The nicest article on Jon Bon Jovi the NYTimes has ever printed
 

It would be too much to hope that hair wasn't mentioned.
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A Rock Star for New Jersey in the Political Arena, Too

By JEREMY W. PETERS
Published: December 26, 2007

He calls her “Mrs. C.” And she calls on him to add a little celebrity gloss to her presidential campaign.

Jon Bon Jovi and Hillary Rodham Clinton have been friends for more than a decade, uniting for state dinners at the White House and campaign fund-raisers in the Hamptons.

If it seems strange that a rocker who sings paeans of working-class New Jersey is so friendly with a senator and former first lady who chose a Celine Dion song for the theme of her presidential campaign, consider a few items on Mr. Bon Jovi’s social calendar in the last few months.

There were dinners in East Hampton with Mrs. Clinton and another Democratic presidential candidate, John Edwards. Senator Barack Obama, her fiercest rival for the nomination, asked Mr. Bon Jovi to hear him speak in Midtown Manhattan. And Al Gore caught up with him in London for a photo op.

Mr. Bon Jovi, 45, whose tousled golden mane and porcelain-white smile have twice helped him earn People magazine’s award for sexiest rock star, can lay claim to an unofficial new title these days: the Garden State’s elder statesman.

In New Jersey, it is practically a requirement for any high-ranking politician to attend at least one of his shows. And despite his left-leaning political allegiances, Democrats and Republicans alike seek him out as if he were New Jersey’s very own Bono.

When former Gov. Christine Todd Whitman was deciding whether to build a sports arena in Camden, she consulted Mr. Bon Jovi — part owner of the Arena Football League team the Philadelphia Soul — and took his advice to pass it up. When Newark needed a marquee name to christen the Prudential Center, one of its most important new developments in decades, it turned to him.

“He basically says, ‘Hey, here’s where I’m from, like it or not,’ ” said Ms. Whitman, a Republican who later became administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency under President Bush. “And that’s refreshing for the state of New Jersey because we don’t have a lot of that.”

Former New Jersey governors, senators and state legislators who have worked or played with him over the years say it is a combination of his fealty to New Jersey and his blue-collar authenticity that draws politicians to him. And as someone who sings about his “plastic dashboard Jesus” and performs at concerts to fight global warming, his appeal is broad.

Unlike many other celebrities, he keeps his thoughts about the war in Iraq and President Bush largely to himself. While fellow New Jerseyan Bruce Springsteen is not shy about taking Mr. Bush to task and speaks out against the war on his new album, Mr. Bon Jovi is more comfortable talking about poverty and affordable housing. And his attention to those causes has earned him an audience with some of the country’s biggest political names.

“My impression of Jon Bon Jovi is every time he’s been asked to help his state, he’s done it,” said former Gov. Thomas H. Kean Sr., a Republican. “We have an enormous amount of entertainers in New Jersey, and I can’t say that about a lot of them.”

Mr. Bon Jovi’s high visibility recently touched off speculation in gossip columns that he had designs on running for office, possibly governor, because he is keeping his estate in Middletown even though he and his family spend most of their time in Manhattan now.

But Mr. Bon Jovi dismissed the rumors. Life as a rock star, he said, suited him quite well. In a recent telephone interview from London, he recounted a conversation with former President Bill Clinton about two years ago.

The two were on a flight to Maryland for a day of horse racing at Pimlico with some friends when someone asked them to compare occupations. “He said ‘Mr. President, which is better, your job or Jon’s?’ I said, ‘I know the answer to that. Mine, because I get to keep the airplane and the house.’ ”

John Francis Bongiovi Jr. was born into a working-class Italian-American family in north central New Jersey. His father is a marine turned hairdresser, and his mother, a onetime Playboy bunny.

Superstardom came to him and his band in the 1980s with hits like “Livin’ on a Prayer” and “You Give Love a Bad Name” when the formula for successful rock ’n’ roll was big hair plus big sound equals big sales. He has had just as many hairstyles as Cher, whose songs he once produced, and a penchant for jeans tight enough to suit Robert Plant.

His political hobnobbing began in the 1990s, when he started popping up at events during the Clinton years: a state dinner here, a White House Correspondents’ Association dinner there. Mr. Bon Jovi even sang to Mr. Clinton, whose 1992 presidential campaign piqued his political sensibilities, at Radio City Music Hall for the former president’s 50th birthday celebration in 1996.

Yet his political side came as somewhat of a surprise to people who know him.

“Who would have thought?” said John S. Wisniewski, a Democratic assemblyman who graduated from Sayreville War Memorial High School with Mr. Bon Jovi. “I’m probably one of the few people in my graduating class who was involved in politics then and involved in politics now. And most of my friends looked at me like I had two heads.”

In the 2000 presidential campaign, Mr. Bon Jovi held a fund-raiser at his Middletown home for Mr. Gore. And at campaign rallies, Mr. Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora, a member of his band, performed acoustic renditions of their hits. He remains friends with Mr. Gore, and when the two got together this month in London, their conversation quickly turned to the 2008 election.

Mr. Bon Jovi said Mr. Gore asked whether he had endorsed anyone for president, and he replied that he had not. “My deepest hope was that he was going to put his hat back in the ring,” Mr. Bon Jovi said. “I’ve been waiting for that for eight years.”

