Bon Jovi had a very busy year, as they celebrated the 40th anniversary of the release of their self-titled debut album. To mark the occasion, the band debuted an archival site, dropped a new album, told their secrets in a docuseries and more.
Among the highlights:
– To kick off their 40th anniversary celebration, Bon Jovi released a deluxe version of their self-titled debut, featuring nine never-before-heard bonus tracks. They also debuted Backstage with Bon Jovi, an online archive of the band’s history.
– Jon Bon Jovi was celebrated as the Recording Academy’s MusiCares Person of the Year, with Bruce Springsteen, Melissa Etheridge and Sammy Hagar among the many performers on hand to honor him. Bon Jovi performed as well, marking one of Jon’s first performances since having reconstructive surgery on his vocal cords following the band’s 2022 tour. Although there were rumors original Bon Jovi guitarist Richie Sambora was going to attend, he was a no-show.
– The band was the subject of a four-part Hulu docuseries, Thank You, Goodnight: The Bon Jovi Story, which detailed the history of the band and also had Jon opening up about his vocal cord surgery. The docuseries also featured an interview with Sambora, although he indicated he wasn’t totally happy with it, at one point telling People, “It’s his project and it’s his perspective.” Prior to the comments, Jon said he and Richie watched the series together, insisting there was “no animosity” between them. Despite his feelings on the doc, Richie said in interviews that he’d be open to a Bon Jovi reunion.
– Ahead of the doc, Jon sat down for an interview with Michael Strahan, during which he suggested he was “not a saint” in his 35-year marriage to wife Dorothea Hurley, sharing, “I’m not saying that, that there weren’t a hundred girls in my life.” He later said he meant to say hundreds of girls had thrown themselves at him, calling his original comments an “arrogant cliché.”
– Bon Jovi released the new album Forever in June, which was their first album since 2020 and the first since Jon’s vocal cord surgery. The album debuted at #5 on the Billboard 200 album chart, and the band became one of only five bands to have a top-10 album in each of the last five decades.
– Jon gained a daughter-in-law when his son Jake married Stranger Things actress Millie Bobby Brown.
– Jon opened a bar in Nashville, JBJ’s Nashville, with the band turning up for a surprise performance on opening night.
– In September, Jon helped talk a distraught woman off the ledge of a Nashville bridge. He had been filming a music video with the band The War and Treaty, and he and another person approached the woman and helped persuade her to come off the ledge.
– Sayreville High School renamed its performing arts center after Jon. It’s now known as the Jon Bon Jovi Performing Arts Center and Music Suite.
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