Jon Bon Jovi remains optimistic

When Jon Bon Jovi agreed to let director Gotham Chopra follow him around with a camera to make a documentary about the history of his band, Bon Jovi, he didn’t anticipate that it would portray him at a low point in his career.

The band was on tour, and despite doing everything he could to be vocally ready, the Livin’ on a Prayer singer struggled with the songs and couldn’t hit the notes the way he used to.

Critics noticed and wrote about it. A review from the Pioneer Press in St. Paul, Minnesota, said, “He felt like he had forgotten how to sing.”

In a recent interview with The Associated Press, Bon Jovi said the reaction at the time was “heartbreaking.” After exhausting holistic options, he saw a doctor who told him that one of his vocal cords was atrophying.

“This was unique. It wasn’t a nodule. The strong (vocal) cord was pushing on the weak one and suddenly my disabilities were exacerbated,” Bon Jovi said. He underwent major surgery and is still recovering.

“Every day is like doing push-ups with weights and getting them both the same size and working together.”

This year has been a turning point. In February, he performed for an audience for the first time since his surgery at the MusiCares Person of the Year benefit, where he was also named Person of the Year. The band’s upcoming album, Forever, hits stores June 7, and its first single Legendary is available now.

Chopra’s four-part series, Thank You, Goodnight: The Bon Jovi Story, premieres Friday on Hulu.

In a question and answer session, Bon Jovi talked about his voice, his famous hair, among other things.

‘The work you do behind the scenes is like that of a quarterback between football games. Do you still rehearse at that intensity? How are you now?

I’m doing very well. The album was easy to make. The process has been constant. Would I like it to be like a light switch? Yes. I told the doctor, ‘I want to flip the switch and get this over with.’ But that’s not how it works. Just like an athlete coming back from a torn ACL or whatever, he takes time. The therapy remains intensive and yet I am confident that he will progressively improve.

‘In the docuseries we learn that your father was a barber. You’ve always been known for having good hair, especially in the 1980s. Does that come from your dad?

Not so much that you sit down and say, ‘I have this idea.’ In reality, I was a byproduct of what the ’80s were like. Those were my baby photos. I love laughing at them. Now, at least I can jokingly say, ‘After 40 years of career, I still have all my hair.’ That is something good. Genetics works in my favor.

‘Richie Sambora is interviewed in the series. Fans love to see it. Do you think they would perform together again?

We never had a big fight. He resigned 10 years ago. It’s not that we’re not in touch or anything, but he was choosing, as a single father, to raise his child. The door is always open if he wants to come up and sing a song. I mean, there’s a lot of them that we co-wrote together. That’s a big part of our lives. There is no animosity here.

‘How would you describe the new album?

What manifests is joy. My goal with this record was to capture joy, which over these past few years has been difficult, whether it’s the dark cloud of COVID that the world experienced or my own personal journey. With this album, I think we captured the joy.