“How are you?” I hope you don’t mind that I’m eating.” John F. Bongiovibetter known as Jon Bon Jovi (New Jersey, 1962) opens a protein bar (“it’s the third today”) as we sit down for the interview at London’s Corinthia Hotel, on the banks of the Thames. The rock star, who walks alone through the hotel corridors between questions from the media, takes advantage of any moment to take care of herself: “I need to relax,” she explains to her team, in the middle of a double promotion. On the one hand, the four-episode series that Disney + premieres this Friday the 26th about her life and that of a legendary band: Thank You, Goodnight: The Story of Bon Jovidirected by Gotham Chopraawarded for her documentaries on Kobe Bryant either Tom Brady, which now dares to explore the life and work of a singer and a band that are synonymous with the United States. And, a week later, the band’s new album will land in stores and platforms, foreverA declaration of intentions: Forever.
That is, at the same time the singer is reviewing 40 years of musical life in the documentary (“Do you know that thing they say about your life passing before your eyes before you die? I had that feeling for a couple of hours watching the episodes “, he laughs), and leaving a record for posterity. One that almost didn’t come to exist. In 2022, Jon Bon Jovi had to undergo an operation on his vocal cords that almost took him away from music forever and still does not allow him to think about touring. “It is a constant work [de recuperación], but we’re going,” he says about his voice. “The documentary was recorded in the last year and a half, so I am much more recovered. Recording this album was different, yes. I had to learn to sing with this new voice, but I’m happy with the result.”
That’s what the album is about, “joy, it’s the underlying theme. Look, although I love our album 2020 [el año y el título son el mismo], was very introspective, and talked about the world we were living in during COVID. So this album wanted to be a new chapter, a new phase for us, even though it’s the 16th album. “We wanted to just focus on joy when recording.”
A joy that Bon Jovi defends “that I have had every time I have entered the recording studio.” Over 40 years, 16 albums as Bon Jovi, two more as solo artists, more than 130 million records sold and endless tours. A story that began with the singer sneaking into the recording studios where he worked to record Runawayhis first success, a single from the years of hair metal. And that became a massive success story with Slippery when wetin 1986, a collection of hymns (You give love to a bad name, Livin’ on a prayer, Wanted dead or alive…) with which the band began to fill stadiums all over the planet. A record-tour-disco inertia that Bon Jovi indulged in for decades. He even looks like a 62-year-old rock star. “No, I didn’t imagine arriving here like this. Who could? I mean, there were examples when he was getting older: Bruce [Springsteen], Mike [Jagger], [Paul] McCartney. But those are the big ones! Okay, now it seems like no one is retiring. Steven Tyler is what, 74, 75 years old? I mean, did you imagine yourself at 30 years old when you were 20? At 40 years old? How could I think that he would live to be 60 years old living this life?
