Genesis Publications recently celebrated the release the hardback edition of Bon Jovi’s official book, Bon Jovi: Forever, the band’s first ever authored autobiography, with an exclusive fan Q&A event with Jon Bon Jovi, hosted by US radio industry veteran Bob Buchmann and held at Barnes & Noble at The Grove in Los Angeles.
In the broad-ranging conversation Jon Bon Jovi talked about his history with Bruce Springsteen, how his relationships with music has changed since he first started performing, digging through his personal archives for content for the book, the comradery and teamwork that laid the groundwork for the band’s career, the personal struggles around not being able to promote his last two records and more.
Some highlights from the conversation include:
On the differences between writing music now, and when the band first started: “I wouldn’t want to try to write like I was a teenager. At 20 you had a limited palette—what life experience did you really have? You’ve got a different palette at 60. Or at least, you’d better. I wouldn’t want to rewrite ‘You Give Love a Bad Name’. That was an incredible time in our lives, but you wouldn’t want to do it again. You write who you are, and what you are, at the time you’re living it. These are just chapters in an artist’s life—in any artist’s life. I saw Taylor Swift defending her new record, saying, ‘I’m 35 now, I’m writing from this perspective—I’m not 16.’ And I totally got that. I was talking to my TV this morning going, ‘Go on, Tay Tay!’”
Jon discusses performing on stage as a 17 year old with Bruce Springsteen (Jon joined Bruce Springsteen on stage at local venue The Fast Lane in Asbury Park to sing “The Promised Land”): “When you went down to Asbury Park, the guys that were making records about your backyard were in your backyard. And that made it maybe just a little more possible to think that someday you could make records like that. Imagine going to high school the next day and the teacher’s like, ‘Okay, class…’ and I’m sitting there going, ‘I’ve got a story to tell about last night.’ This was all years before records like Born in the U.S.A. So, he was still Bruce but not Born in the U.S.A. Bruce yet.”
Meeting the world’s biggest stars as a young recording engineer (working at the Power Station studio in New York): “I realized I spent more time fetching burgers and coffee than actually watching the recording sessions. But one of the great things I do remember was that the bigger the star, the nicer the person. It was the Mick Jaggers of the world who would take the time to stop and talk”
Not being able to promote last year’s Forever record due to vocal cord injury, and how it led to Jon finding time to create the book: “I was very excited by the prospect of touring the album. I couldn’t. I just… I wouldn’t go out again unless I’m back to normal. The plan, of course, was to go out and celebrate the 40th Anniversary. And as we started to rehearse, it wasn’t up to my standard, and the doctor promised me nothing. The great thing about the surgeon is he said, ‘Work hard, you will be better. I don’t know when.’ And I just had to pull the plug on the whole plan. Which leads us to why we’re here today. And with the release of the book and this legendary edition of the record.”
Is there anything he wishes he could do over again? “Most days I’d like to have the opportunity to do them over again, only to enjoy the process. Not all of it was great. These last three years sort of sucked, but… but I never lost faith. It was just a slower process. You have faith because you know that you’re moving forward. It wasn’t as easy as I thought, but I’m more learned now. I’m wiser as a result. There are many phases of our careers that I’m sad about or I’m happy about, but each one of them fuelled the next chapter. They were important. They’re just all part of the journey.”
Where his sense of eternal optimism comes from: “Well, that was the America I grew up in. It was a time and a place when President Kennedy was in office, when your parents were buying a home, they could work hard to pay for. They both worked to make that American dream happen, had kids, and told their kids that they could do these kinds of things. So, it all felt pretty natural. It was like, reach for the moon because the President said we could—and they did. It was that kind of period in time.”
On archiving personal material contained within the book: “We started two, three years ago even. We were coming up on the 40th [anniversary], and it was time. Because I am a hoarder and I’ve saved everything, which is evident by the book, but it was really great to be able to put it in one place and be able to share with everybody.”