In 2004, Mr. Bon Jovi jumped back into the role of rock star Democratic fund-raiser and held an event for John Kerry at his home. Mr. Bon Jovi also joined Mr. Kerry and his running mate, Mr. Edwards, on the road. He and Mr. Edwards found they had a common interest in poverty issues.

Mr. Bon Jovi and Mrs. Clinton have been known to delve into issues like affordable housing and his work building homes with Habitat for Humanity in Philadelphia. But their conversations are not always so heavy. “She seems to really like to hear me play,” Mr. Bon Jovi said.

Mr. Bon Jovi donated $2,300 to Mrs. Clinton this year, as much as he is allowed to under the law. “I have no issue with a woman in power,” he said. “My life has always been run by women. If it wasn’t my mother, it was my wife. And if it wasn’t my wife it was my daughter.”

While Mr. Bon Jovi rubs elbows with some national political stars, he has been involved locally. Last year, when the state was looking for a catchy advertising campaign to stimulate tourism, Mr. Bon Jovi agreed to donate the rights to his hit “Who Says You Can’t Go Home,” and the state made it the theme of a national television commercial. Now there is a bill before the Legislature to make it the state’s official song.

While his political activism might have won him the respect of many of New Jersey’s political leaders, not everyone has been so blown away. “I know he’s been terrific and up front for New Jersey causes,” said Brendan Byrne, an 83-year-old Democrat who was governor from 1974 to 1982. “But I’m more in the Frank Sinatra era.”

Senator Frank Lautenberg, who is also 83, said that at his age, it took a little effort to be a Bon Jovi fan. “In order to watch Bon Jovi, there is a particular requirement of spectators: Stand up. Don’t sit down,” said Mr. Lautenberg, who went to one of Bon Jovi’s shows at the Prudential Center. “So I had to stand for two and a half hours.”

Bon Jovi’s music has a similar effect on Gov. Jon S. Corzine, who says he prefers classical music and jazz to rock. Still recuperating from a near-fatal crash on the Garden State Parkway, Mr. Corzine led party guests at Mr. Bon Jovi’s Labor Day party onto an empty dance floor when Mr. Bon Jovi began singing “Who Says You Can’t Go Home.”

Unfortunately for New Jersey boosters, it took place at Mr. Bon Jovi’s house in East Hampton.

Thanks for posting. That was a nice article.

I have to say that if there was an 83 year old man behind me at a concert, that would be one time I'd be glad to sit down so he wouldn't have to stand up for two and a half hours. If he had a prime spot on the floor, you'd think security would have helped him out and gotten someone in the front row of the lower-levels to switch seats with him. It seems like a simple solution to me. *shrugs*

To be fair, I think he meant it more to say that the energy level is so high that noone sits, not really that he *couldn't* sit.

I took that he meant he had to stand up if he wanted to actually see the show since he called it a requirement.

Aloha !

He only started to keep his thoughts for himself when he got a crowd booing in America whenever he brought it up. Anyone remember the speech before The Distance about America not supposed to be involved in this war, and the protest song Eve Of Destruction during the Bounce Tour?

It was only after the crowd started to boo whenever he made his point during the shows that he stopped mentioning it, and just said "this is for the men Afghanistan", without saying what he felt and thought of it. If that crowd would not have booed but would have cheered, we'd still hear Jon mentioning it, because the man is all about getting an applause.

Salaam Aleikum,
Sebastiaan

thanks for the article:-D

They played eve of destruction the day after the worldwide protests against the impending war on iraq. the news was wall to wall with millions of people marching in the streets oppossed to that war. he didnt really say an awful lot except that the administration scared the shit out of him and that he was moved by the amount of people that didnt want to see others die. i couldnt really hear any boo's on that bootleg, he did also say he was reluctant to talk about politics from the stage.
when the band toured europe he could have mentioned it every night and would have been guaranteed applause if thats all he wanted.

I don't remember the specifics of what he said, but Jon did a short rant about the war at the Shepherds Bush show in 2002 (which was webcast to millions) saying something about how people 'shouldn't have to pick up guns and go into the ****ing desert to fight a war for no ****ing reason'

yep i remember that aswell, it was a good point really

Aloha !

Jon started to spread his opinion as soon as there was talk about America going to war. This all started with the ideas of the American army going to Afghanistan and Jon voiced his opinion regarding this subject very clearly when the band played at Shepherds Bush. He knew that the gig was being broadcasted by satellite, so most fans would hear what he had to say about this.

When in 2003 the talk about going to Iraq started, Jon introduced the Distance a few times by saying what he thought of going to Iraq, which obviously wasn't alike with what Bush and Blair though. And at those few times there was booing. It was not like the entire arena booed at Bon Jovi, but it was obvious that not everyone agreed with Jon.

This made Jon altering his speech to "I am not one to talk about going to Iraq or not, but this is dedicated to our folks who need to go there anyway" or something like that. However, the decision was made March 18, 2003, but Jon started playing Eve Of Destruction on February 16, and never mentioned what he had to say regarding this subject again. Would Jon have gotten a standing ovation he'd still be talking about it, but he didn't, and now he's all of a sudden the guy who "keeps his opinion to himself".

If he did that, he would have never talked about it, wouldn't have worn a shirt with some text about Kerry on it, and would've never played Eve Of Destruction anyway.

Salaam Aleikum,
Sebastiaan