Artist Friendly with Joel Madden - Jon Bon Jovi

Episode Date: October 29, 2025

On this week's episode of Artist Friendly, Joel Madden is joined by Jon Bon Jovi. Fresh off releasing Forever (Legendary Edition), featuring duets with Avril Lavigne and Bruce Springsteen, and unveiling the Bon Jovi Forever Tour, the rock vet stopped by the Artist Friendly studio for an honest conversation about longevity, legacy, and rediscovering his voice. With Madden, he opens up about his vocal cord surgery, the future of his live shows, and the wisdom that comes with four decades in music. From creating Hampton Water with his son to collaborating with Jelly Roll and Lainey Wilson, Bon Jovi reflects on staying true to himself, raising a family, and why rock music will never die. ------- Listen to their Artist Friendly conversation on ⁠⁠⁠Spotify.⁠⁠ ------- Follow Artist Friendly! IG: @artist.friendly TikTok: @artist.friendly YouTube: youtube.com/@artist.friendly ------- Host: Joel Madden, @joelmadden Executive Producers: Joel Madden, Benji Madden, Jillian King Producers: Josh Madden, Joey Simmrin, Janice Leary Visual Producer/Editor: Ryan Schaefer Audio Producer/Composer: Nick Gray Music/Theme Composer: Nick Gray Cover Art/Design: Ryan Schaefer Additional Contributors: Anna Zanes, Neville Hardman Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Is it just like you're in your family life and you're not really, maybe it's if you're not on the road, if you're not making a record, you're away from the music? I mean, that's a deeper, longer conversation. I think it's not an easy answer, but one of the many answers I'd give you is that with the decades come different chapters in your life. So you're in a different place. When the opportunities to see it like fall in my lap and hear it and listen to it and follow it were shutting down, I was also focused on other stuff, one of which, you know, in this last

decade plus had been my health. So I really was, you know, distracted by a lot of that. Was it your vocal? My vocal chords. My vocal cord. Right. We want to build the biggest rock media company in the world. We've found that live music and rock and roll and guitar music remains extremely important in the world. And it doesn't get the love it deserves, I think, in media-wise. Yeah, well, I could tell you 10 reasons why, but okay. I'd love to hear why you think.

Well, terrestrial radio for one. Yeah. You know, and so record companies are just so bottom line driven, as you say, that all they really care about is the pop stuff that's going to get on that terrestrial radio. And so, you know, it's changed. There's no more, let's grow up and be in a rock band. Now it's, let me make you a pop star. That's right.

I mean, I just scratched my head, you know. I mean, I've had the same record deal for 43 years, same labels, same everything. I've seen the presidents and or CEOs come and go. I've seen buildings come and go. I've seen the names come and go, but I've been the constant for these 43 years. And I don't recognize it any longer. But that doesn't mean that there's not still great stuff. You know, there really is.

But I have to tell you, I've been under a rock for the longest time because I wasn't necessarily going to seek it out to find it. but it wasn't accessible to me. When I was a kid, you could turn on MTV and watch and learn and see and beat, right? When there was terrestrial radio and a DJ mattered, and he would tell you, let me tell you about a band.

You'd go, oh, I'm gonna check it out. I'm in love. You know, thank you, Mr. DJ, you know, and neither of those two things were accessible to me. So now, unless I wake up in the morning and hear about a record to go to my Spotify to stream the song, which I know is there, I didn't know how to get there.

Yeah. So I have a 21-year-old son who has a band and he's making his first record. I absolutely love it. So the conversation began because of the name of his band. And then it ended up being this great rabbit hole. What's the name of his band? Lawn. Cool.

It's why I said. It's fucking cool. How do you spell it? L-A-W-N. That's. And I was like, dude. Well, see, I didn't get it. And I was like, lawn.

And now people my age are going, the follow up when I would say, long they'd say what i say exactly so i tried to convince him to change the name he proved me wrong because he said look at mannequin pussy look at beaches look at geese look at you know and i'm going down this list of names that are just different but music that sounds fucking great yeah and it's all rock music and it's good rock music it's garage rock and i love it tune tune the guitars and let's go so i was so pleased that, you know, 18, 19, 20, 21-year-old guys that are telling me about rock music, that it's way exists. It's beyond exists.

It's great. It's in a new, what I've found is it's in a new place. And I think the potential is what I'm seeing with the bands we work with is they're going to new heights and then reaching. But why do you think the years you say you, maybe you said you're under a rock or whatever, What would you say like you were focused on, is it just like you're in your family life and you're not really, maybe it's if you're not on the road, if you're not making a record, you're away from the music? I mean, that's a deeper, longer conversation. I think it's not an easy answer, but one of the many answers I'd give you is that with the decades come different chapters in your life, so you're in a different place. When the opportunities to see it, like fall in my lap and hear it and listen to it and follow it, we're shutting down. I was also focused on other stuff, one of which, you know, in this last decade plus had been my health.

So I really was, you know, distracted by a lot of that. Was it your vocal? My vocal cords. My vocal cord. Right. I had something very strange and unique. And it was called the surgery was called a medialization. It wasn't a nodule.

