- Frontman Nick Jonas has managed type 1 diabetes for two decades.
- The group's “JONAS20: Greetings from Your Hometown Tour” marks its 20th anniversary concurrent with Nick Jonas’s two-decade experience with diabetes.
- Nick Jonas shares how these two anniversaries have impacted his life and how he uses his music to promote understanding 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 as a band, 2025 simultaneously signifies 20 years since their frontman's type 1 diabetes diagnosis.
“The alignment is remarkable,” the singer stated. “It's been an incredible ride in both… in the Brothers sense, 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.”
Parallel to the band’s experience over the last two decades, he said he has had wonderful and challenging moments living with diabetes. The difficulties of managing his condition have been the low points, while advocating and engaging others as a spokesperson and through his non-profit 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 wonderful 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 alone in it,” he added.
The Singer's A1C Announcement to Fans
To thank his fans, 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, along with a shout-out to his A1C.
“My A1C, which is a collection of numbers over a three-month period, was the best it’s ever been, in fact, most recently,” said Jonas.
The show was attended by members of a global community — a network of more than 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 obviously very personal 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 managing this disease,” he said.
Jonas offered the song “A Little Bit Longer” — a tune he wrote at the start of 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 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 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 perhaps a lot more optimistic now. It is feasible to live a big, busy life while managing this disease and outlook and viewpoint and all that is an essential piece to persevering.”
Progress in Diabetes Management
In the past, life with type 1 diabetes meant more than five insulin injections a day and finger sticks 10 or more times each day. This was a never-ending cycle of needles, guesswork, and vigilance, according to a licensed endocrinologist.
“Insulin pumps replaced 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 adjusting insulin on their own, creating hybrid ‘automated delivery’ systems that lift some of the cognitive load people with type 1 bear every day.”
Jonas is amazed with how far technology has improved since he was first identified.
“The fact that I can receive real time readings 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 postponing type 1’s onset was authorized, and research into preserving or even substituting the body’s insulin-producing cells acquired real traction. In labs around the world, scientists are growing stem-cell–derived pancreatic beta cells and experimenting with 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 increase, offering a future where insulin works as intuitively as the body once did.
“Further progress will definitely continue to emerge. We’re no longer just enhancing devices; we’re getting nearer to transforming the disease itself,” the physician stated.
However, while a family physician agrees that further advancements will continue to develop, he points out that managing type 1 diabetes remains an demanding task — physically, mentally, and psychologically.
“I sincerely hope that we’ll see more and more attention to discussing and addressing the challenges and the requirements of living with and managing T1D. We need much more of that, too,” he commented.
Jonas Turns to Self-Care to Control His Diabetes
Beyond medication and technology, Jonas shared some strategies he leans on to handle his diabetes.
To begin, he said he learned to take pressure off himself.
“You’re never going to have the perfect 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, 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 apply this soon after his diagnosis.
Lately, he has focused on taking vitamins, caring for his skin, and staying well-hydrated.
“It’s a basic 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 physical, mental, and psychological 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 concert hall 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 self-work,” Jonas said.
Above all, he urges everyone living with 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 mountain, and there’s some incredible people out there whose experiences will really motivate anybody that’s going through tough moments,” said Jonas.
