Jon Bon Jovi on His Health and Where He Stands With Richie Sambora (Exclusive)

You're letting us understand the whole series, which addresses the origins of the band and the journey of the band, but also takes us through your CH

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challenges, how you feel today, day by day, yes, day by day, Yes, you know. I'm working hard on it. I flew here to California yesterday before getting on the plane. Vocal therapy. You know, so I don't do anything if I can get it first. You know, nothing else matters until you work to improve. God, at this point, you know I've done everything I can, it was very raw to hear you try to sing again and to hear you, you know, fight if, you know, if I'm being very honest, think about it. from your point of view and I'm trying to get into your head and think when you're doing that and you know you're struggling, you're the legendary rock icon John Bon, who is rumored to be losing his voice in recent years.

He sounds like he's super tired and won't be able to tour anymore. There's no way you could have said that at one point in the documentary. You know, I may never tour again. I may never do this. My heart sank a little when I found out about you. Say mine too, yes, but I won't fake it, my microphone works. I won't compromise who we are as a live band because I'd like to think we're a pretty good band and, uh, I won't. Won't legacy matter too much? It's something when you have to think about your own mortality and you said yeah, yeah, you know, until I was 50, I really was bulletproof, I could do anything. 50 to 60 was a challenge, the 60s have been difficult.

I work, but I'm not giving up, I'm not giving up, I'm not even slowing down and to be clear, I can sing, yes I sang on the new record. I've made music and I've made it, you know? And there was a big little thing that came out of Music Cares this Saturday morning when I woke up after that night. It was the first time in a decade that the only voice in my head was my own. The fear wasn't there. The doubt was not there. there and dorotha texted the kids and told them she was back.

I also love the fact that now your children have seen this successful image of the two of you and are now following in your footsteps. The two of them ah, yes, I have several three children. and a daughter remembers such a different chapter in life now it's very interesting no one warned you about this chapter so let me tell you about the future okay the future is scary what is the best advice you have given them we saw the whole family supporting to Millie at the premiere, which we love, but what's the best advice you've given them about how to enter this space that they're not going to hear, to be honest, they're on their own journey and and if anything, then I realized Realizing that I was on my own journey and I wouldn't have listened to my parents either, no, but my parents supported me so probably the best thing I can give my kids is support them on their journeys and they had to figure it out, you know, I think I am the ghost of Christmas future and I have all the answers, which I do, the energy of the bank is undeniable like a freight train coming towards you, I know this has been 2 years in the making but why was now the time what did you say?

Okay, I can look back at all this at 40. Okay, it's a round number. Mhm, you know, I mean, I think it's worth looking back in 40 years. um 50, I think at 50. beginning of I wonder if I'll make it, yeah, um, but you know it was the 38th anniversary, that's when these thoughts came to my mind, you know and I thought, it's time to file things away. , it's time to consider a documentary, it's time to think about what the plan is and all this. They got together, listen, I'm sure you've been on a journey in your career and life and all that, but I have to imagine, it has to be hard to open it all up again and take a deep look, that's how it was.

It's not difficult to do well for several reasons, one is that I don't do it. I have very few regrets. Mistakes are part of life and part of the journey. Also, I have no creative control over the editing. I really don't want to tip off the director. the producer his chance to create this movie I was more focused on the archive I was more focused on writing a new album I was more focused on my

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MH so to be honest, looking you in the eye and telling you that I haven't seen all four episodes was very funny and I thought everyone else was enjoying it too badly and I know that throughout Bon Joov's Journey you and Richie did a lot of things together, a lot of songs, you wrote a lot of those things together. and the docuseries is about all of you and it's about Richie leaving the band.

I don't regret leaving, but I regret how I did it. You said you didn't connect with him during the making of this, but we saw him. Have you talked since yeah, he came to my house and we watched it 6 or nine months ago, whatever it was, now the first three episodes together at my house, so you know, yeah, yeah, yeah, but you know the people keep saying this guy that there was never a The fight was never about money, it was never about a girlfriend, it was never because he had problems, you know, he had a lot of problems that he had to deal with and he literally didn't show up.

You're playing to 20,000 people and there's a black hole on the stage and you didn't come the next night or the next night or the next night, so it's been 11 years and he never went back to a room with the band and said hello, but he does say that He maintains it in the documentary. Let everyone know exactly why we didn't show up, the world knows why there has never been a fight, they have to be able to sing and play and they have to come to work. I'm excited, are we telling the truth or am I going to lie, what are we going to do? and Bad Medicine is what I need.

