Performing with type 1 diabetes means RaeLynn is always doing two shows at once: The one that’s entertaining a sold-out crowd and the one where she’s quietly fighting to keep her blood sugar stable. On the Off the Vine with Kaitlyn Bristowe podcast, the country singer tell stories of having moments on stage where a low hit so hard she had to slam orange juice from a red Solo cup mid-song. While she was suffering inside, fans assumed it was just another party prop.
The “God Made Girls” songstress pulled back the curtain on that reality, opening up about being diagnosed around age 12, managing an insulin pump on tour, and how those challenges led her to launch a diabetes foundation that now helps other families survive the financial and emotional grind of the disease.
“I’ve had type one diabetes since I was 12 years old,” she says, recalling being diagnosed around age 11 or 12. Unlike type 2, she explains, her pancreas “doesn’t work at all,” so she wears “an insulin pump on my hip” and manages blood sugar every single day, on and off stage.
That reality fuels the RayLynn Diabetes Foundation, which she launched to help families handle the brutal costs of staying alive with insulin. “We are able to help families directly that need help covering cost of insulin and diabetes supplies,” she says, noting that even with good insurance, her own yearly costs could hit “close to $1,500 just to get the things that I needed just to survive.”
RaeLynn is just as focused on education for teens with type 1. Hormones sent her numbers “wild” at 14 and 15: “There was a moment when my diabetes wasn’t well because I wasn’t educated properly,” she says. Now her fund helps give that education so other kids aren’t flying blind.
She also wants to kill the blame game around the disease. Type 1, she stresses, is “an invisible disease” and “luck of the draw,” and not the result of poor health choices. “People are like, ‘Oh, did you eat too many donuts as a kid?’” she says. “No, my pancreas kind of stopped working. It’s the stigma around it—we did something to cause it. But we didn’t.”
Diabetes, Explained: Why High Blood Sugar Is Far More Dangerous Than You Think
RaeLynn isn’t the only performer who has to manage diabetes while performing. Singers Nick Jonas and Poison frontman Bret Michaels also monitor their insulin on the road. RaeLynn, who says she was diagnosed with type 1 around age 12, now performs with “an insulin pump on my hip” and has had to resort to several onstage self remedies, including drinking orange juice.
Diabetes mellitus is a chronic condition where the body can’t properly use blood sugar for fuel. In type 1, the body makes little or no insulin; in type 2, the body resists insulin. In both cases, sugar builds up in the bloodstream instead of feeding muscles and organs.
The problem is exploding worldwide: a major analysis in The Lancet estimates more than 828 million adults now live with diabetes, and the International Diabetes Federation says nearly half don’t know it. Over time, uncontrolled blood sugar can lead to blindness, kidney failure, amputations, stroke, and heart disease — which is why the World Health Organization links high blood glucose to a major share of cardiovascular deaths.
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Chasing Big Stages, Big Dreams, and a “Come On Cowboy” Summer
RaeLynn isn’t letting diabetes slow her down. She navigated pregnancy with tight monitoring—weekly ultrasounds to ensure her daughter didn’t get too big—and still calls it “a great pregnancy.”
Now she’s doubling down on career goals. On the pod, she jokes that being on Dancing with the Stars is a true bucket-list item: “It’s my dream to be on. I don’t even care to win,” she says. “I just wanted to say that I did it.” Bristowe, a former DWTS champ, nudges her to build the perfect redemption-arc pitch — maybe even a viral piano-flipping moment — to get casting directors’ attention.
Musically, RaeLynn is leaning into high-energy, arena-ready country. Her latest single, the country rocker “Come On Cowboy (Giddy Up),” dropped June 12, 2026, and she calls it one of the fun and wild tracks in a new season of music that still makes room for emotional staples like “Love Triangle” and “God Made Girls.”
She’s also taking that energy on the road, heading out on her Mostly Hits & The Mrs. Tour and rejoining Luke Bryan on select dates. For a kid who once fought to get her blood sugar stable, the hustle now is about something bigger: making sure every fan — especially the ones wearing pumps in the crowd — sees what’s possible.
To see more episodes of the Off the Vine with Kaitlyn Bristowe Podcast, go to @offthevinepodcast
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RaeLynn 2026 ‘Mostly Hits & The Mrs.’ Tour
June 25: Grand Ole Opry House — Nashville, TN
July 9: Morton Amphitheater — Kansas City, MO (with Luke Bryan)
July 10: Vibrant Arena at the Mark — Moline, IL (with Luke Bryan)
July 11–12: Pine Knob Music Theatre — Clarkston, MI (with Luke Bryan)
July 31: Emporia Arts Center — Emporia, KS
August 17: Tennessee State Fair — Lebanon, TN
September 11: Chelan County Expo Center — Cashmere, WA
September 24: Barnato — Omaha, NE
September 25: Jackpot Junction Casino Hotel — Morton, MN
September 26: Alpine Valley Music Theatre — East Troy, WI (with Luke Bryan)
October 14: State Fair of Texas — Dallas, TX
December 9: Chiefs on Broadway — Nashville, TN
Main Photo: YouTube: @OffTheVinePodcast