Jon Bon Jovi has praised Oasis for helping to “keep rock alive” as he confirmed Bon Jovi’s first world tour since his vocal cord surgery.
The band will return to the stage in 2026 for a run of global shows — their first in eight years — beginning with four consecutive nights at New York’s Madison Square Garden in July. The tour will then head to Edinburgh’s Murrayfield Stadium, Dublin’s Croke Park and London’s Wembley Stadium on 4 September 2026.
Speaking at the official tour announcement, where The Standard was in attendance, the frontman reflected on the surge in demand for live music and credited the Gallagher brothers’ reunion with reigniting excitement around rock bands.
“I think post-Covid people wanted that kind of experiential thing,” he said, recalling seeing Oasis in New Jersey in September. “They wanted to get together again and feel that joy. So it’s bigger than ever.
“There was a time, 10, 12 years ago that I used to hear people say, ‘rock is dead’. I think rock is alive and well again, so the promise of what Oasis brought [this] year is going to give a lot of young rock bands an opportunity to shine again.
“So I think it’s good that stadium acts are able to fill buildings and people are enjoying themselves there.”
Bon Jovi will play tour dates next year (Mark Seliger/PA)
The tour arrives as Bon Jovi enters a new chapter both personally and professionally.
His son Jake Bongiovi and daughter-in-law Millie Bobby Brown revealed in August that they adopted a baby girl this summer.
The couple married in May 2024 in a private ceremony in the US, followed by a second celebration in Tuscany.
Asked whether the band’s newest family member would be joining the tour audience, Jon smiled: “I would certainly hope so.”
Has she heard any of his home rehearsal sessions? “In the garage? Not yet,” he joked. “She’s been in the house but not [there].”
When teased that she may be his most “judgemental audience yet”, he laughed.
The frontman’s son Jake and daughter-in-law Millie Bobby Brown adopted their first child earlier this summer (Instagram/Millie Bobbie Brown)
The comeback follows the singer’s lengthy rehabilitation after vocal cord surgery in 2022 — a process he has described as far tougher and slower than he anticipated.
The operation forced him to rethink how he made music, shaping his forthcoming album Forever (Legendary Edition).
“I can always write another record. I’m not worried about my ability to write another song,” he told NPR. “I could have walked away. I just haven’t had to come to that conclusion because, as I said, the process and the progress are steady.”
Tickets for Bon Jovi’s UK and Ireland tour go on sale Friday, October 31 via bonjovi.com and LiveNation.co.uk.