{"id":280895,"date":"2025-11-09T08:09:11","date_gmt":"2025-11-09T08:09:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/280895\/"},"modified":"2025-11-09T08:09:11","modified_gmt":"2025-11-09T08:09:11","slug":"jon-bon-jovi-there-have-been-days-where-i-thought-i-was-done","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/280895\/","title":{"rendered":"Jon Bon Jovi: \u2018There have been days where I thought I was done\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Until recently, Jon Bon Jovi, the man behind one of the most recognisable voices in rock, didn\u2019t know if he\u2019d ever tour again<\/a>. Two years on from a crucial but risky surgery to repair one of his vocal cords \u2013 after it atrophied catastrophically at the end of his band\u2019s last tour in 2022 \u2013 he was still in recovery and unable to promote their 16th studio album, Forever. Suddenly, the title of the record seemed grimly ironic.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt sucked,\u201d the musician born John Francis Bongiovi Jr tells me plainly. \u201cWe were releasing the album along with the docuseries [Thank You, Goodnight], and we were going to do our 40th anniversary celebration and tour. But I had this traumatising throat surgery, and as we released [the album], I started to rehearse with the band and I said, \u2018Guys, I\u2019m sorry, but I\u2019m just not up to it yet.\u2019\u201d He was especially gutted because he was proud of what they\u2019d made, a \u201cjoyful\u201d record that marked his first return to the studio since undergoing surgery. But with a career spanning more than four decades, he knew all too well that without a tour to promote it, \u201cit\u2019s dead\u201d. <\/p>\n

So what an extraordinary turnaround it is that the band have just announced a run of stadium shows for 2026<\/a>. They\u2019ll start with a nine-night residency at Madison Square Garden (\u201cIt\u2019s in our backyard, so I can go home at night and sleep in my own bed\u201d) and conclude with three nights at Wembley Stadium. \u201cI\u2019m just tipping my toe in,\u201d Bon Jovi says, his megawatt smile bearing just a hint of smugness at being able to think of these 14 concerts as some kind of underplay. He can\u2019t give much away about what fans should expect: \u201cThe only good news I can tell you is there\u2019s nothing in the catalogue I can\u2019t sing.\u201d In fact, he\u2019s so excited at the prospect of getting back on stage that he\u2019s come up with a bunch of alternative setlists. \u201cSo if we\u2019re doing multiple nights and I want to play, I don\u2019t know, 45 songs\u2026 I\u2019m capable.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bon Jovi certainly exudes confidence today. We\u2019re sitting in Studio 3 of northwest London\u2019s RAK Studios, where acts such as The Pogues, Kim Wilde and The Smiths have recorded some of their biggest songs. At 63, he remains every inch the rock star, from the off-duty ensemble of jeans and a smart black jacket to that famous head of hair (\u201cI\u2019m just happy to still have it\u201d). He\u2019s also charming \u2013 I overhear him checking how to pronounce my name with his publicist before he walks in, offering a warm handshake and then introducing himself to The Independent\u2019s video crew, who are filming our chat for the Good Vibrations<\/a> podcast.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s obviously comfortable in front of the camera. Outside of the glittering rock career \u2013 the Grammy awards, the Top 10 singles, the 130 million records sold \u2013 he\u2019s also acted, with a starring role in the 1996 drama The Leading Man and a fan-favourite turn in Sex and the City as photographer Seth, who briefly dates sexpert Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker) in the second season. Still, I wonder if it was difficult for him to be so vulnerable in Thank You, Goodnight, which zooms in on his disappointment in a voice that doesn\u2019t sound the way it did in the Eighties. We see the slump of his shoulders, and then the flinch as he listens back to himself. <\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t mind being vulnerable,\u201d he tells me. \u201cI only ever wanted to tell the truth, no matter what phase of our lives we were in. But I didn\u2019t anticipate the surgery and I certainly didn\u2019t anticipate the recovery.\u201d There were a number of occasions where he told the band he was ready to go, only to be met with a chorus of \u201cnos\u201d. That must have been tricky to hear, I say. \u201cIt\u2019s tough,\u201d he agrees, \u201cand there have been [other] days when I\u2019ve said I\u2019m done, and they said, \u2018No, you\u2019re not. Think of the progress you\u2019ve made since last month and the month before.\u2019\u201d <\/p>\n