The moment he thinks defines the band’s identity: “I don’t want to say that it’s Slippery in New Jersey because I feel like that was an incredible moment in time. But we’ve grown many more times throughout the process. And whether that period in the late ’80s shaped ‘Keep The Faith’, which was happening with whether it was the LA riots or the wall coming down in Eastern Europe, and then in 2000 coming back with ‘It’s My Life’, when the genre should have been gone a second time and I refused, and then coming back with Lost Highway and going down to Nashville and reinventing the band yet again.”
Causing trouble as young musicians; the famous flamingo beheading story: “That’s a story I can share. We were living in a hotel and had this opportunity for some reason to rent out this brand new, very nice little condominium. It was only a two-bedroom condominium. There were five of us. Everyone’s sleeping on couches and on floors and what have you. And we moved into this place, and it was very nice of them for a minute, but the nights would get later, and the fun would go longer and deeper. And I have to admit, all these years later, it was David. He took a bread knife, like a big, serrated bread knife, and he went to the poor neighbour who had a plastic flamingo that he bought and was proud of in his garden. He beheaded it. I don’t know why!”
How the band settled on the names Tommy and Gina in “Livin’ On A Prayer”: “They’re fictional characters—because unlike a number of our songs that I might write by myself, this one was co-written. When we walked into the room that day, no one had a lick, not a single idea. We started like we usually did—playing the guitar, banging on the piano, telling stories. ‘What am I thinking of? What are you thinking of?’ And it just evolved from there. I had this common thread in mind—the old Shakespearean story: boy meets girl, boy struggles to make ends meet for girl, and they live happily ever after. But when you make it more blue-collar, more contemporary, more New Jersey—more us—we settled on these names: Tommy and Gina. I think they just rolled off the tongue. My two references were a young couple who got married when I was their age. It was far too early for me to even think about marriage, but they made that commitment and stuck it out—and they’re still together to this day. To me, that was like, ‘Wow, that’s big boy stuff.’ Then Richie had a different one, and Des had a different one. But honestly, when we finished it, I didn’t think it was ‘Livin’ on a Prayer.’ We had the lyric, we had the melody, we had everything about it—but I didn’t realize what it would become.”
How his solo album Blaze Of Glory was a success: “I enjoyed the process because it was something different. At that point, we had made four albums, we had toured the world four different times. We were a little physically and mentally burned out. The success of not only Slippery When Wet but doing it yet again with New Jersey and two 240-show tours back-to-back. But when you’re that burned, you don’t even realize it. And when the opportunity came to write songs for a film, I found it easy. And the band was Elton John and Jeff Beck and Kenny Aronoff. I mean, it was a ridiculous band, and Danny Kortchmar. It was an incredible time in my life and a very creative time in my life. And then, of course, with the Golden Globes and the Academy Awards and all that, kind of another number one record. It was a fun time. Pretty good to be me. I took my grandmother to the Academy Awards.”
How he afforded his first Fender guitar (Jon sold his first ever guitar, a Univox, and pleaded with his parents to buy him a new Fender, writing a ‘note’ on the back of a paper plate in the voice of the Fender): I’d asked my folks for this Fender guitar, and they said basically, like they’d said before, you have to earn it. Go and find the money and figure it out. The Fender was, I think, 300 bucks, and I’m pleading my case in the voice of the guitar to my parents, who basically said, “go get a job.” And of course, being the hoarder that I was, I saved it because even as that teenage kid, I was like, ‘Someday you’ll eat this paper plate.’ So, I saved it. I don’t know why, but I believed that someday there’d be archives.
Working with the stacked lineup on the Forever Legends collaborations album: “From Bruce to Jelly Roll to Lainey Wilson, I think they took a great record and made it ‘betterer.’”
Asking Bruce Springsteen to appear on the Legends album: “We’ve sung, with no exaggeration, 50 times together over the years. So, to ask him to be on the record, and for him to say yes, was wonderful.”
How writing the book felt different from writing an album: “I’m pretty good about seeing a picture or a lyric sheet and remembering when, where, with whom, and telling a story about it. And so, it wasn’t difficult. I enjoyed it.”
