Keeping the faith
NEW DOCUMENTARY CELEBRATES THE 40-YEAR HISTORY OF BON JOVI
Jon Bon Jovi has been pumping out rock anthems for more than 40 years, but a new documentary is forcing him to look at his life and the legacy of his namesake band through a different lens.
Thank You, Goodnight: The Bon Jovi Story is a fourpart, warts-and-all docuseries that chronicles the history of one of the most recognizable bands on the planet.
But over the course of four episodes, filmmaker Gotham Chopra captures band members wrestling with an uncertain future after Bon Jovi, 62, hit pause on performing live in 2022 to deal with an atrophied vocal cord.
With the outfit set to release its 16th studio album, Forever, in June and the new single Legendary out now, Bon Jovi, whose full name is John Francis Bongiovi Jr., isn’t sure he’ll ever mount a large-scale tour again.
“We don’t know,” Bon Jovi replies over Zoom when asked what the future holds.
“The new album is incredible, I think it’s the best album the band have made in 20 years. Legendary is off to a huge start and the reaction to the docuseries is also fantastic. But all I can do is let go, leave it to God and see what happens.”
With more than 130 million albums sold worldwide and over four decades of touring, Bon Jovi was encouraged to reflect on the story of his music life for the first time after seeing Chopra’s documentary on retired NFL superstar Tom Brady.
“Jon is a huge sports fan, particularly a (New England) Patriots fan, and he’d seen Man in the Arena and approached me after that,” Chopra says. “(He said), ‘Well Tom’s got 20 years, but I have 40 years and a story to tell.’”
The end result runs almost six hours and follows the highs and lows of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductees.
“We really wanted to make a truthful piece about the last four decades. But it’s everybody’s truth,” Bon Jovi says. “We were setting out to make a docuseries that wasn’t a puff piece, and so it talks about everything that’s happened in this roller-coaster ride of a career.”
That “truth” means addressing former guitarist Richie Sambora’s unceremonious exit from Bon Jovi while the group was in the middle of its 2013 Because We Can tour.
In a moment of candour, Sambora, who co-wrote some of the group’s biggest hits — including Livin’ on a Prayer and You Give Love a Bad Name — apologizes to Bon Jovi’s longtime fans and fellow musicians for the way he walked away.
Chopra interviewed Sambora at length for the documentary and he says the guitarist’s appearance was critical to the story.
“I don’t think you can tell the story of 40 years of Bon Jovi (without him) — he was part of the band for 30 years,” Chopra says. “He wanted to be a part of this and he understood the scope of this. Richie is super charming and he was warm and funny and honest from his perspective.”
Chopra expresses regret that he wasn’t able to interview founding member and original bassist Alec John Such, who died in 2022, but he adds that the finished product is the most comprehensive story Bon Jovi fans can expect to see.
“Jon will tell you ... this isn’t a Jon Bon Jovi documentary, it’s a Bon Jovi the band documentary. So, getting everybody, and not just the guys in the band, but the support team around them, was important as well,” Chopra says.
Watching Sambora apologize left the frontman unsettled. Although the group still consists of original drummer Tico Torres and keyboardist Dave Bryan, the new incarnation of Bon Jovi features Hugh Mcdonald on bass and Phil X and John Shanks on guitars, with multi-instrumentalist Everett Bradley rounding out the mix.
“I don’t want to say that it was a surprise or that it was comforting or that it was anything that we didn’t take to heart either,” Bon Jovi says, reflecting on Sambora’s departure. “It was a strange situation; we were on a Canadian Tour 11 years ago this month and substance abuse and anxiety and issues at home all got in the way and Richie literally didn’t show up for dates. Subsequently, we did 80 more shows on that tour and it’s been 11 years. So, like he says, he’s not sorry that he quit, he’s just sorry about the way he did it. It was too bad; nobody expected that.”
But it’s in the past, Bon Jovi shrugs. “I appreciate that he apologized to the fans,” he says diplomatically.
Even if he’s never able to play live again, seeing his life go flashing by left Bon Jovi feeling proud for what the New Jersey rockers were able to accomplish. “It was fun,” the singer says, smiling.
Watching back through hours of footage and hearing all those songs, including tracks that have never been released, allowed him to take a moment to appreciate the staying power of Bon Jovi and his own rock ’n’ roll idolatry.
“It was hard work, perseverance, not chasing fads nor fashions, staying true to who and what we were and are,” he says, considering their staying power. “There’s no substitute for hard work.”
This isn’t a Jon Bon Jovi documentary, it’s a Bon Jovi the band documentary. — Filmmaker Gotham Chopra