{"id":356819,"date":"2025-12-18T22:02:09","date_gmt":"2025-12-18T22:02:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/356819\/"},"modified":"2025-12-18T22:02:09","modified_gmt":"2025-12-18T22:02:09","slug":"jon-bon-jovi-says-i-want-to-be-grow-up-and-be-jason-isbell","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/356819\/","title":{"rendered":"Jon Bon Jovi says, \u2018I want to be grow up and be Jason Isbell\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cJason Isbell<\/a> is one of those songwriters that I oftentimes say, I wish I wrote that song,\u201d Jon Bon Jovi said, in a video posted to his rock band Bon Jovi\u2019s social media this week. <\/p>\n

Jon, who knows a thing or two about great tunes, continued, \u201cWhen you hear \u2018Elephant\u2019, when you hear \u2018Cover Me Up,\u2019\u201d citing two of Alabama native Isbell\u2019s many acclaimed songs, \u201cyou hear that incredibly smooth voice. You listen to his guitar playing<\/a>.\u201d He added, \u201cI want to grow up and be Jason Isbell.\u201d<\/p>\n

Quite the compliment, coming from the guy who cowrote stadium-rattling classics like \u201cLivin\u2019 on a Prayer,\u201d \u201cWanted Dead or Alive\u201d and \u201cYou Give Love a Bad Name.\u201d <\/p>\n

Jon also thanked Isbell for his work on the song \u201cWaves,\u201d a stirring Southern-tinged anthem off Bon Jovi\u2019s 2024 album \u201cForever,\u201d the band\u2019s 16th studio LP. <\/p>\n

Isbell, an Americana superstar who grew up in Green Hill and Muscle Shoals<\/a>, also played guitar on \u201cWaves.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cHe actually cowrote this song with [Bon Jovi guitarist\/producer] John Shanks and I,\u201d Jon said. \u201cWe had written the song. It needed a little love. Jason brought the love both on the record and to the writing. Thank you, my brother.\u201d <\/p>\n

The song\u2019s lyrics include, \u201cWaves, they take me down no one here gonna save me now. Waves, they knock me off my feet. Waves, now I understand. I see her face I see her hand, and she waves then fades away from me.\u201d<\/p>\n

This year, Bon Jovi issued a \u201cLegendary Edition\u201d version of \u201cForever.\u201d It\u2019s bolstered by guest appearances ranging from country star Jelly Roll to Def Leppard frontman Joe Elliott to rootsy guitar hero Marcus King<\/a> to blue-collar rock-god Bruce Springsteen<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The \u201cLegendary Edition\u201d take on \u201cWaves\u201d finds Isbell sharing lead vocals with Jon. And it\u2019s excellent. <\/p>\n

But what else would you expect? Bon Jovi is in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame<\/a>, and Isbell has won six Grammys<\/a> and has been nominated for three more<\/a> for 2026. <\/p>\n

Isbell has a lifelong connection to Bon Jovi<\/a>. His Aunt Kristal had a poster of Jon on her wall \u201cthrough her first three husbands and would not allow them to take it down,\u201d as Isbell<\/a> recalled last year. <\/p>\n

\"JasonJason Isbell performs during MusiCares Person of the Year honoring Jon Bon Jovi on Friday, Feb. 2, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo\/Chris Pizzello)Chris Pizzello\/Invision\/AP<\/p>\n

In 2024, Isbell covered \u201cWanted Dead or Alive\u201d<\/a> during a star-studded MusiCares tribute to Jon. Wearing a cowboy hat and duster jacket, Isbell sang a faithful spirited version of that quintessential \u201880s power-ballad. He also nailed former Bon Jovi guitarist Richie Sambora\u2019s classic solo on that song, on a Gibson double-neck.<\/p>\n

During a Grammys interview, Isbell said, \u201cEverybody\u2019s fun aunt loves Bon Jovi more than anything else in the world, and mine was no exception.\u201d He added, \u201cI\u2019ve known how to play \u2018Wanted Dead or Alive\u2019 since I was about 7-years-old.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 2026, Bon Jovi, founded in New Jersey, will launch their first tour<\/a> since Jon\u2019s much-publicized vocal cord issues. Isbell, who released his first ever solo acoustic album \u201cFoxes in the Snow\u201d<\/a> in 2025, will tour<\/a> next year, too.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cJason Isbell is one of those songwriters that I oftentimes say, I wish I wrote that song,\u201d Jon…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":356820,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[53],"tags":[88,216],"class_list":{"0":"post-356819","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\/356819","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=356819"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/356819\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/356820"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=356819"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=356819"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=356819"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}