- Lead singer 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 two-decade experience with diabetes.
- Nick Jonas discusses how both milestones have impacted his life and how he uses his music to promote understanding for type 1 diabetes.
This year, the number 20 carries particular meaning for renowned artist Nick Jonas.
As the Jonas Brothers celebrate their 20th year together, 2025 also marks 20 years since their lead singer's type 1 diabetes discovery.
“The alignment is remarkable,” Jonas remarked. “It’s been a wild journey 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.”
Parallel to the band’s experience over the last 20 years, he said he has had wonderful and challenging moments managing diabetes. The difficulties of controlling his disease have been the low points, while raising awareness and connecting with others as a spokesperson and through his foundation have brought him joy.
“Overall, I’m really thankful to have been able to be open about [type 1] and to interact with all these wonderful people from all regions of the world who are navigating 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 Fans
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 inspiring message of hope, accompanied by 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,” he revealed.
The show was attended by members of a global community — a collective of over 30,000 people worldwide 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 clearly very personal 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 disease,” he said.
Jonas offered the song “A Little Bit Longer” — a tune he wrote at the start of 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 experiences 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 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 important piece to persevering.”
Advancements in Diabetes Management
In the past, life with type 1 diabetes involved more than five daily shots a day and glucose checks 10 or more times each day. This was a constant cycle of needles, guesswork, and care, as stated by a licensed endocrinologist.
“Delivery devices replaced multiple daily insulin injections. With time, insulin pumps became lighter and smarter, and eventually learned to ‘communicate’ with the sensors,” the doctor noted.
“Automated systems began adjusting insulin automatically, creating combined ‘automated delivery’ systems that alleviate 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 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 who I’m traveling away from is just an amazing thing,” he said.
Alongside technology, new therapies aimed at managing diabetes and delaying or modifying the disease itself are being researched.
“The first immunotherapy capable of postponing type 1’s start was approved, and research into preserving or even replacing the body’s insulin-producing cells gained real momentum. In labs around the world, scientists are growing lab-grown pancreatic beta cells and experimenting with ways to protect them from the body's defenses,” said the specialist.
“Responsive insulin” is also being developed to activate only when glucose levels increase, promising a future where insulin works as intuitively as the body once did.
“Further progress will definitely continue to develop. We’re no longer just enhancing devices; we’re getting closer to transforming the disease itself,” the expert concluded.
Nevertheless, while another medical professional agrees that additional innovations will continue to develop, he notes that managing type 1 diabetes remains an demanding task — physically, cognitively, and psychologically.
“I sincerely hope that we’ll see more and more attention to talking about and helping with the burdens and the demands of having and managing T1D. We need much more of that, too,” he told.
The Singer Employs Personal Wellness to Control His Diabetes
Beyond medication and technology, Jonas discussed some strategies he relies on to handle his diabetes.
First, he said he learned to be less hard on himself.
“You’re never going to have the ideal 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 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 early during his diagnosis.
Recently, he has focused on taking vitamins, caring for his skin, and staying 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,” 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 takes walks daily for 30 minutes or longer for his physical, 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 regularly, too.
“I think it’s really important to do that personal development,” Jonas said.
Most of all, he urges everyone living with 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 incredible people out there whose stories will really inspire anybody that’s going through tough moments,” said Jonas.