It was nothing like that. And one of them was atrophying. So if your cords symmetrically look like this and clothes like this, mine were looking like this. And the strong one was pushing the week. went around and it was literally dying. So they put a plastic implant outside of them to get the vocal folds to close the chords simultaneously and symmetrically again. And so therefore it strengthened the weak one back. It's just been a bitch, but knock what it's great now. And it was just a three year miserable recovery. Another part of it for me is probably, you know, you get to a point where

you're just, I'm not chasing anything. I'm not looking to, you know, I don't want to be the next Taylor Swift. So I just write what's on my mind. You know, so a lot of those reasons were reasons why I wasn't paying attention. Yeah. I just wasn't paying attention. But that also kind of tells me that's a person who's happy. I'm certainly contented with what we've done in my career and my catalog and, you know, what we've said along the way.

So, yeah, I'm sure, I don't, we don't chase anything. Yeah. It's cool to hear that. Yeah. Because it feels like, you know, I've had a, I've had a really interesting ride and just be getting to, I'm sure you feel the same. way, but I've gotten to be in all the rooms and see all the different versions. Sure.

Of like that kind of success, that kind of success, the super big pop star, the rockers, the next generation of the same iterate, you know. And then how does that play out of the team members? And the new kid comes and you start to kind of go like, oh, I hope this kid's going to be okay. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And you see it all play out. And I was really struck by your Hulu series, the documentary you did.

It made me really happy. and I was so excited to talk to you after I watched it. I was a fan, obviously. Thank you. And I am of you guys too. Thank you. Your accomplishments are, it's beyond legendary. It feels like you did something that it feels like I don't know if anyone could ever do it again.

And then watching, being able to watch the experience that you had, I was struck by the two weeks of rehearsal. I really related to that because we were never big at rehearsals. We're a garage band. We throw and go and we'll figure it out. and the day before we'll go to the venue and we'll run the set or, you know, you go to do a couple days of throwing things together and that was it. And then recently we just came back from like seven years of not touring or playing any shows and we did the same thing.

We had a two-week rehearsal and everyone was dialed in, plugged in. We all were working on the little parts. And I could say we're a better band than we've ever been. But I think there's something like I saw like the joy of the crux. craft of doing what you're doing and being present in what you're doing. And the craft of it is a thing. Absolutely. That gets dismissed sometimes like, oh, you're just a rock band. You're just going to, but actually, no, this is a craft. And you can be better at it. And there's like, yeah, I saw that. And I was really struck by it. It made me feel really good. It also made me feel like you're

present in your life. And that struck me because I've seen, especially living out here, I've seen versions of people that are not present in their real life right now. And they have all this success and they have all this accomplishment. And it's almost like they don't know how to enjoy where they're at. And what got them there was all that accomplishment. That's where a good manager comes in. This is where someone with life experience can sit the young guy down and say, I have faith in you.

Breathe. I know you're scared. It's okay. We'll get through this. You know, a lot of times in our career, when you looked to that authority figure to be some kind of at least big brother, if not a father figure, either they were too young and inexperienced themselves or selfishly they were just looking for the bottom line commission, right? So they would allow you to burn out. In retrospect, I'd like to think they just weren't smart enough at the time. Yeah.

And we were all young and dumb and, you know, chasing something. But I think if I were at manager now, I would sit the young guy down. and say, let me tell you from the ghost of Christmas future, you know, what's about to happen to you. Yeah. And I'd love you to enjoy this time with the hope that you'll get back here again. You may not, because, you know, now it's up to the kid to write it again. But I have faith that you can and will. So let's go home.

Let's go to sleep for a while, you know? And not a lot of guys in our generation were getting that kind of love. Right. Maybe they are now because I think people, by and large, are much more self-awareness. Now, granted, there's as much anxiety as there is self-awareness. But if you're aware of the two things, maybe somebody can stroke your hair and just go, breathe, brother. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Because it's so easy to go through this moment in time and ultimately blow it because you burn out.

You're either resentful or you can't do it again or the pressure of it gets to you or the excesses gets you, whatever the reason is, right? So, you know, as the ghost of Christmas future, that's what I would tell the young kid now, given that chance. It is wisdom. It's wisdom that you can only earn with time. By going through it all. Yeah. Which I feel the lucky ones of us that got to get all the way full circle.

I was just home in Maryland a week or two ago. And it felt full circle because I was, I ran away from that place for so long. And I went back and I was happy to just be there. I didn't need anything. I just wanted to sit there and look at the. Bay. And it's full circle. I'm 46. I got teenagers and married. I found myself in this place where I am doing things. It's why I related to the documentary because it feels like you're, and you say it in the documentary, you're doing things. It's not for the money. It's not to get bigger. It's not,

you've done all the things you could ever desire to do. But now it's different. Now you show up because you want to be there and you want to have this experience and you want to be with these guys. There's an awareness to it. And some people never get to have that. That's true. And I felt that way when I was home, I felt present in the moment. And like it was this full circle arrival back to where I started and realizing like, oh, this was always here. Well, maybe we weren't old enough to appreciate it at the time.

We could have looked at that guy. It was 20, 30 years older than us and thought, oh, he's old. He's tired. He's this. We're like, he would have been easy to be critical when you're a younger guy, right? Because you're chasing a different wavelength. You're chasing something different than that, that guy that's sitting there with the wisdom now.

So, you know, if with good health, I can go out, you know, with that wisdom now, I'm going to feel like fucking Yoda. Yeah. I feel like you kind of are, though. You have a, I felt it in the documentary. I felt wisdom. I felt like there was a presence that a lot of men or people of say,

you're about 15 years ahead of me. I look at you and Bruce Springsteen. I always have held you guys up. Because across your career, it's always felt like you've been just true to yourself. Thank you, John. And that's hard to get to. In this business, it's scary and you can get talked into all kinds of things. And I always felt like you and Bruce Springsteen were two guys that I wanted to grow up to be.

