an amazing thing,” he said.
Alongside technology, new therapies aimed at controlling the condition and slowing or modifying the disease itself are being researched.
“The first immunotherapy capable of postponing type 1’s onset was authorized, and research into protecting or even substituting the body’s insulin-producing cells acquired real traction. In labs around the world, scientists are growing lab-grown pancreatic beta cells and experimenting with ways to shield them from immune attack,” said the specialist.
“Smart insulin” is also being engineered to become active only when glucose levels rises, promising a future where insulin works as intuitively as the body once did.
“Further progress will definitely continue to emerge. We’re no longer just improving tools; we’re getting closer to transforming the disease itself,” the expert concluded.
Nevertheless, while another medical professional concurs that additional innovations will continue to appear, he notes that managing type 1 diabetes remains an intensive task — physically, cognitively, and psychologically.
“I sincerely hope that we’ll see more and more attention to discussing and helping with the challenges and the demands of having and controlling T1D. We need much more of that, too,” he told.
The Singer Employs Self-Care to Control His Diabetes
Beyond medication and technology, Jonas discussed some approaches he relies on to manage his diabetes.
First, 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 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, 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 drinking water 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 beneficial.”
He also walks daily for 30 minutes or longer for his bodily, cognitive, and emotional 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 relies on his therapist frequently, too.
“I think it’s really important to do that self-work,” Jonas said.
Above 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 climb this challenge, and there’s some incredible people out there whose experiences will really motivate anybody that’s going through tough moments,” said Jonas.
