- Lead singer Nick Jonas has been living with type 1 diabetes for two decades.
- The group's “Anniversary Tour” celebrates its 20th anniversary concurrent with Nick Jonas’s two-decade experience with diabetes.
- Nick Jonas shares how these two anniversaries have impacted his life and how he uses his music to raise awareness for type 1 diabetes.
This year, the number 20 holds particular meaning for iconic singer Nick Jonas.
While the band commemorates their 20th year together, 2025 also marks 20 years since their frontman's type 1 diabetes discovery.
“It’s crazy how it lined up,” 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 fortunate 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 two decades, he said he has had great and tough moments managing diabetes. The struggles of managing his condition have been the low points, while raising awareness and connecting with others through his role and through his foundation have brought him joy.
“In summary, I’m really thankful to have been able to be open about [type 1] and to interact with all these amazing 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 His Audience
To thank his fans, on World Diabetes Day (November 14), he took to the stage during a Jonas Brothers concert and delighted his audience by sharing an inspiring message of hope, along with a mention 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 visited by members of a global community — a network of more than 30,000 people worldwide who share their experiences with diabetes to help spread a message of resilience, perseverance, and optimism.
“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 condition,” he said.
Jonas dedicated 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 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 relevant.
“Now I [have] this great, big community that I belong to that has lifted me up in so many various moments. I think my outlook is possibly a lot more positive now. It is feasible to live a full, active life while living with this disease and mindset and perspective and all that is an essential piece to powering through.”
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 daily. This was a constant cycle of injections, estimation, and care, according to a board certified endocrinologist.
“Insulin pumps superseded multiple daily insulin injections. With time, insulin pumps became less bulky and more advanced, and eventually learned to ‘communicate’ with the glucose monitors,” the doctor noted.
“Automated systems began modifying insulin on their own, creating hybrid ‘automated delivery’ systems that lift some of the cognitive load people with type 1 carry every day.”
Jonas is impressed 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 who I’m traveling away from is just an incredible thing,” he said.
In addition to technology, new therapies aimed at managing diabetes and slowing or altering the disease itself are being researched.
“The first immune-therapy capable of postponing type 1’s onset was authorized, and research into preserving or even replacing 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 protect them from the body's defenses,” the doctor continued.
“Smart insulin” is also being developed 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 emerge. We’re no longer just enhancing devices; we’re getting closer to transforming the disease itself,” the physician stated.
Nevertheless, while another medical professional concurs that additional innovations will continue to appear, he points out that managing type 1 diabetes remains an intensive task — in terms of health, mentally, and psychologically.
“I sincerely hope that we’ll see more and more attention to discussing and helping with the challenges and the demands of having and controlling T1D. We need far more of that, too,” he commented.
The Singer Employs Personal Wellness to Control His Diabetes
In addition to medication and technology, Jonas shared some strategies 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 perfect day while managing this disease and even if you’re very diligent with your diabetes management, there are just things that are a little beyond your influence 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 difficult to do at times, he said he learned to apply 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 better. I don’t know exactly why, but I just find that hydrating has a lot of health advantages,” he noted. “I didn’t put as much emphasis 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 physical, cognitive, and psychological 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 venue or on a film set or something,” he said.
He leans on his therapist regularly, too.
“I think it’s really important to do that personal development,” Jonas said.
Above all, he urges everyone living with type 1 diabetes to engage with the diabetes community.
“There will be good days, there will be tough days, but you can climb this mountain, and there’s some remarkable people out there whose experiences will really inspire anybody that’s going through difficult times,” he concluded.
