Jon Bon Jovi seems to be enjoying a crash-course in Britishness while in London. A couple of days before we meet he took the Tube from central London to Wembley Stadium to announce the band’s show next summer. “Your subway is very efficient, man,” he notes approvingly. Then on he went to his first Premier League football match, Arsenal against Crystal Palace at the Emirates. Of course, being American, Bon Jovi calls it a “soccer game”. And being a mega star who has sold 130 million albums, he wasn’t in the cheap seats either.
“My seat was heated and I got to meet your Prime Minister,” beams the 63-year-old rocker. “A gentleman. A real classy guy.”
Bon Jovi was also introduced to Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta and England boss Thomas Tuchel and seems to have hit it off with the latter. The final of next year’s US/Canada/Mexico-hosted World Cup is scheduled to be held at the MetLife Stadium, close to Bon Jovi’s New Jersey home.
“I’ve extended the invitation for Thomas to come and stay at my place ... if England make it that far,” he says with a twinkle.
The final part of Bon Jovi’s British induction took place this morning when he recorded a children’s story written by Sir Paul McCartney for CBeebies Bedtime Stories. Bon Jovi is a grandfather (his son Jake and wife, British actor Millie Bobby Brown, adopted a daughter in August). “Listen, as a grandpa, storytelling is a serious business,” he asserts. “But all in all, I’m having a wonderful time in London. I’m usually here for Wimbledon and last summer we came over for my son’s wedding at Soho Farmhouse [his eldest son Jesse married there last June] just outside the city. Magical.”
We are meeting at RAK studios in north London. Everyone from Michael Jackson and David Bowie to Radiohead and Adele have recorded here. But Bon Jovi’s return to the fray (as well as a 2026 tour there is a new album, Forever, Legendary Edition) is unexpected. Anyone who saw last year’s documentary Thank You, Goodnight: The Bon Jovi Story will know he has only recently recovered from potentially career-ending vocal cord issues; he required acupuncture, laser treatment, massage and finally surgery to put things right.
The documentary doesn’t flinch from the mental impact of all this: we see Bon Jovi (real name John Bongiovi) in tears as his 40-year-career seemed to be slipping away. “I decided: if I can’t get back to 100 per cent I’ll walk away. I still love what I do but I didn’t want to compromise our legacy.”
“Bruce [Springsteen] lives 15 minutes away from my house,” he says. “I’m going through this hard time so he’d come pick me up and we’d go for these 100-mile drives just to get away from phones, emails, people and talk.” (The pair go way back. Bon Jovi was still a 17-year-old high school student when Springsteen, already a star, jumped on stage to duet with him during one of his early New Jersey shows.) “But when we go driving we stop for an ice-cream cone or a soda, we are just regular New Jersey guys,” he says. “Don’t get me wrong, the kid in me still wants to get pulled over by the cops just so they can make us wind down the window and see who’s in the car.”
Bon Jovi is every inch the elder statesman rocker in ironed jeans and cowboy boots, although every so often he does a throat-clearing routine, which I assume is part of his vocal rehabilitation. “I’m fine,” he says waving me away at one point when I think maybe I should offer the Heimlich manoeuvre. On the new album he has enlisted vocal assistance from famous friends. The first person to sign up was Robbie Williams, who duets on a song called We Made It Look Easy.
“Robbie is an absolute superstar and we’ve become friends since he bought a place in Florida [Bon Jovi owns a mansion there]. We share that blue-collar, working-class upbringing and we’ve both had roller-coaster journeys through music.”
After cutting his teeth in covers bands around New Jersey, the 19-year-old John Bongiovi moved to New York and got a job as a runner at his cousin’s recording studio, the legendary Power Station. He swept floors and fetched sandwiches and beers. But he also had a view into the recording booth and watched legends at work.
“I saw David Bowie record Let’s Dance. I watched Madonna record Like a Virgin. Incredible memories, man.” After being allowed to record his own song, Runaway, there, then recruiting a band, Bon Jovi were on their way. Glam-metal bangers such as Livin’ on a Prayer made them global stars. And of course there was no decadence like 1980s decadence. “We’d play this game called ‘Beat the gift’,” he recalls. “One band member would be like ‘I love you, man’ and buy me a Porsche. Then I’d beat the gift by buying him a Ferrari. Ridiculous, yes but my excuse is: we were still kids.”
Inevitably, there were casualties. Guitarist Richie Sambora (who left in 2013) got addicted to alcohol and painkillers. Bassist Alec John Such (who left in 1994) struggled with substance abuse. Even their manager Doc McGhee was convicted of large-scale drug smuggling. But somehow Jon Bon Jovi rose above it all. He drinks moderately and has never taken drugs. “I’ve not been involved in the same extracurricular activities as Robbie [Williams],” he says. “The only thing that’s been up my nose is my finger.” He has also been married to his high-school sweetheart Dorothea since 1989. “I made a great choice and I’m still in love with her,” he shrugs. “And it’s not that unusual. Bono’s in that club, Bruce is in that club. You know, I’m happy to be the poster boy for that.”
I suggest his zen calm amid rock’n’roll carnage would make a great viewpoint for a biopic. He was certainly impressed by the new Springsteen film Deliver Me From Nowhere.
“I sat next to Bruce at a screening for family and friends. I nudged him in the ribs during a scene where he’s on stage at a club in the early days because at that exact moment I remember I was a teenager playing in a club across the street to an empty room: they’d all left to see him!”
All this begs the question: who will play the man they call “JBJ” in a biopic? “My son Jake. He’s the spitting image of me,” he says. “But listen, I get offers every week: ‘Oh let’s do a West End musical called Livin’ on a Prayer’!’ But nah, it’s not original. If the right story came along maybe but I don’t want to mess with the legacy.”
The legacy begs a more serious question. He and Springsteen’s songs give voice to America’s blue-collar heartland. But “Tommy” who worked on the docks and Gina in the diner, the struggling lovers in Livin’ on a Prayer… they might be Trump voters today, right? “Yes,” he sighs.
Earlier this year Springsteen slammed Trump’s “corrupt, incompetent and treasonous” government while on stage during his UK tour, (Trump duly called The Boss a “dried-out prune of a rocker” on social media). Does Bon Jovi fear for his country like The Boss does?
“Let me find a nice way to say this: 50 per cent of Americans voted for this man so I don’t look down on those 50 per cent. I just don’t know if he has their best interests at heart. It’s a very, very scary time. If he tries to stand again in 2028 this really could be the end of the American dream.”
Bon Jovi recalls the 1996 wedding of Tico Torres, his band’s drummer, to model Eva Herzigová. Donald Trump, then a property developer, was a guest with then-wife Marla Maples.
“The idea the guy at that party would one day be president is just incredible,” he muses. Is that why he’s in London? The capital is full of American emigrés who have relocated in what’s been called the “Donald Dash”. Ryan Gosling, Courtney Love, Ellen DeGeneres are all here.
“No, but it’s not out of the question. We’ll see what happens in the world. But you know, I would hate to leave my country.”
He is clearly worried about the state of the world. However on a personal level things could hardly be better. He played the last ever shows at the old Wembley Stadium before it was demolished and next year he returns. “It will be incredibly emotional for me,” he says.
Meanwhile he is a grandparent. The whole interview he has been trying to shove a bracelet bearing the legend “Poppa” up his sleeve. Finally he shows it to me. “It’s great isn’t it? There’s a lot of worrying stuff going on in the world but you know what? I am still very good at finding the joy.”
Bon Jovi’s new album Forever (Legendary Edition) is available now. Their Forever Tour will visit Wembley Stadium on September 4, 6 and 9. Tickets at bonjovi.com