\"Bon<\/p>\n

open image in gallery<\/p>\n

Bon Jovi at Wembley Stadium ahead of the band\u2019s shows next year (PA)<\/p>\n

The whole experience has been humbling, he admits. \u201cBut I do also feel like, I can\u2019t let [everyone] down now.\u201d He\u2019s grateful for how supportive the band have been: \u201cThat\u2019s just a priceless commitment from them, [and] I can\u2019t thank them enough.\u201d Not only did he have the band, but his family, too, have been vital in getting him through one of the most challenging periods of his career. Like Bon Jovi the band, now a seven-piece thanks to the permanent additions of Everett Bradley (percussion) and John Shanks (rhythm guitar) in 2024, his own family is growing by the day. He became a grandfather for the first time when his son Jake, 23, and Jake\u2019s wife, Stranger Things star Millie Bobby Brown, 21, adopted a daughter in August. His eldest son, Jesse, is also expecting a baby any day now with his wife (also called Jesse).<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s the next chapter,\u201d he says, smiling. He\u2019s looking forward to Christmas; his family\u2019s traditions are much the same as any other. \u201cWe have the tree, the drunken uncle who\u2019s a pain in the ass\u2026 the food\u2019s burnt and undercooked, and the sweater doesn\u2019t fit but you put it on anyway.\u201d Only one of the four kids he shares with his wife of 36 years, Dorothea \u2013 their youngest son Romeo, 21 \u2013 is following in Bon Jovi\u2019s musical footsteps. \u201cThe first singles are great,\u201d he says of his son\u2019s band, Lawn. \u201cThat\u2019s all I\u2019ve heard.\u201d Romeo isn\u2019t letting his dad have anything to do with it, he adds proudly: \u201cPeople talk about these nepo babies, blah blah blah, but I\u2019m not in there at all. He\u2019s got his own vision, which I really appreciate.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\u2018There\u2019s<\/p>\n

open image in gallery<\/p>\n

\u2018There\u2019s a priceless commitment [from the band]. I can\u2019t thank them enough\u2019 (Press)<\/p>\n

There\u2019s no \u201cplan B\u201d for his son, he says, just as there was no plan B for him when he first set out as a rock musician, aged 16. He and his longtime bandmate, David Bryan, would drive home from gigs at 5am, then get up two hours later to go to high school. Thank You, Goodnight made much of his relentless work ethic, with one friend joking: \u201cJon quit school \u2019cause there was recess.\u201d He shares this drive with his hero and fellow New Jersey native, Bruce Springsteen, who famously leapt onstage to join the starstruck teenager after hearing him cover \u201cThe Promised Land\u201d. \u201cIt was 1979, so I was probably 17\u2026 it was pretty incredible because [Bruce] was already \u2018him\u2019, obviously, and he was everybody\u2019s hero in New Jersey.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s surprising, in a way, that Bon Jovi only teamed up with Springsteen this year, on the band\u2019s new collaborative album Forever (Legendary Edition). Comprising new versions of songs from the original record, it features two duets with the Boss on \u201cRed, White and Jersey\u201d and \u201cHollow Man\u201d. There are also appearances from country artists Jelly Roll, Lainey Wilson and Jason Isbell, Canadian pop-punk star Avril Lavigne, the husband-and-wife duo The War and Treaty, and the UK\u2019s own Robbie Williams, who was actually Bon Jovi\u2019s first port of call. <\/p>\n

\u201cI love Robbie, but I also thought [\u201cWe Made It Look Easy\u201d] was the right song for him \u2013 I could see him telling that story as the narrator. So when I called him and said I needed a shoulder to lean on, he was the first one to say yes.\u201d I tell him I thought it was moving to hear him singing with Lavigne, who\u2019s been through her own vocal struggles after being diagnosed with Lyme disease in 2014. \u201cWell, her voice is certainly back,\u201d he grins. He actually texted her just this morning: \u201cThey were playing \u2018Sk8r Boi\u2019 on the radio, and the girl [in the car] next to me was singing it, so I recorded them and sent it to Avril, \u2018Look at the love you get here in London.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

open image in gallery<\/p>\n

The Boss and Bon Jovi: with Springsteen performing at the 2024 MusiCares Person of the Year Awards (Invision)<\/p>\n

As evidenced by the band\u2019s latest album \u2013 all chugging riffs, snarling bass and the triumphant return of the talk box (most memorably used for their 1987 hit \u201cLivin\u2019 on a Prayer\u201d) \u2013 they\u2019re sticking to what they\u2019re best at, with fantastic results. \u201cWe realised, oh my goodness gracious\u2026 in the late Eighties, don\u2019t chase fads and fashions,\u201d Bon Jovi says. \u201cThat would (and has been) career suicide for many artists. You can and should evolve as a songwriter, but chasing someone else\u2019s success would be a mistake.\u201d<\/p>\n

Like many artists, he believes the industry works in cycles, and that rock is slowly but surely coming back to the fore. He went to see Oasis play one of their reunion shows in New Jersey, telling friends he \u201cneeded to smell a rock band, see them play without backup dancers or any of that. Just to see a smelly rock band again was great.\u201d It\u2019ll be him soon, I point out. \u201cI\u2019m only half-joking when I say, lemme just get my feet wet,\u201d he responds, looking quite serious. \u201cIf I have both joy in my heart, which I feel, and my health, which I also feel, then it\u2019s gonna be wonderful.\u201d And he\u2019ll have another 80,000 or so shoulders to lean on each night, too. <\/p>\n

\u2018Forever (Legendary Edition)\u2019 is out now; Bon Jovi\u2019s Forever Tour <\/a>arrives in the UK next year from 28 August to 4 September<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Your support helps us to tell the story From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":280896,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[53],"tags":[88,216],"class_list":{"0":"post-280895","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-music","8":"tag-entertainment","9":"tag-music"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/280895","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=280895"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/280895\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/280896"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=280895"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=280895"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=280895"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}