Jon Bon Jovi's interview on CNBC - Part 1 (3 parts)

each of us give him a sh in everything John Bon

jovi

is one of the most successful artists in the world with his band Bon

jovi

they have sold more than 130 million albums worldwide they have performed in more than 50 countries to more than 34 million fans I went to meet this rock icon on the streets of Philadelphia, his home away from home. Do you know why I'm doing this

interview

so that someone who sees it can go and do it themselves? I don't do it for the praise I don't like. the praise I don't want to be

part

of the praise that this famous New Jersey native is using his celebrity to shine a light on poverty and homelessness.

I met him at a home project center, one of the charities his foundation supports. Understand the man behind Rockstar's image What would you like as a child John? Were you quite shy? It was not. I wanted to be a rock and roll man's lead singer. From what age? But wow, as soon as I could make a decision. I think when I was 14 or 15, I honestly never had any other choice and when you graduate I'm going to be an astronaut, a police officer or a baseball player, the fourth is always a rock and roll star, the first.

Three didn't work for me, so it was me. I was always attracted to music. I love the idea of ​​singing and playing and writing and creating and, uh, being an artist. What about your education? Because you know when you read about it it seems like you always do. He said it was very normal, it's true, I think it was very quiet, middle class, suburban upbringing, two parents, home, they worked in the factory, you join the service, it really was a working class upbringing, we had visions of greatness that luckily worked out, but what kept Your humility was staying where you belonged and being

part

of that culture.

I think your mother Carol gave you a guitar when you were seven, but you weren't quite ready, I wasn't ready for it, maybe it was the rebellious side, but me. I threw it down the basement stairs just to hear it bang and sway and I broke a tuning peg and I didn't go down to the basement to look for it for six years after that, but luckily I did and I had a screwdriver to tune that G string and tune it all up. around that and you know, one by one, you started not knocking them down and figuring them out and you were playing music when you were in school.

Do you think you focused more on that than on your school? Yes, I mean any child who has dreams should dream them big and that is why there was no shortage of big dreams in this child's head. um, I wasn't a great student in retrospect. I wish I had paid more attention in school instead of having to learn everything I know now. experience and, you know, falling is a little harder, but also hard work and dedication to something, you can overcome any challenge, going back to the moment when you had the foresight to take what you had written.

Runway, uh, to the local radio station, what made you do that frustration, um, and a little wit, um, the same Cass tape that was on the desks of every record company in town, and I thought well , who should I go to ask if this is good? or not because I believed in it and luckily for me this big radio station in New York City was so new that it didn't even have a receptionist yet so I would knock on the door of the DJ booth while he was on the air and get a Silence until he finished speaking led to a conversation that led to an opportunity that led me to be here 30 years later Bon Joi formed in 1983 in Seille, New Jersey, and in just three short years achieved worldwide success with their third album Slippery When Wet.

John, your third album Slippery When Wet was a huge commercial success, you sold over 28 million albums worldwide and when it felt right, we're doing it now, yeah right, that was our Thriller, you know, that was the album that made a career, remains one. one of the best-selling albums of all time and all that kind of slippery nonsense was a huge phenomenon because of the self-imposed pressure of a follow-up to prove that it wasn't a fluke, we went into the studio and recorded New Jersey, which yeah, gave us five more top 10 singles and, oh my God, I don't even know how many more million albums were sold, but two 240-show tours in a row and these two albums in a row and then I went in to do the Young Gun soundtrack and that one. again it was number one and I started winning movie awards and more, you know, accolades, it almost took me over the edge because now you started to understand the term music business, it was a business for music and suddenly you went from being the singer fun loving child in Rock Band to the boss of a corporation to the boss David BR on the keys of the DRS on the guitar you talk about the business and you took over as CEO as the quarterback of the band where did you get that business from?

Well, you know, people give me all these wonderful praises for the band's achievements and the band's success, but the truth is, if you're a shoemaker or a baker, if you don't learn your trade after 30 years, you really are a silly, so I really want to say that I learned it through experience and I have had enough experiences over the years to be a willing participant in the outcome and in 1990 I eliminated the manager position and paid a commission to those who I felt like I could manage my own life better than they could for me, so I created a management company and people thought it was a very brave move, to the point that you know my death was inevitable, um, but it was.

It didn't seem inevitable to me, it seemed like the obvious next step and it worked for us. Did you feel that pressure? Even though you say people were watching, they were watching, saying what is he doing, did that affect you? No, it only affected me positively. and to the extent that I was going to prove them wrong again, I had to convince the band, you know, that was more telling, you know, sit the band down and say, look, I've always had a vision and If everyone would trust me instincts um in one approach um we will all benefit and uh they did it, they weren't even reluctant, it was still quite unusual, joh knew for an artist to take on that responsibility from the business side, a risky step for you, oh yeah, a risky step , oh yeah, I wouldn't have it any other way, you know, I didn't care about failure, at least I knew I had made that decision, so fear wasn't a motivating factor being the CEO, what does that role entail on a day-to-day basis? day? you know, with the team it's really, I like to call it Henry Ford's management theory, it's my ideas, my visions, but then everyone has a department in the field that has to contribute to the whole, whether it's the songs, it all starts with me.

If there's a collaborative effort and Richie co-writes the song, it's certainly 5050 to be in the room writing the song, but then I'll determine which songs will be on the records or not, you have to be involved in everything from the marketing to the release dates to the visuals. the tours the hiring of the different teams fortunately for me I have been with a record company for 30 years, so there is no problem that I go to this company or that I have always been with a company I have seen them change they have changed people they have changed locations They have changed names, I'm the only one that's still there, me and the Cucarachas, but I like having the same band, I like having the same family.

It's like having the same record company, it works for me. Can I remind you of when you first saw your wife Dorothy? I think she was in your history class at school, yes, 1980, a long, long, long, long time ago, but how were you? so low at that young age, you're stupid, you're a dreamer, you know, you're dreaming, you know, you're happy, you know the whole happy story.