- Frontman Nick Jonas has been living with type 1 diabetes for two decades.
- 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 influenced his life and how he leverages his music to promote understanding for type 1 diabetes.
In 2025, the number 20 carries special significance for renowned artist Nick Jonas.
As the Jonas Brothers celebrate their 20th year as a band, 2025 simultaneously signifies 20 years since their frontman's type 1 diabetes discovery.
“The alignment is remarkable,” 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 managing diabetes. The struggles of controlling his disease have been the low points, while advocating and engaging others as a spokesperson and through his foundation have been a source of happiness.
“In summary, I’m really thankful to have been able to be open about [type 1] and to interact with all these amazing 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 alone in it,” said Jonas.
Nick Jonas’ A1C Shoutout 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 surprised his audience by sharing an uplifting message of hope, along with a mention 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,” said Jonas.
The show was visited by members of a global community — a collective of over 30,000 people worldwide who discuss their experiences with diabetes to help promote a message of resilience, perseverance, and optimism.
“It was really special for me to get to use the Jonas Brothers’ stage as a place to speak about something that’s clearly very personal 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 thirty-three-year-old person managing this condition,” he said.
Jonas dedicated the song “A Little Bit Longer” — a tune he wrote early in his career and diabetes journey, to those affected by the disease.
“It’s a really important 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 fan base,” 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 vast, supportive community that I belong to that has lifted me up in so many various moments. I think my outlook is possibly a lot more optimistic now. It is feasible to live a big, busy life while managing this disease and outlook and perspective and all that is an essential piece to powering through.”
Progress in Diabetes Management
Not long ago, life with type 1 diabetes meant more than five daily shots a day and glucose checks 10 or more times daily. This was a never-ending cycle of injections, estimation, and vigilance, as stated by 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 ‘communicate’ with the glucose monitors,” the doctor noted.
“Algorithms began modifying insulin on their own, creating hybrid ‘artificial pancreas’ systems that alleviate some of the cognitive load 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 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 incredible thing,” he said.
Alongside technology, new treatments aimed at controlling the condition and delaying or altering the disease itself are in development.
“The first immune-therapy capable of delaying type 1’s onset was authorized, and research into protecting or even substituting 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 protect them from the body's defenses,” said the specialist.
“Responsive insulin” is also being engineered to activate only when blood sugar rises, offering a future where insulin works as intuitively as the body once did.
“More advancements will absolutely continue to emerge. We’re no longer just enhancing devices; we’re getting nearer to transforming the disease itself,” the expert concluded.
Nevertheless, while a family physician agrees that further advancements will continue to appear, he notes that managing type 1 diabetes remains an demanding undertaking — in terms of health, mentally, and psychologically.
“I sincerely hope that we’ll see more and more focus to discussing and addressing the challenges and the requirements of having and controlling T1D. We need much more of that, too,” he commented.
The Singer Employs Self-Care to Manage His Diabetes
In addition to medication and technology, Jonas shared some strategies he leans on to manage his diabetes.
To begin, 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 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 early during his diagnosis.
Recently, he has focused on taking vitamins, looking after 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 drinking water has a lot of health benefits,” said Jonas. “I didn’t put as much focus on it earlier in my life as I do now, and it’s been really beneficial.”
He also takes walks daily for 30 minutes or longer for his physical, mental, and emotional health.
“It really grounds 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 inside for hours at a venue 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 managing type 1 diabetes to take part in the diabetes community.
“There will be positive days, there will be tough days, but you can climb this challenge, and there’s some incredible people out there whose stories will really motivate anybody that’s going through difficult times,” he concluded.
