Bon Jovi talks about heading to the Hall
Recognition by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame a long time coming for Bon Jovi
Veteran New Jersey rockers Bon Jovi finally made the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and were inducted in Cleveland on April 14.
Keyboardist David Bryan and drummer Tico Torres say it’s a real honour, if a late one, given the group — who formed in 1983 and boast album sales of 130 million worldwide — were eligible almost a decade ago.
“Yeah, it’s nine years a little late, but we’re in the club and it’s a wonderful club to be in,” said Bryan, 56, in a teleconference interview.
“From Elvis to the Beatles and the Stones, and you feel like it’s definitely a club to be in. It’s a great honour.”
The band won the 2017 fan ballot with 1.1 million votes and their induction was part of the 2018 ceremony in Cleveland. It will air May 5 on HBO. Shock jock Howard Stern did the honours.
“Howard Stern was there actually for us in 1984 when Runaway came out,” explained Bryan. “He was with WNBC, and he was playing in New Jersey. He had his radio show at the Club Bene, which we had played through our various times in our lives. He was the first one out there promoting us and playing it and really loved it. He’s been a part of our career since Day 1, believe it or not.”
Current Bon Jovi members, led by frontman Jon Bon Jovi, reunited with past members — guitarist Richie Sambora and bassist Alec John Such, who left the group in 2013 and 1994, respectively. They performed hits You Give Love a Bad Name and It’s My Life, and each member took turns speaking to the crowd, sharing old stories about the band before going in for a group hug.
Meanwhile, Bon Jovi has also re-released the 2016 album This House is Not for Sale with two new songs, When We Were Us and Walls, as they play the second leg of that record’s tour this year.
“This time we’re doing 30 North American shows and then we’ll see after that,” said Bryan.
“It’s good. We’re not doing those 100 shows, go around the world for 10 months and 30 countries anymore. We’re just going to break it all up.”
After all this time, the group has its pre-show backstage rituals and it’s not what you might expect from a bunch of hard rockers.
“We all come together and we have a nice chicken soup together,” said Bryan. “We sit around and have soup.”
Added Torres: “That’s a prerequisite. We got to have chicken soup in the dressing room in every show. Not M&Ms, chicken soup. It keeps the colds away.”
“Exactly, it’s good for the soul,” said Bryan.
“And then, once everybody’s dressed, we put our hands all in right before we get on stage and we all look at each other and say, ‘Let’s get out there and have some fun and kick some ass,’ and then we go out there and do it.”
Even when maybe they’re not feeling great.
“As far as getting us up, you know when you’re tired, it’s the fans,” said Torres.
“As soon as the lights go down, they paid really good money to come see a show and you want to give them the greatest show they’ve ever seen.
“Forget your troubles for two or three hours and then walk away and go home and say you enjoyed yourself.”
Added Bryan: “We walk onto that stage and it’s respect. You get out there and you give it everything that you have, no matter what’s going on in your life. We’ve always been able to give it everything you’ve got, through health issues, through personal issues, through mental issues, whatever it is. It doesn’t matter.”