Ahead of his return to the stage on Bon Jovi’s upcoming Forever tour, lead singer Jon Bon Jovi insists that his well-publicised struggles with his vocals are behind him.
“I’m fully recovered,” he tells People. “It was longer than I’d ever expected, but it had to be right. We never lost faith.”
As recently as 2024, Bon Jovi was saying publicly that he was unsure if he’d ever be able to tour again after undergoing vocal cord surgery in 2022.
"I never did anything to hurt the cords,” he says. “I didn’t have any excesses. I’m a trained vocalist. I’ve practiced the craft. So when a doctor had to explain to me that one of the cords was literally atrophying, it was confusing.”
A long period of rehab followed, during which Bon Jovi says that the support of his fellow band members – keyboardist David Bryan, percussionist Everett Bradley, bassist Hugh McDonald, guitarist John Shanks, drummer Tico Torres and guitarist Phil X – was crucial.
“They never doubted [me] and never looked for work or decided to retire,” he confirms. “The sacrifices that each one of them have made to be there for me is on a whole ’nother level.
“They said, ‘No, we’re with you.’ Every day of every rehearsal they were there with me. My love for them has only deepened.”
One notable absentee from the tour – which kicks off on 7 July – will be guitarist Richie Sambora, who abruptly left Bon Jovi in 2013 for personal reasons. He’s still familiar with at least some of their material, though, having recently sung signature hit Livin’ On A Prayer at his daughter’s wedding.
The Bon Jovi story continues without him, though: “It’s not about perfection. It’s about excellence,” says Jon Bon Jovi on his hopes for the Forever tour. “It’s like I have the gift to be able to hold this light. The gift that I receive is being in the reflection of that light when it hits the audience, and that’s what I’ve been working for – I’ve been training to find the ability to hold that light. It’s like this whole spiritual communion between the band and me and the audience.”
Dates and ticket details can be found on the Bon Jovi website.
