- Lead singer Nick Jonas has been living with type 1 diabetes for two decades.
- The band'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 both milestones have influenced his life and how he uses his music to raise awareness for type 1 diabetes.
In 2025, the number 20 carries special significance for iconic singer Nick Jonas.
While the band commemorates their 20th year together, 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 adventure 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 most amazing fans.”
Alongside the band’s experience over the last 20 years, he said he has had wonderful and challenging moments managing diabetes. The struggles of managing his condition have been the lows, while raising awareness and connecting with others as a spokesperson and through his non-profit have been a source of happiness.
“Overall, I’m really grateful to have been able to be transparent about [type 1] and to interact with all these amazing people from all regions of the world who are experiencing their own diabetes path, and it’s a really big thing to feel like you’re a little less isolated in it,” he added.
Nick Jonas’ A1C Shoutout to His Audience
To thank his fans, on World Diabetes Day (November 14), he took to the stage 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 three-month period, was the best it’s ever been, in fact, most recently,” he revealed.
The show was visited by members of a worldwide group — a network of over 30,000 people globally who discuss their experiences with diabetes to help spread a message of strength, perseverance, and positivity.
“It was really meaningful 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 natural to get introspective and to tap into sort of what life looks like for me as a now 33-year-old person living with this disease,” he said.
Jonas dedicated the song “A Little Bit Longer” — a tune 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 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 supported me in so many different moments. I think my outlook is possibly a lot more positive now. It is feasible to live a big, busy life while living with this disease and outlook and perspective and all that is an important piece to persevering.”
Progress in Type 1 Diabetes
In the past, life with type 1 diabetes meant more than five insulin injections a day and finger sticks 10 or more times daily. This was a constant cycle of needles, guesswork, and care, according to a board certified 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 automatically, creating combined ‘artificial pancreas’ systems that lift some of the cognitive load people with type 1 carry every day.”
Jonas is amazed with how far technology has advanced since he was first diagnosed.
“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 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 being researched.
“The first immunotherapy capable of postponing type 1’s onset was authorized, and research into preserving or even replacing the body’s insulin-producing cells gained real momentum. In labs around the world, scientists are growing stem-cell–derived pancreatic beta cells and testing ways to protect them from immune attack,” the doctor continued.
“Responsive insulin” is also being engineered to activate only when glucose levels 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 improving tools; we’re getting closer to changing the disease itself,” the expert concluded.
Nevertheless, while another medical professional agrees that additional innovations will continue to develop, he points out that managing type 1 diabetes remains an demanding task — in terms of health, mentally, and psychologically.
“I truly hope that we’ll see more and more attention to talking about and helping with the burdens and the demands of living with and controlling T1D. We need much more of that, too,” he commented.
The Singer Employs Self-Care to Control His Diabetes
Beyond medication and technology, Jonas shared some strategies he leans on to manage his diabetes.
First, he said he learned to be less hard on himself.
“You’re never going to have the ideal 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, recalibrate, and know that it’s going to be OK on the other side is really crucial,” he said.
While this is hard 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,” he noted. “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 walks daily for 30 minutes or longer for his physical, cognitive, 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 film set or something,” he said.
He leans on his therapist regularly, too.
“I think it’s really important to do that personal development,” Jonas said.
Above all, he urges everyone managing type 1 diabetes to engage with the diabetes community.
“There will be positive days, there will be challenging days, but you can scale this challenge, and there’s some remarkable people out there whose stories will really inspire anybody that’s going through tough moments,” said Jonas.