Oh, thank you. You know, a guy who still talks to his kids, who knows his kids, a guy who could still walk in a room and he's not the only one in the room. Yeah. You know, it's hard to. to get there sometimes when you've had so much success. It could overwhelm you if you carry all that accomplishment around. If you choose that. You know, it's what I do. It's not who I am. Right. Yeah. You know what I mean? It's just not who I am. It's just what I do and I happen to enjoy it and I'm good at it. But it's not who I am. And a lot of that was staying home. Yeah. When I had houses out here and you were

younger and I remember being around the Hollywood kind of atmosphere where people would look at you like this because they were looking over your head to see who was more famous in the room or how much could they get out of the situation and I went ooh this is not a place where you know you're going to lay down some deeper roots now that for me that was just my experience so you know my wife and I said we're not staying here we sold that house and got out of here it was a good decision I think it was a good decision we moved out of the city for me yeah we we we we had to move about an hour away to find that piece and quiet and it allows us to decide when we come in and get into the madness that's the difference between new jersey and manette and it's it's only an hour

way yeah exactly but i relate to the new jersey thing because maryland's not that far away we all we all have a cousin in new jersey yeah yeah yeah a cool new jersey cousin yeah um in the documentary and i feel it in the record i got to listen to the new record yeah good it's great thank you i'm That's really good. Well, that was the reason, you know, we did the doc, it was very honest. I didn't realize Gothen was going to find that the surgery was of interest in. Of course, you know, that ended up being a big threat. And we're making this record that I'm very excited about anticipating that I could go out

on the road 40th anniversary, let's go have some fun. It was too much work. I wasn't ready. So now you got to pull the plug. And as you know, in this new world order and the model, you don't get to put out a second single. It is dead. Yeah.

You just took a gun to the temple. the record and blew it off the record company everybody's like shut off the tap yeah if you can't do late night tv and you can't sell a ticket the record's over my heart was broken because we we were very proud of the record yeah so that's when i thought in this day and age of features if i considered it with a little help from my friends yep and reached out to young old boy girl country rock international let me call some friends and see if they would help me and this way i could keep the record alive write a new song and re-release it granted that I could go. And then I think it made a really good record even better. Yeah. You know, because people just interpreted it and made it even better. And it made the vocal.

I'm gonna. And, I'm gonna, and like my music, my hair, can't be able to continue my rhythm. For so Potion Nine, of Sebastian Professional, has all what my cabellio needs. Nutrition Profunda, protection contraption, 99% less of rotura, and punas abjurtas, Bajo Control.

New Potion Nine of Sebastian Professional, the secreto professional of who don't are the people who are not they're a really fun listen to it's a joyful record.

Yeah, it is. You know, 2020 being released in the midst of COVID, at a time when you saw what was going on and writing about George Floyd

and writing about guns and that was a tough time in the world. And you release a record into that black hole. I love the record. I'm proud of it. of it artistically but of course i couldn't promote it's 2020 and this house is not for stale was a statement

record because you know in in the light of richie leaving now i'm writing our first record without him at all and you have to make that statement so that was like a yeah let's get this one done carna record uh so this one i finally come around to joy to only find fuck the surgery is not ready yet so that sort of sucked but in god's hands it kind of became what it was supposed to become perhaps yeah Had you ever dealt with that kind of the vocal challenge of the or the, so? Yes, no. You know, when you're that young, I was beat up and on steroid shots like every other singer out on the road, you know, getting jacked up and you're sounding like poop, but you're

too young to know any better, and you're taking another shot and another pill. So yes, and then I started to train the singing, and I took a lot of lessons. And then I was really, really good for a long, long, long time. Do you know what I mean? You know, physically good. Yeah. So I could go out. And then it just started to go south after 2013, the last, you know, thing that we had to do without Richie.

And then, uh, it's like, this just isn't right. And I didn't know why, you know, and truth, I could jokingly say, but it is true about me. The only thing that's ever been up my nose is my finger. So I was like, well, how could this go to shit? Yeah. You know, why? And, uh, finally found this surgeon in Philadelphia who explained it all to me. And he says, but I know how to fix it.

He says, I guarantee you nothing. This is what will. do work hard it can't be any worse than you feel right now do this and so i did it i drove myself to the hospital not even exaggerate i drove myself and i didn't know it was going to be a three-year recovery i may have chickened out if i knew it was a three-year recovery may have just walked away yeah but it just kept getting an incrementally a little better at a time to the point now where it just thank god it works every day you know i can hit the high notes and prayer every day yeah and it's It just makes you feel like, okay, the work is worth it.

So we can say, let's go out. I was thinking about how would I feel if I couldn't sing? And I never had to think about that. Right. I mean, I lost my voice. I'll take a prednisone pill. Exactly. And six hours, I'm good.

Sure. That's actually what I do. Even if I have like a cold or a flu or a thing. It's the go-to for us neurotic. It's amazing. Yeah. I'm like, if I'm even thinking I'm going to lose my voice, I'll take it. But I've never had to, I've never had to face the,

actual reality that I can't sing. And I just thought about for the first time when I watched, I go back to the documentary because I really enjoyed, I feel like you were really, uh, you let everyone in, you know, let them see like what, I'd be afraid of, total truth. Yeah. And I thought, well, I wonder how that would feel. And I, I think I would discover just how much I love singing if that happened because I never even really thought about singing. I just did it. And I don't even know, I think I like it. I like every now and then I'm like, that was pretty fun. And then sometimes I'm like, eh.

