Ahead of a docuseries about his world-conquering band, the frontman talks about his devastating vocal struggles
realised he may never be able to sing live again. Closing his band’s 40th anniversary tour in Nashville, “I said, I’m gonna have the audacity to do what I used to do, and open with ‘Livin’ on a Prayer’,” he recalls. But it was more an act of desperation than defiance. He’d been struggling with his voice the entire tour. “I had been aware that the instrument didn’t feel right. But I kept thinking I could work it into shape again.
Has he thought about the reality of never playing live again? “To be brutally honest with you, no. Because I’m not willing to accept that yet. I’m not there.” Bon Jovi sold 120 million records, had worldwide hits for decades and were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame – eventually. “We should have got in sooner, so f**k those guys,” he says, smiling as he gives the middle finger.
But for Bon Jovi it also brought the sort of crisis of faith that can follow megawatt fame. In the early 90s, he wondered if he truly deserved it all. “It was tough, because you’re looking in the mirror going: ‘It’s the same kid that was here 10 years ago,’ but now everybody else treats you differently. Suddenly, your parents are looking to you for wisdom. And you’re going, ‘Wait a minute. This is confusing.
But it’s an attitude that helped in difficulty. For 30 years, he and guitarist and co-writer Richie Sambora were like brothers in arms: a hair metal version of Mick’n’Keef. But Sambora left Bon Jovi in 2013 under a cloud. He didn’t turn up to the opening night of the band’s world tour in Calgary, Canada, and never returned. Sambora said he needed to be a stay-at-home dad, although substance issues and creative differences were also at play.
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