- Lead singer Nick Jonas has managed type 1 diabetes for 20 years.
- The group's “Anniversary Tour” celebrates its 20th anniversary concurrent with Nick Jonas’s 20-year journey with diabetes.
- Nick Jonas discusses how these two anniversaries have impacted his life and how he uses his music to promote understanding for type 1 diabetes.
This year, the number 20 holds particular meaning for iconic singer Nick Jonas.
As the Jonas Brothers celebrate their 20th year as a band, 2025 simultaneously signifies 20 years since their lead singer's type 1 diabetes diagnosis.
“The alignment is remarkable,” 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 great and tough moments living with diabetes. The difficulties of controlling his disease 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 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,” said Jonas.
Nick Jonas’ A1C Shoutout to His Audience
To thank his fans, on World Diabetes Day (November 14), he stepped onto the platform during a Jonas Brothers concert and delighted his audience by sharing an inspiring message of hope, along with a shout-out to his A1C.
“My A1C, which is a collection of numbers over a three-month period, was the most favorable 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 globally who discuss their experiences with diabetes to help promote a message of resilience, 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 fitting to get introspective 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 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 audience,” 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 great, big community that I belong to that has supported me in so many different moments. I think my outlook is possibly a lot more optimistic now. It is possible to live a big, busy life while managing this disease and outlook and viewpoint and all that is an essential piece to persevering.”
Advancements in Type 1 Diabetes
Not long ago, life with type 1 diabetes meant more than five daily shots a day and finger sticks 10 or more times daily. This was a constant cycle of injections, estimation, and care, as stated by a board certified endocrinologist.
“Delivery devices superseded multiple daily insulin injections. With time, insulin pumps became lighter and more advanced, and eventually learned to ‘talk’ with the sensors,” the expert explained.
“Automated systems began modifying insulin on their own, creating combined ‘automated delivery’ systems that lift some of the cognitive load people with type 1 bear every day.”
Jonas is amazed with how far technology has advanced since he was first identified.
“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 incredible thing,” he said.
Alongside technology, new treatments aimed at managing diabetes and slowing or modifying the disease itself are being researched.
“The first immune-therapy capable of delaying type 1’s start was approved, and research into preserving or even replacing the body’s insulin-producing cells gained real traction. In labs around the world, scientists are growing stem-cell–derived pancreatic beta cells and experimenting with ways to protect them from immune attack,” said the specialist.
“Responsive insulin” is also being engineered to become active only when glucose levels rises, promising a future where insulin works as naturally as the body once did.
“More advancements will absolutely continue to emerge. We’re no longer just improving tools; we’re getting closer to transforming the disease itself,” the expert concluded.
Nevertheless, while a family physician agrees that further advancements will continue to appear, he points out that managing type 1 diabetes remains an demanding task — physically, mentally, and emotionally.
“I truly hope that we’ll see more and more attention to talking about and addressing the challenges and the demands of having and controlling T1D. We need much more of that, too,” he told.
The Singer Employs Personal Wellness to Control His Diabetes
In addition to medication and technology, Jonas discussed 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 perfect day living with 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, 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.
Lately, he has prioritized 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,” said Jonas. “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 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 concert hall or on a film set or something,” he said.
He leans on his therapist frequently, too.
“I think it’s really vital to do that personal development,” Jonas said.
Most of all, he urges everyone managing type 1 diabetes to take part in the diabetes community.
“There will be good days, there will be tough days, but you can scale this challenge, and there’s some incredible people out there whose experiences will really inspire anybody that’s going through difficult times,” said Jonas.