Yeah. But then I think, oh, if someone came and said, you can't sing anymore, how would I feel? Yeah. The realization came slowly because it was just going from, that was an odd note to that was an odd night to this is inconsistent to it got so extreme on that 2022 tour where I tried to beat it into submission that on every note of every song, every one. one of those 15 nights. I was like, is that okay?

Is that okay? From song to song, lyric to lyric. So I'm smiling at the audience, but on the inside, I'm dying, dying a thousand deaths. And it was killing the emotions, therefore was killing the band emotion because everybody knew that I was suffering

in pain and mental anguish. So when I found this doctor and he explained it to me, I said, okay, if it's over, I've had a great life. I'm good with it. I'm not an applause, junkie. I don't need the bright,

lights of the stage. I've got a whole life that's, you know, good. So I've got a wife and kids and everything else that's good. So that's not my identity. And at that I've always known. It's not my identity. It's what I do. I really enjoy it. But I would have been okay if I, if I didn't do it any longer. Yeah. It'd be okay. Yeah. It's really, it's cool. But when I go and see a show, I'm not that guy that's on the, you know, get me up there, get me up. Yeah. Yeah. You know, I can go and watch a show and just enjoy it. Yeah. You know, um, so that's okay for me. I would really like to go on the road this time because I want to look around at the band. I want to be there with them. Yeah. I want to shine that light on the crowd just to be in the reflection of the light. That's, that's where I'm at.

I just want to see that audience that I get to look at them, not that they get to look at me. that I just want to see that, that light, you know, that reflection of that. That's why I want to do it now. I feel very connected to that idea. I've said that to my wife before. I said, you know, I don't crave getting back on stage. I respect the opportunities when they come. And the older I get, the more I respect that I didn't know if we'd still be doing this.

I don't know what I thought. But going out and playing, we did like 12 shows this year. And they were the best 12 shows of our career. Right. And I think it's something like we respect one that we're still able to do this. The shows have gotten bigger than they've ever been, which is a weird experience to kind of have. But also I think there is something about not needing that I think when I was younger, I needed it. I needed it for my self-esteem.

I needed it for my, I wanted to get my mom a house. There was a lot of need involved. And then I got those things and I started all my self-worth in the early success was wrapped up and how's this song doing, how's this doing? And I was kind of just a mess over that. And then all the way to meet my wife, have kids, build a real life where I suddenly am like, well, I don't want to lose this, you know, and stop touring, stop doing a bunch of things, figure out who I am, come back to it at this age and there's respect for the guys on stage and the people that come to the show. And the crew, the crew. And I think it's perspective. But

It's something that I felt about you and sitting with you. I feel it even more. And so it's nice to experience because I think you can get, we've seen it. I think people can get lost in this thing. It's easy in your 20s and 30s. You don't know anything else. That's really the bottom line. What else did you know before then?

What was it Scooby-Doo and lunch? You know what I mean? What did you know in your teenage years that were so important? You were learning how to play your instrument. So there wasn't all that much yet. You know, everything, as I've come to realize, your 20s are much different than 30, which different than 40, 50, and then 60, I mean, it's like light years away. But I wasn't ready to listen to a 60-year-old when I was 20, 30 and 40. Just wasn't ready for it. Even a 60-year-old,

me, I wouldn't have listened to. Who on the record would you say maybe, like, kind of surprised you? Well, I wasn't familiar with Laney Wilson before music cares in early 2024. She's a new artist as far as I was concerned. She's ridiculously talented. I love Lainey Wilson. Oh my God. She's unbelievable. I'm like a huge fan.

Averill came in and knocked it out of the park. She was stronger than ever. Yeah. You know, and I didn't know what she was going to deliver, but she was really into doing it. Yeah. And she killed it.

And then I didn't know war and treaty before early 24 either. And I heard them do a cover of, I'll be there for you. And I was like, oh, I get who they would be as singers. Yeah. But they took the people's house and took it to a whole other level.

Yeah. So just off the top of my head, those three people come to mind. But no one disappointed me on the duets kind of thing. You know, they all took it to another level. But those three jump out at me. I love Lainty Wilson. She's been on the show. She's a huge fan of her.

Me too. I'll give you a great anecdotal story. So I see her doing music cares with us for me. And she sings a song called Born to Follow. And I go, wow, that was awesome. And she, you know, did a good job. and then it's that Grammy weekend out there. So then, you know, you're going to go to any party

and the artists are going to be singing somewhere else. And then somebody, and I don't even know who it was, drops out of Clive's party singing the Barbie song, I'm just Ken. Yeah. And they thrust it at her and they go, sing this before you go out and sing with Jelly Roll. And she's like, yeah, sure.

Now, first of all, that took big balls. And I loved her for doing that. Then she comes out and nails it and makes it her own. And now that's the second time I see her in the week. And then she comes out with jelly. and does that. Then I get to know her a little bit. And we hung out one afternoon

and it ends up we sat down and wrote a song because we were both bragging up jelly roll. She goes, I'd fight somebody for him. I was like, well, there's a song title. Let's sit down and write a song together. And I just fell in love with her because to me she's also a guy's gal. Yeah.

