Our Backstage with Bon Jovi Exclusive!

February 11, 2003
ET's CHRIS BOOKER got the jump on BON JOVI Monday night. He caught up with the sexy rockers in their homestate of New Jersey where they kicked off the American leg of their worldwide Bounce tour. Don't miss tonight's ET for the head-banging details!

Back in December, MARY HART talked with gorgeous JON and his partner in music mania, RICHIE SAMBORA, as they rehearsed for the upcoming tour in Las Vegas.

Mary reminisced with the guys about their 20-year ride in the music business, and Richie recalled the first time he met Jon back in 1983: "I went to a club to see Jon play. ... I saw him and said, 'This kid is a star, and I want to be in this band!' We've been through so much together ... we're survival veterans."

And how have the still-hip rock stars stayed on top for so long? Jon told Mary the guys "stay true and do what we do." "Everything comes in cycles. We were really big when the first boy band run happened with NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK. They said, 'This is going to be the future,' then that went away. Then it came around again with *N SYNC and THE BACKSTREET BOYS. Had we jumped on the bandwagon in 1983, we would have looked like BOY GEORGE and CYNDI LAUPER. What we realized very early on is to stay true and do what you do."

Twenty years later, the biggest differences for both Jon and Richie are the additions of wives and families, who are their biggest priorities. According to Jon, "All of our wives understand that after all these years, this is what we do for a living. It's the life of a circus performer!"

Richie told Mary that he and TV temptress HEATHER LOCKLEAR still work at communicating when separated: "I talk to her once a day. We slide each other emails to keep it fresh!"

The worldwide Bounce tour stops next on February 13th at the Phillips Arena in Atlanta, GA.


Homepage pic courtesy Getty/Brian Bahr