- Frontman 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 shares 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 holds particular meaning for renowned artist Nick Jonas.
As the Jonas Brothers celebrate their 20th year together, 2025 simultaneously signifies 20 years since their frontman's type 1 diabetes discovery.
“It’s crazy how it lined up,” the singer stated. “It’s been a wild journey in both… regarding the band, it’s been the adventure 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 world’s greatest fans.”
Alongside the band’s experience over the last 20 years, he said he has had wonderful and challenging moments living with diabetes. The difficulties of controlling his disease have been the lows, while advocating and connecting with others as a spokesperson and through his foundation have been a source of happiness.
“Overall, I’m really thankful to have been able to be transparent about [type 1] and to interact with all these wonderful people from all regions of the world who are experiencing their own diabetes journey, and it’s a really big thing to feel like you’re a little less isolated in it,” said Jonas.
The Singer's A1C Announcement 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 uplifting message of hope, along with 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,” he revealed.
The show was visited by members of a worldwide group — a network of over 30,000 people globally who discuss their experiences with diabetes to help promote a message of resilience, perseverance, and positivity.
“It was really meaningful for me to get to use the Jonas Brothers’ platform as a place to speak about something that’s clearly very important to me and on World Diabetes Day, I think it’s natural to get introspective and to tap into kind of what life looks like for me as a now 33-year-old person managing this condition,” he said.
Jonas dedicated the song “A Little Bit Longer” — a melody he wrote early in his career and diabetes experience, 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 effect it still has to this day with the fan base,” he said.
While the song has assumed a new significance for him as an adult, he said it is still pertinent.
“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 perhaps a lot more positive now. It is possible to live a big, busy life while managing this disease and mindset and perspective and all that is an essential piece to persevering.”
Advancements in Type 1 Diabetes
In the past, life with type 1 diabetes meant more than five daily shots a day and finger sticks 10 or more times each day. This was a never-ending cycle of needles, estimation, and care, as stated by a licensed endocrinologist.
“Delivery devices superseded multiple daily insulin injections. With time, insulin pumps became lighter and more advanced, and eventually learned to ‘talk’ with the glucose monitors,” the doctor noted.
“Automated systems began modifying insulin on their own, creating combined ‘artificial pancreas’ systems that lift some of the mental burden people with type 1 carry every day.”
Jonas is impressed with how far technology has improved since he was first identified.
“The fact that I can receive real time readings of my glucose straight to 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.
In addition to technology, new therapies aimed at controlling the condition and delaying or altering the disease itself are in development.
“The first immune-therapy capable of delaying type 1’s onset was authorized, and research into protecting or even substituting the body’s insulin-producing cells gained real momentum. In labs around the world, scientists are growing lab-grown pancreatic beta cells and experimenting with ways to shield them from the body's defenses,” said the specialist.
“Responsive insulin” is also being engineered to activate only when glucose levels rises, offering a future where insulin works as intuitively as the body once did.
“More advancements will absolutely continue to develop. We’re no longer just improving tools; we’re getting nearer to transforming the disease itself,” the physician stated.
However, while a family physician concurs that additional innovations will continue to develop, he notes that managing type 1 diabetes remains an intensive undertaking — in terms of health, mentally, and psychologically.
“I sincerely hope that we’ll see more and more attention to talking about and helping with the burdens and the demands of having and controlling T1D. We need far more of that, too,” he told.
Jonas Turns to Self-Care to Control His Diabetes
Beyond medication and technology, Jonas shared some strategies he leans on to handle his diabetes.
To begin, 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 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 crucial,” he said.
While this is difficult to do at times, he said he learned to apply this early during his diagnosis.
Recently, he has prioritized taking vitamins, caring for 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 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 takes walks daily for 30 minutes or longer for his physical, cognitive, 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 vital to do that self-work,” Jonas said.
Above all, he encourages 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 mountain, and there’s some incredible people out there whose experiences will really motivate anybody that’s going through tough moments,” he concluded.