You know, not only is she beautiful and talented, but she can hang all day long. Yeah. I feel the same way. Yeah. I love her. I am a huge fan. I love Jelly Roll too.

Oh my God. I can't say enough about him. He's an inspiration. Yeah. You know, I mean, what he's done physically is one thing, and that's okay, wonderful, God bless him for it. But the inside of that man and the life he's lived and the example he's being for that audience and his wife is the same way. Yeah.

You know, I can't say enough good about it. He's one of those guys that has had such a long road to get to the mountain top he's on. You could just feel how bad he needed it and wanted it and how much he. and how much he has to share with the world, but it couldn't happen to a better guy. Right. That's how I feel is one of those guys. He just couldn't happen to a better guy. Right.

He was late getting to the starting gate, really. Yeah. But when he got there, all that life experience came with him. So he had something to say. Yeah. You know, and then really early on, I realized how smart he was and how worldly he was. Not just the troubled side, but the music business side. And then his voice, you know, he felt the emotion.

You know, he knew what he was going to sing about. So every aspect. of him too. I just really admire. And I think it's a good version of, I think you're the same way. You see people who are comfortable in their own skin where they're at. And that works with everyone. Jelly Roll goes with everyone because he's jelly roll. If he was an imposter and it was hard for him to sustain whatever it is he's doing,

I think it wouldn't come across. At this stage, I've heard him on a bunch of different duets. and I always like it. Especially like yours. One of the reasons I like it is you threw in that classic Bon Jovi. The talk box. Yeah, the talk box, which is my favorite. And I was like, fuck yeah, he brought that to the mix.

But the two of you guys together works really well. But I also think your two guys who can sit down with a guitar and sing a song. And when you can do that, he can. He can. He most definitely can. Yeah. No, he's sweet. And then I got to sit with his wife and do the podcast. Yeah.

he's badass. Yeah, she is. She's awesome. He's strong. She came to my house and we sat for hours. I loved her. Oh, she came to your house. Yeah, she did. That's cool. Yeah, she wanted to come to Jersey. That's dope. New Jersey. Yeah. I love New Jersey. It's fun. It's cool. What about your kids? You have one son in a band. Yeah. You have another son who, more like modeling, acting, things like that. Yeah. Yeah. Really good looking guys. Yeah. Yeah. Well, so Romeo is the youngest. Romeo is the youngest. He's at the University of Miami. Is he the baby of the family? Yes, he is. Okay, cool. He's a senior at the University of Miami, so he lives with the band on campus. They're all on the Frost Music program. Amazing. And he's a singer-songwriter, and so he's the singer in the band and the lyricist and

all. So that blows my mind. I love it, because one of the fourth-found music. Yeah. I'm good with Jake is his next older brother. He's an aspiring actor. He's just got a movie with Maud Apatow directed Judd's daughter that Jake is in and he's producing films with his wife, who's Millie Bobby Brown, my daughter-in-law. And then... Beautiful couple. They are a beautiful couple. They're sweet babies.

They're great. They're good. The next biggest one is Jesse, my eldest son. And he's the one that started Hampton Water. So the rosé that's exploded in the last decade is my eldest son. Oh, that's his? Yeah. That's awesome.

Yeah, that's doing great. So he's an entrepreneur. Very much so. That's awesome. One late night on our porch in East Hampton when I was what we call cradling a glass. Yeah. When it's that later that you're holding it like this. Yeah.

I said, would you like a glass of pink juice? And it was, you know, he was still underage, just barely but underage. And he says, we call it Hampton Water. And I was like, I get what you're saying there. And the next day he starts, we should do this, we should do this, we should do this. I said, I'm not doing this, but go back to Notre Dame. And if you come back with a business plan, I do know who you can call. Yeah.

And he came back with the label, the concept of this, this, to that. I went pretty darn good. So all he did was introduce him to someone and I have nothing to do with it. How proud are you of that? I'm ecstatic because it's huge. It's the number three premium rosé in the world. Yeah, that's a big brand. But to see your kid get an idea and be entrepreneurial, be industrious.

With no experience in the business, none, just an idea, marketing kind of idea. He went to ND. He was a walk on the football team. So he barely got to place. So he's a worker. He's a worker. Any kid that walks on, you know, gets his ass whooped for four years is going to survive. Yeah.

He's a fighter. That's awesome. Yeah. So he came through that. And then my eldest is our daughter and she's out here an aspiring actress. She's got her first little film role. So we were very happy for her. And she's moved out here permanently.

So the kids are good. They're all healthy. Knock on this leather chair. Yeah. It's made of wood somehow. Somewhere. I think like one of my biggest worries in not only being in Los Angeles, which was always kind of a, I always had a conflicted relationship with L.A. because it's so different from where I'm from, but then I met my wife and she's from here. And I kind of, it's not that I say I got stuck out of here because this place has been amazing.

Sure it is. But it was always so different. Yeah. And we go home in the summer to Maryland and my family gets to kind of experience that. It's always been really nice to go back. And she loves that too. But then suddenly you're raising your kids and they're in school here and then you're here. And I always like, oh, one day we'll leave and we'll go to the East Coast and we never did.

