Bon Jovi back at the Ricoh
ROCK legends Bon Jovi are set to return to Coventry - some 11 years after last rocking the Ricoh Arena.
Jon Bon Jovi and co will make their long awaited return in June, as part of a world tour which will see them headline major stadiums across the globe.
The Coventry gig, which is set to take place on June 23, 2019, is one of three UK shows which have been announced, and will conclude the UK leg of the trip.
It will be the third visit to the Ricoh Arena for Bon Jovi, who have by now gained a reputation for wowing crowds in the city.
Speaking to the Mirror, Jon Bon Jovi said: “I can’t wait to go back to Coventry.
“We’ve had some great nights at the Ricoh. It’s going to be special.”
Bon Jovi first performed at the Ricoh in June 2006, in what was one of the first big stadium shows at the newly built arena, which has a concert capacity of 40,000.
Indeed, after Bryan Adams played an indoor concert at the Ricoh, Bon Jovi were the very first band to perform an outdoor concert there.
And the gig, which featured support from Canadian rock group Nickelback, was so successful that Bon Jovi would return a little over two years later.
Once again, they would sell out, with all 31,000 tickets sold in advance of the night.
Bon Jovi will play Liverpool’s Anfield Stadium on June 19, London’s Wembley Stadium on June 21 and Coventry Ricoh Arena on June 23 next year.
Jon Bon Jovi, now 56, says the band are lucky to be still going at all given the fall-out which ensued after he got hitched during a one day break on 1989’s New Jersey tour.
Next year will see Jon and his wife Dorothea mark their big pearl anniversary. He says he is more in love now than he was on their wedding day at Las Vegas’ Graceland Wedding Chapel.
“I feel ten times better today than when we did it back then,” Jon says. “Looking back on it, the marriage was the greatest deal I ever made.”
But the relationship got off to a particularly rocky start. Dorothea became public enemy number one when her and Jon, then aged 27 and at the helm of the world’s biggest band, secretly eloped to tie the knot.
It sparked mass hysteria among his female fans who were left distraught that the big-haired rocker was finally taken.
“It was like Harry Styles or Justin Timberlake getting married. I was that to the young girls in my time,” Jon says.
“When I came back from Vegas my manager was furious. He was like ‘America’s boy is now married… that’s not a good career move.’ The record company was also despondent.”
Yet Dorothea proved to be a stabilising influence during one of the toughest times of his career when the band were left burnt out in the wake of the Slippery when Wet tour.
Jon bitterly struggled with depression and during his lowest moment briefly thought about ending it all and driving his car off the road.
“The number of shows was insane,” he says. “The bad thing was that our young team of agents and lawyers were so eager to do their job, they never thought about the human condition of the young lads who needed a break.
“We did 240 shows, went home and immediately started writing and recording New Jersey. We then went back on the road with another 240 shows. It was just too much.”
Jon freely admits the scars took a long time to heal.