- Frontman Nick Jonas has managed type 1 diabetes for 20 years.
- The group's “Anniversary Tour” celebrates its 20th anniversary alongside Nick Jonas’s 20-year journey with diabetes.
- Nick Jonas shares how these two anniversaries have impacted his life and how he leverages his music to promote understanding for type 1 diabetes.
In 2025, the number 20 holds special significance for renowned artist Nick Jonas.
While the band commemorates their 20th year together, 2025 simultaneously signifies 20 years since their lead singer's type 1 diabetes diagnosis.
“It’s crazy how it lined up,” Jonas remarked. “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 wonderful and challenging moments living with diabetes. The struggles of controlling his disease have been the low points, while advocating 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 transparent about [type 1] and to interact 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 alone in it,” he added.
The Singer's A1C Announcement to His Audience
To thank his fans, on World Diabetes Day (November 14), he stepped onto the platform during a Jonas Brothers concert and surprised his audience by sharing an uplifting message of hope, along with a mention to his A1C.
“My A1C, which is a average 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 network of more than 30,000 people worldwide who discuss their experiences with diabetes to help promote a message of resilience, 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 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 early in his career and diabetes experience, 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 fan base,” 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 supported me in so many different moments. I think my outlook is perhaps a lot more optimistic now. It is feasible to live a full, active life while managing this disease and mindset and perspective and all that is an important piece to persevering.”
Advancements in Type 1 Diabetes
In the past, life with type 1 diabetes involved more than five insulin injections a day and finger sticks 10 or more times each day. This was a never-ending cycle of needles, estimation, and vigilance, according to a board certified endocrinologist.
“Delivery devices replaced multiple daily insulin injections. With time, insulin pumps became less bulky and smarter, and eventually learned to ‘communicate’ with the glucose monitors,” the expert explained.
“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 amazed with how far technology has improved 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 incredible thing,” he said.
In addition to technology, new treatments aimed at managing diabetes and slowing or altering the disease itself are being researched.
“The first immunotherapy capable of delaying type 1’s start was approved, and research into protecting or even replacing the body’s insulin-producing cells acquired real traction. In labs around the world, scientists are cultivating stem-cell–derived 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 rises, offering 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 a family physician concurs that further advancements will continue to develop, he points out that managing type 1 diabetes remains an demanding undertaking — physically, cognitively, and psychologically.
“I truly hope that we’ll see more and more focus to discussing and addressing the challenges and the requirements of having and controlling T1D. We need much more of that, too,” he told.
The Singer Employs Personal Wellness to Manage His Diabetes
In addition to medication and technology, Jonas discussed some strategies he relies on to manage his diabetes.
To begin, he said he learned to take pressure off himself.
“You’re never going to have the ideal day living with 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.
Lately, he has prioritized 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 benefits,” he noted. “I didn’t put as much focus on it earlier in my life as I do now, and it’s been really helpful.”
He also walks daily for 30 minutes or longer for his bodily, mental, and emotional health.
“It really centers 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 indoors for hours at a concert hall or on a movie location or something,” he said.
He relies on his therapist regularly, too.
“I think it’s really important to do that self-work,” Jonas said.
Above all, he urges everyone living with type 1 diabetes to engage with the diabetes community.
“There will be positive days, there will be tough days, but you can scale this mountain, and there’s some incredible people out there whose experiences will really motivate anybody that’s going through difficult times,” said Jonas.
