Jon Bon Jovi appeared on SiriusXM’s The Howard Stern Show on Tuesday to discuss his band’s documentary series, Thank You, Goodnight: The Bon Jovi Story, which is available on Hulu.
“It’s great to have those memories, and then to have them documented is pretty neat,” Jon Bon Jovi told Howard. “I guess I’m a hoarder. I had no idea how much I had, but quite a bit. I started archiving everything in year 38 - thinking that the 40th was on the horizon - and contemplated a documentary to mark the milestone.”
“I wanted to create a film that was going to tell our collective truth - and a real career that spans four-decades-plus is going to have its crests and valleys, so I didn’t mind showing everything,” Bon Jovi said.
Jon Bon Jovi on his vocal surgery:
“I was seeking advice and not getting it… I just chalked it up to getting older and started writing in the appropriate keys,” the singer told Howard before recalling struggles during the band’s 2022 tour. “I thought if I just beat it into shape and do a couple of shows maybe it will bounce back — it really did not get to my standard.”
“It was just atrophying due to use… There was no nodule, there was none of the usual vocal issues – this was unique,” Jon said before explaining his two vocal cords were completely different sizes. “One of mine was as thick as the thumb but the other was as thick as a pinky, so the strong one was moving the weak one around and causing these issues.”
“He cut me right in the front and they put in a Gore-Tex implant outside of the cords,” Bon Jovi remembered before insisting he wasn’t scared going into it. “I was excited. God forbid I don’t tour again, I’ve had an incredible career, the band has had incredible memories, and that’s okay.”
“What I’m not ready to do is do two-and-a-half hours a night, four nights a week,” he revealed. “I can sing, I just need to get it up to touring.”
Jon Bon Jovi on Richie Sambora and what he said in their new documentary:
“He came clean in the film for the fans, so I guess it would end all the speculation that there was ever a fight [between us] or any of that stuff because, as I’d stated 1,000 times, that was not the case,” Jon said.
Howard wondered if Jon was shocked to hear those words finally come out of his ex-bandmate’s mouth:
“I don’t know if it was a shock or not,” Jon conceded. “It was 11 years ago now, and it was not easy. The shock was when he didn’t show up, and the issues that he was having again. That was the shock, and then that was the disappointment.”
Is Jon Bon Jovi planning on selling his music catalog?
“People sell their catalogs often, but it wasn’t anything I’d ever considered,” Jon said before explaining how Richie selling didn’t change much on his end. “If it’s a collaborative effort on any song, then his share of [the licensing fees] would go to whomever bought it … mine is mine and, [for] anyone I’ve ever collaborated [with], theirs is theirs.”
Howard wondered how much Jon’s own catalog might sell for:
“A lot. It’s all speculative,” the rocker responded, explaining several variables would be at play, including an artist’s popularity and how motivated they might be to sell their catalog.
“I have no desire to sell it,” he said. “The songs will outlive all of us at this point, and that’s the beautiful thing about rock and roll in general… I’m happy about that.”
The Howard Stern Show, which airs on SiriusXM channel Howard 100, is broadcast live Mondays through Wednesdays starting at 7 AM, ET. The full show is also available on the SiriusXM app.
Video clips below, courtesy of SiriusXM’s The Howard Stern Show.
