Songs of glory
Bon Jovi is inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
IT’S been a long time coming, but Bon Jovi will finally be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 2018. For founder, frontman and namesake Jon Bon Jovi, the news came with many emotions.
“It’s good news for everybody,” he tells Variety. “For the band, for the people who support us, for our families. A lot of people are very happy and proud. Some of us are even relieved!”
The induction announcement – which will see the group inducted along with the Moody Blues, the Cars, Dire Straits, Nina Simone and gospel singer-guitarist Sister Rosetta Tharpe – is a validation for the New Jersey rockers, who missed out in a previous run in 2011.
Bon Jovi credited the band’s supportive fan base, who came out strong with a dominating public fan vote of 1,162,146 votes, 214,000 ahead of The Moody Blues.
“The last time we were nominated there wasn’t a fan vote. There were a lot of people wondering why we didn’t get in that year. It was very closed and questions were never answered,” he says.
“But after that and as a result, they have this fan vote. The Hall has recognised that it’s the people’s Hall, and we are really grateful to have the support that we didn’t have the benefit of last time.”
The last time Bon Jovi stepped foot in the hall was when the group performed as part of the opening ceremonies in 1995, standing alongside “the company of legends.”
“We were in the company of all the legends,” he recalls. “Chuck Berry was there, Jerry Lee Lewis and Johnny Cash. We played with (Animals singer) Eric Burdon, who is obviously one of my huge influences,” he says.
“That night is still very much alive in my memory. That is the only time I was ever there.”
And in answer to the question that seems to be asked about at least one inductee every year, Bon Jovi says everyone will be invited to the ceremony – including former bassist Alec John Such and estranged guitarist Richie Sambora.
“Richie and Alec are both going to be a part in all of the festivities,” he says. “Al came to see the band Bon Jovi, comprising (from left) Phil X, Tico Torres, Bon Jovi, David Bryan and Hugh McDonald, will be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on April 14. — Handout at (MetLife) Stadium, and it has been five years since we’ve seen Richie. Time flies! We are welcoming them both, and inviting them to come on(stage). It’s just a joyous celebration. Come and participate – both of them!”
Which songs will make the cut?
As for the set list? That’s a bit trickier, because the group has had four Billboard Hot 100 No.1 hits – and Jon had one with his 1990 solo single Blaze Of Glory – and a typical Hall of Fame set is three songs.
“I am toying around with some ideas – you want to represent a whole catalogue of music and not just be on one or two albums,” he says. “We could just do (the late 1980s hits) You Give Love A Bad Name, Livin’ On A Prayer and Wanted Dead Or Alive, but there is a lot of other music. Bad Medicine, I’ll Be There For You, and how do you not play Always, Bed Of Roses, Keep The Faith – it goes on and on. Startwith Runaway? I don’t know!”
As for who might induct the band, Bon Jovi would only say that the Hall has its own rules.
The induction is just one of many milestones in Bon Jovi’s personal journey. He was inducted along with Sambora into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, and the group was inducted into the UK Hall of Fame in 2006. But there are many more in the band’s history.
“The first that comes to mind is playing Times Square after 9/11, and doing the telethon and launching the NFL season to half a million people in Times Square to say ‘We’re here and we’re back as a country, and not afraid to be out in public’,” he says.
Bon Jovi is already in rehearsals gearing up for a 2018 tour, and two new songs are ready to be released as part of a re-release of 2016’s No.1 album, This House Is Not For Sale. One song, Walls, represents what is going on in the United States.
“In light of this crazy world in which we live, it has taken me a year to process some of it and be able to write it into lyrics,” he says.
He says the songs represent the latest evolution of the band’s sound, which he considers the key to its longevity. “The last thing you want to do is chase something that is popular just to chase it,” he says. “The prerequisites for being in the hall is that your music had to have made an impression on the culture and stood the test of time.
“If you are chasing something instead of becoming something who you are naturally, it’s hard for me to think that we would be here talking today.”
As for his fellow inductees, Bon Jovi has one specific hope for the evening.
“I really do hope Dire Straits gets back together for it. I think it will be awesome. Everybody that was on that list is great and we could have easily come up with five more that you would have thought were automatics and everybody on it was deserved,” he says.
“It’s not easy being on the other side of this, but just to say to all the other nominees: you’re great.” – Reuters RM (pic), leader and rapper of the K-pop group BTS, has collaborated with the American pop punk band Fall Out Boy for a remix of the latter’s song Champion.
“SURPRISE! New RM Champion remix out everywhere Friday at midnight,” Fall Out Boy wrote on its Twitter account on Thursday (Dec 14), with the hashtag “#RMxFallOutBoy.”
Formed in 2001, the Grammynominated band has released seven studio albums and won the Favorite Alternative Band Award at the American Music Awards in 2015.
Big Hit Entertainment, BTS’ management agency, also announced that RM, whose real name is Kim Nam-joon, will be featured in the remix of Champion. The song was originally released as the second single from the Fall Out Boy album Mania in June.
BTS has previously worked with US EDM duo The Chainsmokers on Best Of Me, which is included on the group’s Love Yourself: Her album, and American DJ Steve Aoki, along with rapper Desiigner, on Mic Drop, which peaked at No.28 on the Billboard Hot 100.
The seven-member K-pop act made the list of the top 10 musicians in the United States for 2017 by Billboard after achieving a major breakthrough in the United States this year. – The Korea Herald/Asia News Network