A lot of people are going to see this too because they want to know and understand and, as I've said a thousand times, you know there was never a fight. but I've made four albums, I know how to do this, you seem really good, so maybe it's a lesson because maybe it's something you can teach me too about how to heal, because healing and really like to forgive and move on is a hard thing. do J yeah it's a hard thing to make legendary who you are and who I am I think we could fly sometime but you're releasing another studio album yes yes yes I was able to sing on the entire record I made the music with love I jumped with Armen Vamp and I want say, you know, yeah, yeah, it's coming out in June, yeah, it's called Forever, yeah, you said I love this, you said it's a return to Joy Joy, the simple joy of power. write songs that are happy, you know, until 2020 and our last studio album, the collective that we all watch on television tonight we lived an experience together called Co and in America, the elections and everything that was happening in this evil world So what could I write? about I became the reporter, I was the narrator, I was telling the stories, so they were, um, simple observations, not biased, but observations, real journalism, you know, in the form of composition, compounded by the surgery I had these two years. it digs back in and when I started the songwriting process and you're opening that container, you're like, Okay, Lord, what do we have?

And I wrote a song called Hollow Man on the new record and he's like, what do you sing when the song's over? sung one thing you can't do in this world is give up, you said in the documentary that you're always looking for that song that will cement your career. I think it was a little bit older interview

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you said I've done that song what is it? I don't know if there's one, but I think it's always the next one, it's always the next one, okay, you know, um, like I said, it's I just don't know what I'm going to do. think about the Forever album See you in 2 years okay that's the time frame you give yourself yeah it'll be two years from now mhm you know now I can look back on the 2020 album and go on , it resists me.

I like it. but it takes two years to eliminate it. Can we talk about Legacy for a second? What do you hope your legacy will be or what do you think it will be when, in terms of Bon Joie, that will depend on the people you know? they're going to listen to music or they want to read about it or watch a movie about it, that's up to them, you know, they might think a little or a lot about it. I don't know, it depends on each individual. I think so. In the same way, I may have been more influenced by a band that didn't mean much to the public, but meant everything to me.

You know, I'm talking about Southside Johnny, he meant everything to me. Yes, you know. So, the legacy of the band. The band will depend on the individual, but the good news is that I was only here to tell the truth. I grew up in public. I was 21 when I got a record deal. I have the same record deal with the same company 41 years later. and I'm still telling the truth, so bonjo the band, but what about John, the man? What is your legacy that is still being written? You know, it's about the body of work, but that's just one facet, it's what I do, it's not. who I am and the rest is who I am, what is the family, the philanthropy, the rest, the philanthropy that you and Dorothy do has become its own entity, you know, and it's really impressive, I mean, thank you. incredibly impressive um, how did you think?

It was something you saw at home and simply decided to pay with something that WAS planted in you as a child. You know those seeds are planted in you. You know it, from your parents or from your education. or

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you grew up and at what time, but then what you did with it was going to be something completely different. I was selfish like you could be at 20 and 25 because I was focused

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ly on one thing that I was going to be in a rock and roll band, you know, but your perspectives change as you grow in public and it's better or you're shallow, you know, Kitty Pool exactly, so at 30, 40, 50 and 60, I hope you have a little more world.

Well, you have many, that's for sure, thank you. I just want to ask you because I love, we love when we see celebrities in nature that are actually friends and I love the fact that you and Bruce Springstein are real friends and you said that. You've gotten even closer as you've gotten older, what does your friendship mean to you? Well, it means a lot, you know, I mean, he's he, he's obviously the pinnacle of success as a songwriter and a performer and a singer and all that kind of stuff and as a leader of men, but he's also wise and thoughtful and always open to new ideas and he's also open to listening to MH, you know, and here's a guy who's 13 12 13 years older than me.

So he's experienced a lot more along that same path, so there's not a lot of people who've experienced things at this level that I can talk to or that he can talk to to be honest, so, you know, yeah, we talk. about it publicly now because a lot of people have seen those weird Big Foot photos of the two of us at traffic lights, what the hell exactly, but we take these trips and it means a lot to me because there's no radio, there's no phones, it's just the two of us. We and we go 100 miles and we talk about things, but when I was going through this, he and Souai were big shoulders to lean on, big shoulders to lean on, you know, you'll get through these kinds of conversations, you know, I'm praying. for your healing just as a man but also as a fan, thank you and I can't wait to hear the new album, amen.