JON BON JOVI
FOR JON Bon Jovi, the last three years have, by his own admission, been the worst years of his life.
Blindsided by the departure of guitarist Richie Sambora from the band after 30 years and a bitter row with his record label, the legendary frontman sunk to his lowest ebb.
“There was a lot of darkness really,” he admitted. “I was going through a difficult period and it felt like the weight of the world was on my shoulders.”
Thankfully, there was one staple he could rely on and who helped pull him up from his desolation – his loyal wife of 27 years Dorothea.
She was there to support him as his world caved in after Sambora simply “didn’t show up for work” – just weeks into a 10-month world tour in 2013.
Jon said: “It was a very, very difficult time that I haven’t fully rebounded from yet but my wife has been phenomenal. Without her, I am not sure how I would have coped.”
The 54-year-old singer knows all about not coping. After the release of their third album Slippery When Wet, which included the hit Livin’ On A Prayer, and exhausted from back-toback touring, the legendary frontman had a breakdown of his own.
Driving on the Pacific Coast Highway on his way to see a psychologist in 1991, he contemplated jumping out of the moving car such was his pain.
Which begs the question, how bad did it get this time around?
“I am not ready to share it in full but it was not pretty,” he said. “It was similar to that period in retrospect. I found acting at that time, which gave me a release. There was no release this time but there were just as many difficulties.”
It is little wonder Jon is in a quietly contemplative mood.
We are talking in the legendary Avatar Studios, formerly known as The Power Station, in Hell’s Kitchen, New York, where the band cut their first album, as well as their most recent This House is Not for Sale.
It brings back many happy memories for Jon, who used to work there after school sweeping the floors as stars such as David Bowie and Mick Jagger were recording, before launching Bon Jovi in earnest in 1982. The band went on to sell 130million albums and establish their frontman as one of the biggest stars in the world, famous for anthems such as Livin’ on a Prayer, You Give Love a Bad Name and It’s My Life. One person who has shared his incredible journey has been his martial arts instructor wife with whom he has four children – Stephanie, 23, Jesse, 21, Jacob, 14, and Romeo, 12.
Legend has it they met aged 18 when he asked for the answers in a history exam and they married 27 years ago in secret in Las Vegas. It was so lastminute they didn’t have rings.
Jon said: “She is very wise. She gave me four great kids and I didn’t f*** up. I did it right the first time and she is great and undyingly loyal. If I am jokingly made the poster boy for rock
A lot of things added up.. and a snowflake became an avalanche JON BON JOVI