- Frontman Nick Jonas has been living with type 1 diabetes for two decades.
- The band's “Anniversary Tour” marks its 20th anniversary concurrent with Nick Jonas’s 20-year journey with diabetes.
- Nick Jonas shares how both milestones have impacted his life and how he uses his music to raise awareness for type 1 diabetes.
In 2025, the number 20 holds special significance for renowned artist Nick Jonas.
While the band commemorates their 20th year as a band, 2025 also marks 20 years since their frontman's type 1 diabetes diagnosis.
“The alignment is remarkable,” Jonas remarked. “It’s been a wild journey 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 world’s greatest fans.”
Alongside the band’s experience over the last two decades, he said he has had wonderful and challenging moments managing diabetes. The struggles of managing his condition have been the low points, while advocating and connecting with others through his role and through his foundation have brought him joy.
“Overall, I’m really thankful to have been able to be open about [type 1] and to connect with all these amazing people from all regions 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 isolated in it,” said Jonas.
Nick Jonas’ A1C Shoutout to His Audience
To show appreciation to supporters, 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 mention to his A1C.
“My A1C, which is a collection of numbers over a 90-day period, was the best it’s ever been, in fact, most recently,” said Jonas.
The show was attended by members of a worldwide group — a collective of more than 30,000 people worldwide who discuss their experiences with diabetes to help spread a message of strength, perseverance, and positivity.
“It was really meaningful for me to get to use the Jonas Brothers’ stage as a place to speak about something that’s obviously very personal to me and on World Diabetes Day, I think it’s fitting to get reflective and to explore kind of what life looks like for me as a now thirty-three-year-old person managing this condition,” he said.
Jonas offered the song “A Little Bit Longer” — a melody he wrote at the start of his career and diabetes experience, 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 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 vast, supportive community that I am part of that has supported me in so many different moments. I think my perspective is possibly a lot more optimistic now. It is possible to live a big, busy life while living with this disease and mindset and viewpoint and all that is an essential piece to powering through.”
Progress in Type 1 Diabetes
In the past, 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, as stated by a licensed endocrinologist.
“Delivery devices replaced multiple daily insulin injections. With time, insulin pumps became less bulky and more advanced, and eventually learned to ‘communicate’ with the sensors,” the expert explained.
“Automated systems began adjusting insulin automatically, creating hybrid ‘automated delivery’ systems that lift some of the cognitive load people with type 1 carry every day.”
Jonas is amazed with how far technology has advanced since he was first diagnosed.
“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 amazing thing,” he said.
In addition to technology, new treatments aimed at managing diabetes and delaying or altering the disease itself are in development.
“The first immune-therapy capable of delaying type 1’s onset 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 cultivating stem-cell–derived pancreatic beta cells and testing ways to shield them from immune attack,” the doctor continued.
“Responsive insulin” is also being engineered to activate only when blood sugar increase, 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 changing the disease itself,” the expert concluded.
Nevertheless, while a family physician agrees that additional innovations will continue to develop, he points out that managing type 1 diabetes remains an intensive task — in terms of health, cognitively, and emotionally.
“I truly hope that we’ll see more and more focus to discussing and addressing the burdens and the requirements of having and controlling T1D. We need much more of that, too,” he told.
Jonas Turns to Self-Care to Manage His Diabetes
Beyond medication and technology, Jonas discussed some strategies he relies on to handle his diabetes.
First, he said he learned to take pressure off 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 take a deep breath, 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.
Lately, he has prioritized taking vitamins, looking after his skin, and staying hydrated.
“It’s a basic 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 focus on it when I was younger as I do now, and it’s been really beneficial.”
He also takes walks daily for 30 minutes or longer for his bodily, 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 inside for hours at a concert hall or on a film set or something,” he said.
He relies on his therapist frequently, too.
“I think it’s really vital to do that personal development,” Jonas said.
Most of all, he urges everyone living with type 1 diabetes to engage with the diabetes community.
“There will be good days, there will be challenging days, but you can scale this mountain, and there’s some incredible people out there whose experiences will really inspire anybody that’s going through difficult times,” he concluded.