What is going through his mind when he’s performing to 80,000 people who are singing his songs back at him: “Sometimes I’m thinking about where we’re going to dinner afterwards. That’s when I know I’m having a great night. The coolest part is if I’m up there thinking, ‘I’m having so much fun. I can’t wait to go to the bar tonight.’ If I’m thinking about how the band are sounding or how I’m singing, something is just distracting. If I’m on a different plane and I’m thinking, ‘Going to the bar, I’m going to have lots of good wine. We’re going to dinner,’ then I’m just flying. It’s an out-of-body experience. That to me is the magic—to see me salivate, see me thinking about something else. I remember many times over the years the guys would say to me, ‘Why don’t you turn around and acknowledge what we’re doing?’ And I say, ‘Because you’re doing it so well. It’s not a distraction.’ Everything is just so great that we’re just flying. It’s an out-of-body experience when it’s great.”
His best advice for new artists: “Be true to who you are. Don’t chase anyone else’s fads or fashions thinking that’s a shortcut, because really what it is a dead-end street. Just be true to who you are, and that truth will resonate with somebody.”
On whether he will open a West Coast USA location of Soul Kitchen, his non-profit Community Restaurant helping to feed those in need: “There’s certainly a need. Anywhere I go, there’s a need. It’s like Dorothea always says, ‘I wish we’d go out of business,’ but that’s just unfortunately never going to happen because the need is so great wherever you go. But I think we would be more than open to somebody taking the model, and we could bless it, but we’re so hands-on in the four restaurants in New Jersey that it’s difficult to put our name on something that we’re not there doing or going to and participating in. We care so much that we want to present it a certain way. It’s not like it’s a franchise. We’d be willing to tell you how to do it. But then you should put your name on it.”
With everything he’s achieved, what keeps him grounded: “Maybe who and what we’ve become is based on where we’re from. The upbringing that we had, the camaraderie, and the hard work that nobody felt like they were the one. I keep saying all these years, it was we, not me. And in doing so, that keeps you humble because it’s also really hard work to do what we do. It seems easy, but it takes a lot, and it takes a village, as Hillary once said. So, you have to just give the credit where credit’s due and share it and share in the joy.”
Out now, Bon Jovi: Forever, is the definitive anthology of one of the world’s most iconic rock bands, offering an unparalleled glimpse into their extraordinary journey through rare artifacts, stunning photography, and the personal insights of Jon Bon Jovi himself. The limited edition, announced in January, sold out in record time becoming the fastest-selling book in the highly respected, family-run British publishing house’s 50-year history.
With unprecedented access to Bon Jovi’s extensive archive, this official book chronicles the band’s remarkable 40-year history. From their meteoric rise with chart-topping hits like “Livin’ On a Prayer”, “You Give Love a Bad Name”, “It’s My Life”, and “Have a Nice Day”, to their relentless touring schedule that has seen them perform over 2,700 shows for 34 million fans across more than 50 countries, Bon Jovi: Forever captures the essence of a band that defined a generation.
This meticulously curated collection showcases a treasure trove of memorabilia, including handwritten lyrics, iconic stage costumes, guitars, studio track lists, and personal photographs from the band’s private collections. Complemented by an array of vivid images that capture Bon Jovi live, backstage, on tour, and in the studio, this book offers fans a rare, behind-the-scenes look at the band’s enduring legacy.
“As band members, you share a unique bond that no one else can truly understand, not even family. That brotherhood comes with a long career like ours. We all felt part of something special, trusted each other, and they trusted me. I never let them down. It was always a give-and-take.” – Jon Bon Jovi
Jon Bon Jovi shares the intimate stories behind the artifacts, shedding light on the creative process behind their songwriting, the making of their legendary albums, and the key performances that cemented their place in rock history. His candid reflections offer a deeper understanding of the band’s brotherhood, their distinctive style, and the unwavering trust that fuelled their success.
Bon Jovi: Forever is more than just a book; it’s an all-access pass to the world of Bon Jovi, making it an essential piece for any fan of the band or lover of rock music.
