The 80s rocker has not toured since 2022 due to vocal issues
Jon Bon Jovi says he’s recovered from the vocal surgery he underwent three years ago after he damaged his vocal cords, which plagued him during Bon Jovi’s 2022 tour. The rocker shared the revelation on stage during last night’s (Tues, Sept 16th) appearance at the launch of Academy Award-winner Matthew McConaughey’s Poems & Prayers Revival Tour book tour stop in Brooklyn, NY.
“I had a really difficult surgery some three years ago, so I’ve been on the edge of reserve,” Bon Jovi says in a fan-filmed video that was shared on social media. “And I have recovered, thank the Lord. My faith, listening to [McConaughey] talk, was not tested. It really wasn’t tested, but I sure do wish [the recovery] could’ve been sped up some. The process is part of the journey, really. I mean, at this point in my life, how do you measure success if you don’t measure it by living life?”
Jon documented his recovery in the band’s four-part docu-series, Thank You, Goodnight: The Bon Jovi Story, which was released last spring on Hulu.
“I’ve studied vocally for most of my career, most of the 40 years. I pride myself on being a vocalist, not a stylist. I know how to do this. I’ve sung with Pavarotti, I know how to sing the Great American Songbook, I can do that,” Jon said during a pre-screening of the first episode in March 2024. “What happened here is sort of an act of God, and nothing I’m very happy about, but I work very hard trying to get back to get back what I know how to do. It’s out of my control. It’s really out of my control, but I’m working hard at it… I’m very capable of singing. I just sung this whole new record. I did the MusiCares event, I jumped up Armin van Buuren at Ultra [Music Festival], I’m gonna do this Jimmy Buffett benefit two days from now, so I’m capable of singing. For me, the bar is two hours a night, four nights a week, because that’s what our friends are accustomed to…I need to hit that bar.”
In June, the band performed an intimate private Nashville show in conjunction with Jon Bon Jovi’s Runaway Tours. In its first show since April 2022, the band hosted a three-day, two-night luxury event in Music City, which featured admission to the private phone-free performance, a Bon Jovi Forever Party at JBJ’s Nashville, and more.
No other live band performances have been announced as of press time. However, European fans who pre-order the group’s upcoming Forever (Legendary Edition) will receive an offer to pre-purchase tickets to any tour dates that may be announced.
Forever (Legendary Edition) is a collaboration album that includes reimagined takes on the band’s 2024 album, Forever, with some of the biggest names in music, including James Bay, Robbie Williams, Jelly Roll, Jason Isbell, Ryan Tedder, The War & Treaty, Lainey Wilson, and others. The album is due on October 24th via Island Records, with the new single, “Red White & Jersey,” and “Fight Somebody,” the latter available in the direct-to-consumer 2 LP vinyl edition or 2 CD Japanese edition.
