- Frontman Nick Jonas has managed type 1 diabetes for 20 years.
- The group's “JONAS20: Greetings from Your Hometown Tour” celebrates its 20th anniversary concurrent with Nick Jonas’s 20-year journey with diabetes.
- Nick Jonas shares how both milestones have impacted his life and how he leverages his music to promote understanding for type 1 diabetes.
This year, the number 20 holds 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 lead singer's type 1 diabetes diagnosis.
“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 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 20 years, he said he has had great and tough moments managing diabetes. The struggles of managing his condition have been the low points, while raising awareness and engaging others as a spokesperson 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 interact with all these wonderful 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,” he added.
Nick Jonas’ A1C Shoutout to Fans
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 uplifting message of hope, along with a mention to his A1C.
“My A1C, which is a average of numbers over a 90-day period, was the best it’s ever been, actually, most recently,” he revealed.
The show was visited by members of a worldwide group — a collective of more than 30,000 people globally who discuss their experiences with diabetes to help promote a message of resilience, perseverance, and positivity.
“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 natural to get introspective and to tap into sort of what life looks like for me as a now 33-year-old person managing this disease,” he said.
Jonas dedicated the song “A Little Bit Longer” — a tune he wrote early in his career and diabetes journey, to those living with 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 challenges when I was 14 and to see the effect 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 supported me in so many various moments. I think my outlook is possibly a lot more optimistic now. It is feasible to live a full, active life while living with this disease and outlook and perspective and all that is an essential piece to powering through.”
Progress in Diabetes Management
In the past, life with type 1 diabetes involved more than five insulin injections a day and glucose checks 10 or more times each day. This was a never-ending cycle of needles, guesswork, and vigilance, as stated by a licensed endocrinologist.
“Insulin pumps replaced multiple daily insulin injections. With time, insulin pumps became lighter and more advanced, and eventually learned to ‘communicate’ with the glucose monitors,” the doctor noted.
“Automated systems began adjusting insulin automatically, creating combined ‘artificial pancreas’ systems that alleviate some of the cognitive load people with type 1 carry every day.”
Jonas is impressed 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 amazing thing,” he said.
Alongside technology, new treatments aimed at managing diabetes and slowing or modifying the disease itself are in development.
“The first immunotherapy capable of delaying type 1’s onset was authorized, and research into preserving 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 experimenting with ways to shield them from immune attack,” said the specialist.
“Smart insulin” is also being developed to become active only when blood sugar rises, offering a future where insulin works as naturally as the body once did.
“Further progress will definitely continue to emerge. We’re no longer just enhancing devices; we’re getting closer to transforming the disease itself,” the physician stated.
Nevertheless, while a family physician agrees that further advancements will continue to develop, he notes that managing type 1 diabetes remains an intensive undertaking — in terms of health, cognitively, and emotionally.
“I sincerely hope that we’ll see more and more focus to discussing and helping with the challenges and the demands of living with and managing T1D. We need much more of that, too,” he commented.
The Singer Employs Personal Wellness to Control His Diabetes
Beyond medication and technology, Jonas discussed some approaches he leans on to handle 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 very diligent with your diabetes management, there are just things that are a little out of your control and being able to pause, reset, 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 apply this early during his diagnosis.
Lately, 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 better. I don’t know precisely 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 beneficial.”
He also walks daily for 30 minutes or longer for his bodily, mental, and psychological 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 concert hall or on a movie location or something,” he said.
He relies on his therapist frequently, too.
“I think it’s really important to do that self-work,” Jonas said.
Most of all, he urges everyone managing type 1 diabetes to take part in the diabetes community.
“There will be good 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 difficult times,” said Jonas.