So we move out of the city and it's nice. It's suburban and it works. But I think my biggest fear was always that my kids wouldn't learn how to work hard. And that's what I came from was just like you work hard no matter what. And my dad used to tell me, just work smarter than I, just be smarter than I was, because he worked himself to death. I think there's something about seeing someone be able to raise kids that can function in the world and do things where you go, okay, that's what I want to do. Right. Again, another, I kind of had that impression of you. Because look, when you come up in this

business and in this game, you're looking for models kind of. And you're going, okay, where, and after a while, the guy who's, you know, the wild rock star or whatever, that model starts to go like, okay, no, not that model. You start to look. And I think me and my brother, we're best friends, we're partners and everything. We've always looked for, I think men who have seemed to figure out how to handle success, build a real life that you actually want to live in. Right. And then now we both of kids. So mine are older than his, but now mine are teenagers. We're doing pretty good. No major interventions or anything yet. Good. You know, knock on. You know, look, you could have fuck up kids in Baltimore, you could have fuck up kids in Hollywood. Or they could be great kids in either

or two. I think it's just what they come home to. Right. The behaviors that they see. And then the influence can be good or bad, depending on what they surround themselves with. You know, You know, I mean, you could be in the same home with the same father who's an idol to idols. And he has one kid that's great and one kid that's a complete fuckup. You know, it's just sort of the way it is. And it doesn't matter where you live. But I understand what you're trying to say because I agree. Being in a place where there's so much in our world celebrity, it'd be easy to fall victim to that.

But not only you and your brother have this life experience, but your father-in-law is a legend among legends. Yeah. Yeah. So there's a lot of wisdom coming, I'm sure, to Nick through Lionel. Absolutely. You know, I mean, he's. And he saw her through a lot too because she went through her times. And I think he's incredibly grounded and incredibly together, you know, he's been a great role model to a lot of people. Yeah.

So I think, you know, you've got a grandfather to your kids that will show him them the way. Yeah. So I just think it's like what you make it, you know, just live your life. Don't try to be something you're not. and the kids will emulate that. And if it's good, they'll pick up on it. Yeah. You know, I remember reading an article once at Michael Jordan,

was in a restaurant. And he was talking about ordering a glass of wine in the restaurant. And he was initially afraid to order a glass of wine for fear that someone might say something negative about him. And he's there with his wife, you know, he's like, I just want to have a glass of wine my wife, but they think of me as this role model in a different way that I can't have that until I realized, I'm just going to be Michael Jordan. And if you like that, you buy into it.

Yeah. If you don't like that, don't. Cheers. And he had this glass of wine. And I never forgot that. You know, it's like I've got gray hair. I'm 63 years old. I don't have Botox.

Yeah. I fucking love that. I got one wife. You know, it's like, this is the way it is. You want to buy it? Here it is. You don't want to buy it, move on. You know, and that's, if you stay true to who and what you are, people know what they're buying.

You know, and then they come for the ride. They get off the ride. or get on the ride different times. Not my problem. That's right. But to emulate something you are not, you're always going to be a day late and a dollar short anyway. So live your truth and be comfortable in your own skin.

You know, so that's where I live. That to me is the goal in life. It is for anybody. And some people never get there. But I think it's me and my brother talk about that all the time. I'm 46 years old. I don't want to be 26 on stage. And I want to find a way to play the old songs in a way that I can be proud, bring them to you.

We reimagine some little things. But at the end of the day, we have to be grown-ass men standing on stage, not boys. We're not running around chasing girls. We both have families, wives, kids. We actually want to go home to. But I do also think that we live in a time. I do think now we talk more about our feelings. There's a lot more sharing and caring.

and there's an aspect of the world and of social media that's awful. But there are some good, I think it's a lot easier to get there. I think it's easier to dismiss the kind of cliches. I don't know if we thought we could when we were younger. But then there is that just the goal is to be more myself every day. And I think you've done that. I hear it on the record. I saw it in the documentary and I think it's a huge success.

Well, thank you. It just was something I realized with that Michael Jordan interview, which must have been 1985. You know what I mean? It was like a long time ago, but I never forgot it. You know,

it was like, I remember before my first record, it must have been 1980. He says, the minute you put out that first record, it has to be identifiably you. Because that five or seven or ten dollars, whatever a record was going to cost in 1984,

is going to be next to the Rolling Stones. So unless it's going to be identifiably you, you're not going to make the second, third, fifth, or tenth one. So you had to realize, okay this is who I'm gonna be again you like it or you don't like it that's cool but this is what it is and be true so the goal was to just sound like bon Jovi yeah that was the

ultimate goal to you can have your influences but become you in order to you know have longevity and so all of that was a part of it very conscious even as a young boy I was very aware of that so it always felt that way to you I really did I I I tell stories now because I can look back. Being from Jersey, Bruce was Bruce. In our sphere, there were 10 members of the Asbury Jukes. There were seven members of the East Street band. They were all 12 and 13 years older than me,

the way I'm that much older than you guys. So you see, you feel like you're the same age, but on the other hand, they've lived another decade, right? So these guys had been making records. I'm just out of high school. So you would look to that, initially you would emulate that. But even as a young kid, I went, Don't emulate that.

Right. That's career suicide. They're them. Unless you become you, it don't matter. You might be there for a nanosecond. You might have a record or two on their coat tails. How many guys tried to imitate Kurt Cobain? Yeah.

They had a minute. Yep. You know, there was Kurt Cobain and Pearl Jam and, you know, a couple of the A-listers and then five C-listers that are no longer doing it, right? Forgotten. Yeah. Yeah.

