- Lead singer Nick Jonas has been living with type 1 diabetes for 20 years.
- 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 discusses how both milestones have influenced 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 as a band, 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 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 wonderful and challenging moments managing 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 amazing people from all corners of the world who are experiencing their own diabetes journey, and it’s a really big thing 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 delighted his audience by sharing an uplifting message of hope, along with a shout-out 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 more than 30,000 people worldwide who share their experiences with diabetes to help promote a message of resilience, perseverance, and positivity.
“It was really meaningful 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 kind of what life looks like for me as a now thirty-three-year-old person living with this disease,” he said.
Jonas dedicated the song “A Little Bit Longer” — a melody he wrote at the start of 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 effect it still has to this day with the audience,” he said.
While the song has taken on a new significance for him as an adult, he said it is still pertinent.
“Now I [have] this great, big community that I belong to that has supported me in so many different moments. I think my perspective is perhaps a lot more positive now. It is feasible to live a big, busy life while managing this disease and mindset and viewpoint and all that is an important piece to powering through.”
Advancements in Diabetes Management
In the past, life with type 1 diabetes meant more than five daily shots a day and glucose checks 10 or more times each day. This was a constant cycle of injections, estimation, and vigilance, as stated by a board certified endocrinologist.
“Delivery devices superseded multiple daily insulin injections. With time, insulin pumps became lighter and smarter, and eventually learned to ‘talk’ with the sensors,” the doctor noted.
“Algorithms began adjusting insulin on their own, creating hybrid ‘automated delivery’ systems that lift some of the mental burden people with type 1 carry every day.”
Jonas is impressed with how far technology has improved since he was first identified.
“The fact that I can receive instant data of my glucose straight to 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.
In addition to technology, new treatments aimed at managing diabetes and slowing or altering the disease itself are in development.
“The first immunotherapy capable of postponing type 1’s onset was authorized, and research into protecting or even substituting the body’s insulin-producing cells gained real traction. In labs around the world, scientists are growing stem-cell–derived pancreatic beta cells and testing ways to shield them from immune attack,” said the specialist.
“Responsive insulin” is also being developed to activate only when glucose levels increase, promising a future where insulin works as naturally as the body once did.
“Further progress will absolutely continue to develop. We’re no longer just enhancing devices; we’re getting nearer to transforming the disease itself,” the expert concluded.
However, while a family physician concurs that further advancements will continue to appear, he notes that managing type 1 diabetes remains an demanding task — in terms of health, cognitively, and emotionally.
“I sincerely hope that we’ll see more and more attention to discussing and helping with the challenges and the requirements of having and controlling T1D. We need much more of that, too,” he commented.
Jonas Turns to Self-Care to Control His Diabetes
In addition to medication and technology, Jonas shared some approaches he relies 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 while managing this disease and even if you’re very diligent with your diabetes management, there are just things that are a little beyond your influence and being able to take a deep breath, reset, 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 apply this soon after his diagnosis.
Recently, he has prioritized taking vitamins, looking after 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 drinking water has a lot of health advantages,” he noted. “I didn’t put as much emphasis on it when I was younger as I do now, and it’s been really helpful.”
He also takes 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 open air is really important when a lot of my day, too, is spent inside 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.
Most of all, he encourages 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 incredible people out there whose stories will really inspire anybody that’s going through difficult times,” said Jonas.
