Jovitalk - Bon Jovi Fan Community - Daily Express article 09-07-02

Rachel e-mailed this to me, so thanks Rachel!

Becky

This is the transcript of an interview which was in the Daily Express
magazine on 7th September. Headed "Living on a Prayer" with a pic of
Jon in tan leather jacket captioned "Jon Bon Jovi, rock legend and
actor, plus small pic of the band (including AJS) from the 80's -
captioned "A barber's nightmare - Bon Jovi in the Eighties"

"Twenty years on and he's still rocking: singer and actor Jon Bon
Jovi just can't believe his luck. by Catherine Wilson. New York 2002.
While the city stifles in the summer humidity, I am sitting in an
air-conditioned suite on the 24th floor of an achingly hip mid-town
hotel, waiting for a rock legend. New Jersey 1983. A 21-year-old
singer called John Bongiovi (dad's a hairdresser, Mom's a bunny girl)
forms a band with musician mates Richie Sambora, Alec John Such, Tico
Torres and David Bryan. Three years later the anthemic Livin' On A
Prayer seals Bon Jovi's destiny as one of the world's biggest every
music acts. They may not be fashionable, but hey, they have album
sales touching 100 million; multi-million dollar fortunes and one of
them is married to Heather Locklear, so who cares what the critics
say? The rumble of Manhattan traffic is barely audible through the
double-glazed leather-lined walls of this seriously chic room where
the band's minions rush around muttering discreetly into
walkie-talkies. It's certainly not the kind of hotel where drugged-up
rock stars chuck television sets out of windows, so it's the perfect
setting in which to meet the most well-behaved monsters of rock:
ladies and gentlemen, make some noise - though not too much, you might
wake their babies - for Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora. Richie, the
aforementioned Mr. Locklear, bounds in first, all broad grins and
how-yer-doings, and Mr. BJ himself slouches warily after him. I have
heard that Jon doesn't like doing interviews, and after 20 years of
questions about his hair, who can blame him? Ah yes, the Bon Jovi
hair. Acres of newsprint have been devoted to the back-combed barnets
that the band sported in the Eighties - when Jon cut his trademark
locks in 1991, it made headlines on CNN. The poodle perms have been
replaced with streaky, Dido-style cuts, and although both are now over
40, their tight T-shirts hint at impresssive physiques. I ask Jon how
it feels knowing that 93 millions people own a record with his name on
it. "It's pretty amazing." he drawls "Looking at my Led Zeppelin
posters, I never would've believed in my wildest dreams that we'd be
standing in front of our own airplane, having achieved everything we
have." Over to Richie: "Man, it's just unreal! It's still a blast.
I'm thrilled to death!" Where Jon is brooding and intense, and in
another era would probably be clad all in black and quoting Kerouac,
Richie is just a happy-go-lucky guy who can't believe his goddam luck.
When I ask how it feels being married to one of the world's sexiest
women ("It's pretty good! Hahaha! We have a great time!") I really
think he may explode with the unbelievable thrill of being Richie
Sambora. This month sees the release of the band's eighth studio
album. Bounce sticks to the winning Bon Jovi formula of big guitars,
singalong choruses and uplifting lyrics which sent their last
offering, 2000's Crush straight to number one in the British charts.
As Jon readily admits, they've been huge for 20 years because they've
stuck to what they're good at. "We didn't put rappers or scratchers on
our records because that was popular at the time." The album's title
alludes to the band's ability to "bounce back" but is also a reference
to the resilience of New York after September 11. Jon and Richie were
in the middle of writing the album when the attack took place and they
suffered the tragic effects directly: Jon's publicist lost her husband
and Dave Bryan's sister narrowly escaped the disaster. "The world
experienced 9/11: it wasn't just something that happened on TV." says
Jon: "So instead of simple, three-minute ditties about relationships,
we wanted to write something a little more poignant. A year later
everybody has dusted themselves off and got on with their lives, but
you have to remember that living your life every day is real
important." With a new album to promote, the band will soon be back on
the road. In a world of manufactured, lip-synched pop, Bon Jovi still
rock unashamedly: performing live in front of screaming fans is their
spiritual home. One of the first stops on their forthcoming tour will
be Britain. "I love London." smiles Jon, a self-confessed Antiques
Roadshow fan who lived on Wandsworth Common in 1996 while working on
solo projects. Richie is equally enthusiastic "Man, London's my
favourite city in the world. When I first started to travel it was a
place I could go and actually talk to other people." He adds sagely
"Because other countries, y'know, can't speak English." So what do the
Anglophile duo think of contemporary British music? "Robbie Williams
is a really talented guy." Richie says "I was really surprised he
didn't do well in the States." Jon agrees: "I like Robbie,
Oasis..um....." he runs out of inspiration. The PR tucked away in the
corner suggests Coldplay. "Was that Yellow?" he asks "That was a
little too soft for me, that and Travis and Radiohead. Those lyrics
aren't really relatable to the American public." The table between us
is littered with white-tip Marlboro Lights and the boys are sipping
mineral water rather than straight-up Jack Daniels. They are no saints
- there were tales of groupies, drugs and debauchery in the early days
- but the band has never indulged in the notorious excesses of Motley
Crue or bat-biter Ozzy Osbourne. The nearest Jon gets to rock'n'roll
destruction during our chat is dead-heading the wilting orchids in a
vase next to his chair. The singer has been happily married to
childhood sweetheart Dorothea Hurley for 13 years and the couple have
three children: nine-year-old Stephanie, Seven-year-old Jesse James (a
legacy of Jon's fetish for all things Western) and baby Jacob, born
earlier this year. I ask how he juggles rock legend duties with being
a dad. "It's something you have to work at." he shrugs "Fortunately I
don't have a relationship where I'm stuck changing diapers." We move
on to Jon's acting career. Rock stars turned credible thespians are a
rare breed, but Jon has impressed the critics with roles in big
Hollywood movies including Moonlight and Valentino and submarine drama
U-571. Recently he played the hunky, blue-collar love interest in
nine episodes of Ally McBeal. He bemoans the lack of decent roles for
a man of his age in Hollywood. "I wish there was a script out there
like Kramer vs Kramer, but I haven't read anuthing that has knocked me
out. So I've written two different scripts. One's a buddy story in
which I play a movie-star singer and the other's this dark, sexual
movie." I ask who's his dream leading lady for this steamy-sounding
tale. "Julianne Moore or Ashley Judd, that kind of thirtysomething."
He cranks up the blue-eyed Bon Jovi charm "You'd be perfect...." By
now Jon has relaxed, propping his cowboy boots up on the table as he
lights another cigarette. I try a more personal topic: namely his
famously pert butt. Has he ever split a pair of skin-tight trousers
on stage? "I certainly have." he smiles "In '84 in Japan my pants had
dry-rotted and mid-song - riiiip - I suddenly felt this breeze. And
on our last tour I had these tie-up pants and the string broke in the
first song. I just ran backstage and went to a roadie "Give me your
damn shoelace!" Time's nearly up, but I can't leave the man who sang
about Tommy being down on his luck and Gina working the diner all day
without asking him, "Are you still living on a prayer?" "Well, of
course I am" smiles the private jet-owning, multi-million-earning,
lush-haired megastar. "You'd be real silly to think you're not."

Bon Jovi play Shepherds Bush Empire on Sept 18. Bounce is out on
Sept
23 on Island Records.