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Born to succeed: Bon Jovi a profile in determination

Published in the Asbury Park Press 9/29/02
By KELLY-JANE COTTER
Music Writer

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JON BON JOVI
'It's His Life'
8 p.m. Tuesday
A&E's 'Biography'

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An enthusiastic episode of A&E's "Biography" leads us to believe that Jon Bon Jovi easily could've become president or a cardiac surgeon had the whim struck him.

Talent, good looks and luck weren't the most important keys to his career, though each played its part. Rather, ambition and sheer determination propelled Sayreville's favorite son to rock stardom. And that same iron-clad will is what has kept Bon Jovi at the top of his game.

That's A&E's perspective -- and I couldn't agree more.

"Jon Bon Jovi: It's His Life," airs at 8 p.m. Tuesday on A&E's "Biography." The program follows 40-year-old Bon Jovi from childhood to teen idol to his current status as a rock star, actor, philanthropist and family man.

Jon Bon Jovi, who lives in Middletown, is nothing if not tenacious. His work ethic makes our Puritan forebears look like slackers. His belief in the American dream rivals that of Jimmy Stewart's most wholesome characters.

How did he get this way? M-O-M.

"I can't wait 'til you arrive," Carol Bongiovi would whisper to her first-born child, when he was still in utero. "I have so many wonderful things we're going to do. You're gonna have a mom that's gonna be behind you 210 percent. And you're gonna be the biggest star that ever lived."

Carol Bongiovi doted on Jon, as did his father, John Bongiovi. The family's younger children, Anthony and Matthew, adored their big brother.

How could you not succeed, with all that support?

Granted, a loving environment like that could have backfired. Jon Bon Jovi could've been a spoiled brat and could've become a selfish celebrity. A&E's "Biography" series generally presents valentines to its subjects -- only loyal friends and admirers are quoted, careers are not scrutinized, dirt is not dug.

The worst we discover about Bon Jovi in this program is that he worked himself and his bandmates to the point of exhaustion in the late '80s, and that his record company had him on steroids to keep laryngitis at bay.

"He was a money machine," Carol Bongiovi said, indignant at the memory. No doubt, the music business is filled with uncaring, greedy parasites. If Jon was ready to sacrifice himself, no executive would stand in his way.

But Jon wised up.

He had an epiphany after his Las Vegas elopement, when he married his high school sweetheart, Dorothea Hurley. They wed while the band was on its grueling, sold-out tour to promote the "New Jersey" album.

"We had the No.1 album and the No.1 single in the country," Bon Jovi recalled. "I was looking for a higher high than I could find, and I said, 'Let's go to Vegas NOW.' "

This pleased Dorothea but worried the industry.

"Immediately, everyone started pointing the finger - "This is bad," Bon Jovi said. "The girls in America are gonna be upset, your parents are going to be upset, this isn't about you." It is about me!"

In a flash, Jon learned about the pitfalls of fame.

"When it's such a part of your personal life that people are telling you you should not be married," he said, "you start to think, 'Wait a minute. . .' "

The program includes testimony from Al Gore, Elton John, Calista Flockhart, and Jon's bandmates -- Richie Sambora, David Bryan and Tico Torres. All attest to Jon's down-to-earth personality and his willingness to work hard for what he wants. (end graph)Like his friend Bruce Springsteen, Jon Bon Jovi has managed to have it both ways -- he is ultra-famous and successful, but considered a regular guy with a good heart.

Maybe it's New Jersey itself that makes such a life possible. Both Bon Jovi and Springsteen love their home state -- as Jon told A&E, "I spent the first 20 years of my life trying to get out of Jersey and the next 20 trying to get back to it."

Mission accomplished, Jon. New Jersey and you are perfect together.

from the Asbury Park Press

Published on September 29, 2002
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Posted by Laura B. on BWJBJ.