- Frontman Nick Jonas has been living with type 1 diabetes for 20 years.
- The band's “Anniversary Tour” celebrates its 20th anniversary concurrent with Nick Jonas’s two-decade experience with diabetes.
- Nick Jonas shares 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 holds special significance for iconic singer Nick Jonas.
While the band commemorates their 20th year together, 2025 simultaneously signifies 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 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 living with diabetes. The difficulties of managing his condition have been the lows, while raising awareness and engaging others through his role and through his non-profit have been a source of happiness.
“Overall, 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 journey, and it’s a really big thing to feel like you’re a little less alone in it,” said Jonas.
The Singer's A1C Announcement to His Audience
To thank his fans, on World Diabetes Day (November 14), he took to the stage during a Jonas Brothers concert and surprised his audience by sharing an inspiring message of hope, accompanied by a shout-out to his A1C.
“My A1C, which is a average of numbers over a 90-day period, was the most favorable it’s ever been, actually, most recently,” he revealed.
The show was visited by members of a worldwide group — a collective of over 30,000 people globally who discuss their experiences with diabetes to help spread a message of resilience, determination, 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 obviously very important to me and on World Diabetes Day, I think it’s fitting to get introspective and to explore kind of what life looks like for me as a now 33-year-old person living with this condition,” he said.
Jonas offered the song “A Little Bit Longer” — a melody he wrote early in his career and diabetes journey, 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 challenges 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 assumed a new meaning for him as an adult, he said it is still pertinent.
“Now I [have] this vast, supportive community that I am part of that has lifted me up in so many different moments. I think my outlook is perhaps a lot more positive now. It is possible to live a full, active life while managing this disease and outlook and perspective and all that is an important piece to powering through.”
Advancements in Diabetes Management
Not long ago, life with type 1 diabetes involved more than five daily shots a day and finger sticks 10 or more times daily. This was a never-ending cycle of needles, estimation, and vigilance, according to a board certified endocrinologist.
“Delivery devices superseded multiple daily insulin injections. With time, insulin pumps became less bulky and more advanced, and eventually learned to ‘communicate’ with the sensors,” the doctor noted.
“Algorithms began modifying insulin automatically, creating hybrid ‘automated delivery’ systems that lift some of the mental burden people with type 1 bear every day.”
Jonas is impressed with how far technology has advanced since he was first diagnosed.
“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 incredible thing,” he said.
Alongside technology, new treatments aimed at managing diabetes and delaying or modifying 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 gained real traction. In labs around the world, scientists are cultivating lab-grown pancreatic beta cells and experimenting with ways to shield them from the body's defenses,” said the specialist.
“Smart insulin” is also being engineered to become active only when blood sugar increase, promising a future where insulin works as intuitively as the body once did.
“More advancements will absolutely continue to develop. We’re no longer just enhancing devices; we’re getting closer to transforming the disease itself,” the physician stated.
Nevertheless, while a family physician concurs that additional innovations will continue to develop, he notes that managing type 1 diabetes remains an demanding task — physically, cognitively, and emotionally.
“I sincerely hope that we’ll see more and more focus to talking about and helping with the burdens and the requirements of having and managing T1D. We need much more of that, too,” he commented.
The Singer Employs Self-Care to Control His Diabetes
In addition to medication and technology, Jonas discussed some approaches 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 perfect day while managing this disease and even if you’re super on top of your diabetes management, there are just things that are a little out of your control and being able to pause, recalibrate, 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 practice this soon after his diagnosis.
Recently, he has focused on 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 hydrating has a lot of health benefits,” said Jonas. “I didn’t put as much focus on it when I was younger as I do now, and it’s been really beneficial.”
He also walks daily for 30 minutes or longer for his physical, cognitive, and emotional 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 venue 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 managing 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 challenge, and there’s some remarkable people out there whose stories will really inspire anybody that’s going through difficult times,” he concluded.