And the same in our genre or any other thing, you know. So I knew that early on. Be influenced, enjoy the ride, but that can only be one spice in the stew. Let it go. It's pretty amazing that you could grasp an idea like that at a young age. I think I got that later. I think I got there in the end with just that same idea. Well, I only get to be me.

It's all it matters. So be the best I can be and go do the things I can do and see how fast we can drive this thing or how far we can go or how high we can climb or whatever. Were your parents together? Yes. So do you think it was like as something like a support or something? They did support what I did throughout my career and before there was a career.

Right. And that was a beautiful thing about, again, in New Jersey, and this isn't to be a wise guy. But drinking age was 18. Why I tell everyone that story is because you could be at 16 or 17 sneak into the bar to play. Right. You weren't even thinking about you can I qualify to go to college. There was learn to play the guitar and with the support of the parents who would say, okay, if you're going to be out late, at least we know where you are. Right. So go on. Go chase it. See how far it goes. Yeah. Then, you know, because I was fortunate at 21, I got a record deal. Right. But I didn't have to get a real job yet. I didn't have a wife and kids. I didn't need to have a roof over my head because they were allowing me to to chase something, which is cool. You know, I appreciated that. Yeah, I think in the same way we started our band, we were 16, and our parents had

dissolved. Like, our dad had left and he was long gone. My mom was just trying to figure it out. And so we had no one telling us where to be, what to do. We started our band, and that was like where we poured all that, whether it was confusion or fear or whatever it was we were running away from with that turmoil. And I think it was a similar kind of freedom we had to chase something. and escape, you know, what that was.

But it's interesting because I think when I think about what you need to be, even like when you talk about your kids and hopefully my kids, I'm the same way I encourage them to kind of follow their interests and double down on what they love. No plan B, who needs it? Go for it. Just go for it. It's actually unique.

I think what I find is most people don't look at the world that way. I agree. They need a plan. They need to feel safe. Or their parents are telling them, I'll give you six months. Right. Yeah, the clock's ticking.

Chase the dream for six months. Yeah. Fuck. It's too much pressure. And you're seeing kind of that same attitude with it playing out in your kids' lives. Because they're going after things they like. And I see it with my kids too because they both are very focused on the things they care about and nothing else. So we're trying to.

That's cool. The grades are not happening, but they're really good at that, you know? And so you're like, ah. I like to give them a little more wisdom and say it's, please do better in school because you'll be a better writer or you'll be a better managing your finances someday just a practice it's not it's yeah it's it's a commitment right it's show me commitment plug in i get it school sucks it's boring but let me just give you a little wisdom it's okay yeah i was a shit student i don't know i imagine you guys were too that's terrible terrible i was lucky i

graduated. Yeah, lucky. But big picture. I wish I'd done better. Yeah. You know, because it's just been that much smarter. Well, that's wisdom. If I could go back and do it again, I would do better. I'd do better. Because I learned how to take some pride in everything I do. Even the things I don't like to do with, it's like, even just like working out became a thing just more recently for me where I'm like, no, no, I get up every day and I go and I take pride in the practice of committing to something, doing it. And I was never really like that guy. And now I have become that guy and I like it. But yeah, it's a practice.

Everything is. You know, you can wake up and just play the guitar. You'll practice the guitar. You know, singing and same way. You know, it's just you had to. How long did it take you to learn the guitar? I'm learning it every day. I, you know, I still play simple cowboy chords,

but those four chords seem to work for me. Yeah, they do. You know what I mean? It's like I'm not a, of anyone's master guitar player, but I learned to play as a young kid and I could hold my own. I can hold my own. Yeah. And write a song.

It's good for me. Yeah. You know, I play well enough to record on our records, and that's all I need. Yeah. You know, I'm not going to be anyone's session guy. Yeah. But there's something about the feel. Yeah.

It's your sound. It's your band. Yeah. Yeah. It's special. It's who any artist is. Yeah. Yeah.

When does the tour start? Who the fuck knows? Yeah. You know, the truth is, is. Yeah. Let's talk about tour. It's been a long time since I've been behind a microphone. I would like to.

We've done two little things, one for like kind of the fan club. Yeah. We went down to Nashville where we spent a lot of time and went to a club and in an official capacity and I played for a couple hours and it felt great. And in last week we did something in Florida on a sound stage to record for like the announcement. Yeah. And again, you know, a good hour or so and it felt great.

So I'd like to do it. And so we're going to announce a very short kind of put our toe back in the water. Right. So we're going to play New York. And we're probably going to play Chicago. And then London and Dublin and I think like an Edinburgh. And maybe that's it for 26. Okay.

And with joy in our hearts and good health, it would be a much bigger tour in 27. I mean, that's how I'm laying it out right now. Because, you know, it's not only my health at this point, but it's everybody's. Right. And so, but that's the intention is to announce this kind of a residency at the garden and do a lot of nights. That's cool. Yeah. That's really cool.

And the same in Chicago. It's kind of cool, though. I think the modern touring, the modern touring is something like whatever the fuck you want. And so if you want to, like, post up in. New York for 20 dates. Everyone can fly there and they and it's special because you know everyone can't. So when you get to, if you're one of the lucky people that get to come and be at one of those sold out shows and experience it, it actually makes it feel more limited edition. For 2026, that is the plan.

That's cool. You know, I've been a couple of Wembley Stadiums in Croke Park just to say hi. Remember me. You know, we can do this. Yeah. With 27 on the horizon, but I feel very confident vocally. And so as long as everybody else is raring to go, I think that's the way we're going to announce it. Just a limited kind of run next summer.

