“I’ve come through the surgery.
I’ve come through Richie leaving the band.
I’ve come through all these other obstacles… How do you write that next chapter?”
Jon Bon Jovi.Mark Seliger
Jon Bon Joviis standing at a precipice.
“I’m the oldest-ever contestant.”
It’s been a long and winding road to get to this moment.
Bon Jovi performing live.Courtesy of Bon Jovi
Mark Seliger
But their success didn’t come without hardship.
I started to feel joy again.
There was a new appreciation for life.
Bon Jovi.Mark Seliger
And I was having this new appreciation for my body.
And it led to all these songs.
The result isForever, a 12-track album relating the recent triumphs and tribulations of Bon Jovi’s legendary life.
“We went in and recorded it in seven weeks,” he recalls.
“Nothing was on delay.
It just flowed.”
Some songs came easier than others.
I realize now, at this vantage point, who the ‘I’ll show you’ was.
The ‘you’ was the guy in the mirror.
And now I realize that I could be nicer to the guy in the mirror."
Adding a sprinkle of Bon Jovi’s signature talkbox just felt right.
“This song just called for it that guitar riff we wrote the song to called for it.
“It’s saying, ‘Fill me up.’
“‘What do you sing when your song has been sung?
‘“he asks, quoting its lyrics.
“And, as you’re writing your 18th album, the song has ‘been sung.'”
Bon Jovi continues, “‘Who do you fight when the war has been won?
‘Because I’ve come through the surgery.
I’ve come through Richie leaving the band.
I’ve come through all these other obstacles.
‘What do you write when your book is done?’
How do you write that next chapter?
“We’re there for the pure love of each other and the desire to make music.
There could have been 10 excuses.
But nobody’s doing anything other than waiting once a month to come to New Jersey.”
he says, referring to the hurdles he’s faced with his health.
“That takes a lot, but I have no worry that I’m going to nail it.
So I’m getting there.
For now, performing alongside his fistful of friends is legendary enough.
I mean, just singing ‘Legendary’ live with the guys, we just all smile.”
Oh well,'” he adds, pretending to be glum before cracking one of those smiles.
“It’s a hit and you’re like, ‘Damn, this feels good.'”
Foreveris out June 7.
