- Frontman 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 these two anniversaries 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.
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 a wild journey in both… in the Brothers sense, 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.”
Alongside the band’s experience over the last 20 years, he said he has had great and tough moments managing diabetes. The struggles of controlling his disease have been the low points, while raising awareness and engaging others as a spokesperson and through his foundation have been a source of happiness.
“Overall, I’m really grateful to have been able to be open about [type 1] and to connect with all these wonderful people from all corners of the world who are navigating their own diabetes path, and it’s a really significant feeling to feel like you’re a little less isolated in it,” said Jonas.
The Singer's A1C Announcement to Fans
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 uplifting 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, in fact, most recently,” said Jonas.
The show was attended 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 strength, perseverance, 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 obviously very important to me and on World Diabetes Day, I think it’s fitting to get introspective 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 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 taken on a new significance for him as an adult, he said it is still relevant.
“Now I [have] this great, big community that I am part of that has lifted me up in so many various moments. I think my perspective is perhaps a lot more optimistic now. It is feasible to live a full, active life while living with this disease and mindset and viewpoint and all that is an essential 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 daily. This was a never-ending cycle of needles, guesswork, and care, according to a board certified endocrinologist.
“Delivery devices superseded multiple daily insulin injections. With time, insulin pumps became less bulky and smarter, and eventually learned to ‘communicate’ with the glucose monitors,” 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 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.
In addition to technology, new treatments aimed at controlling the condition and slowing or modifying the disease itself are being researched.
“The first immune-therapy capable of postponing type 1’s onset was approved, and research into protecting 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 testing ways to shield them from the body's defenses,” said the specialist.
“Responsive 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.
“Further progress will absolutely continue to emerge. We’re no longer just enhancing devices; we’re getting nearer to changing the disease itself,” the expert concluded.
Nevertheless, while another medical professional concurs that further advancements will continue to develop, he points out that managing type 1 diabetes remains an intensive task — physically, cognitively, and emotionally.
“I sincerely hope that we’ll see more and more attention to discussing and addressing the burdens and the demands of having and managing T1D. We need much more of that, too,” he told.
Jonas Turns to Self-Care to Manage His Diabetes
In addition to medication and technology, Jonas shared some approaches he relies 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 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 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 hard to do at times, he said he learned to apply this soon after his diagnosis.
Recently, he has focused on taking vitamins, looking after 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 drinking water has a lot of health advantages,” said Jonas. “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, 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 venue or on a movie location or something,” he said.
He relies on his therapist regularly, too.
“I think it’s really vital to do that personal development,” Jonas said.
Above all, he encourages 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 climb this challenge, and there’s some incredible people out there whose stories will really inspire anybody that’s going through tough moments,” he concluded.
