Jon Bon Jovi's legacy is almost as indelible as the band he founded and has fronted since, Bon Jovi, for over four decades, and he's looking back on his illustrious career.
The 62-year-old rocker is opening up about his band's decades in the business, returning to the scene with their 16th studio album, and how his vocal cord injury nearly forced him into early retirement.
"The thing that gave me so much pleasure had been taken away," he said in a new cover story for People. "Joy is something you got to work at, right? Happiness is what you make it."
He continued: "It's not about seizing the day anymore. I think it's about embracing the day. I don't have to punch it in the face anymore, now I just give it a hug, and that's a good place to be."
Jon spoke about the band making its comeback with their album Forever, their first since 2020, which was released in 2020, and the first since he underwent vocal cord surgery in 2022 after years of trouble and almost finding himself on the cusp of retirement.
He optimistically spoke of the coming record, saying it "is really about my finding joy again. What really matters in a life? It's love and loyalty and finding things that make you want to get up out of bed in the morning."
Jon mentioned that his greatest legacy was not only the band, but also his family, including wife Dorothea and their four children (plus future daughter-in-law Millie Bobby Brown), saying: "I look back at the accomplishments of the band, and my family and I feel great pride."
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He also recalled the advice that he'd have given his younger self: "Take the time to enjoy every phase of it. Some of it was with my head down, staring at the pavement in front of my next step."
"I could have looked up and saw the sun shining and the clouds in the sky. That'd be the only thing I would tell a young kid today. 'Enjoy that walk.'"
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In a previous interview with The Sun, the "Livin' On a Prayer" hitmaker confessed that if he didn't feel like his voice was up to par following recovery from surgery, he might consider quitting. "If the singing is not great, if I can't be the guy I was, I'm done," he admitted. "And I'm good with that."
He added: "There is a big difference between being in a studio and going out on the road. We have just recorded a new album. I sing in vocal therapy every day."
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"But I want to perform for 2½ hours a night, four nights a week – and put it this way, I don't ever need to be the fat Elvis."
On that note, he also revealed in his People interview that the greatest secret to the band's success was the amount of work they'd put in, saying: "I was willing to outwork everybody – I think that's what it came down to."
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