That's awesome. Yeah, it'd be good. I was playing with, you know, I really admired this from afar, but the Metallica tour, you play two nights a week, but it's completely different shows. Yeah. And I was like, ooh, man, I've got 18 albums worth of stuff. I could do completely different shows. Yeah, how do you, how do you even write a set list?

Well, you know, you got, I figure I get 25% of the set list is for me. Right. And 75% has to be for we. Right. Because, you know, you can't not play, it's my life and living on a prayer and wanted. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You have to. And I have no issue with that.

I'm blessed every night to be able to play them. But then you want to play the new stuff, you know, and you want to play that out. album track and you want to maybe even play that cover. So I have to have those liberties. Yeah. But in this health period, as I sit in my room, I sing to my kind of vocal teacher on the other side, my guitar in ears, full stadium show with no vocals. So I'm doing two hours a day for him four days a week. And then I start drawing up set lists to see how it flows. And now I've got two concurrent set lists. And I go, there's enough hits in both of them because I really admired what the Metallica guys were doing. Yeah. I said, this could be fun. I don't know if I'll get there or not,

but the idea that, you know, we've had enough hit ballads. I've had enough, you know, the rock song. And so I could, I could do that. So we'll see where it leads us. We have rehearsals starting on Sunday again. How long are rehearsals? We're the band. Just, no, this is just a couple days. What I try to do now is I sing four days a week with me and the vocal coach and it's two hours a day. And then once a month I bring the band in for a week and we do three. Yeah. Day on, day off, day on, day off, day on. Like it's a week on the road.

And the two hours of the vocal coach is kind of like being in the gym and just like strengthening every day. It's past, thank God, the point of that vowel doesn't work because you've had to learn how to re-sing a vowel. I don't think that we even critique anything anymore. I think it's now it's like everything is at that 98, 9. 99% daily and I'm hitting the high notes on every song. So now it's stamina. Yeah. Now it's just literally, you know, I got to, I got to get it up to 220 and I got to be

able to hit the high notes for 224 days a week. Yeah. And that's when I'll be ready to go. I'm glad you're, I'm glad you're doing it. Me too. It's fucking awesome. There's no, I don't want to go on this stage and go, oh, here comes the high note. I lived that.

Yeah. I never want to know that again. I just want to just let it flow. Yeah. Yeah. I just think it's really important. This music and rock and roll is where I see music today. I think we're in this like interesting moment because everyone's going back to live.

They want to experience a real band. They want to experience what that means to someone who wrote a song in a garage or they wrote a song and the band goes out and they play it. I do think we've had about a decade and a half of this kind of algorithmic in the box music. that was interesting at first. And then our ears start getting tired because it's just a frequency. Especially in the pop world where the girls sound like the other girls

and then the guys started to sound like the other guys. There was no differential. I didn't want to grow up and be any of them because you just go, they all sound the same. But, you know, I went out of my way to go see Oasis because it was some loud honking guitars. Yeah.

And a stadium full of people again And I was like, oh, did you enjoy it? I did enjoy it. I did. And they sounded great. Yeah. And just to see a rock band that with some hunking guitars and no loops and no tape and no nothing.

And I was like, yeah. It wasn't it interesting when to smell it? That show, I watched that show. And it was so interesting because in 2025, we, after being inundated for the last 10 years with all this stuff, I'm here for it too. I'm like, I'm trying to get on board. And I'm trying to. These are what the kids are doing here.

And then you see Oasis come in after so long, which I thought was perfect. I didn't mind the time away. And it's like they were transported from the 90s to the stage that night. And you felt alive in that room. An eight-inch drum riser. The amps on the sides of the drummer that looked like you were back in the bar. I was saying, and I don't mean this at all, is it like I go, he didn't have to change his clothes. Why?

because he didn't even sweat. He stands at the microphone just confidently cool. And just sings. He doesn't have to pretend. There's no dancers. There's no background singers. That's right. Nothing.

You know, he's just guys thing. And he's singing great. And you know a bunch of the songs. And it was a beautiful thing to see. I loved it. It reminded me of a big, just a European outdoor stage. You know, there wasn't any bells and whistles to it.

It was very straightforward. It's exactly why I'm glad you're playing shows. People need to experience the timely, and there's something about rock music and songs that's timeless. You could play it today and if someone's hearing it for the first time, their mind is just as blown as someone hearing it whenever the record came out. You think about rock and roll in general, whether it's the Rolling Stones or Paul McCartney. You know, it's timeless, it's classic, but it's also tribal.

And if you feel something for that artist and you go to that show, you don't give a shit if you're public Democrat black white young old rich poor it's tribal and it's that common thread that brings everyone together and you just have that resonance with the audience and the artist there's a vibration that's happening because you come together under that roof for that thing you know and it doesn't discriminate you know it doesn't care what cable news network you're watching yeah and it's a beautiful thing because music is universal yeah you've played in many a foreign country like i have they don't speak our language or how many times is a kid come up? He said, I learned to speak English because of you. You know, and you've had that happen because I have. And you go, I get it because I was that fan.

It's magical. I think that Oasis shows a great example. But I think your show, that's why I'm happy you're doing it. I hope that you get to do as many shows as you want. Yeah. I think it's really important. And I think that not many bands can do it. There's not a lot of bands who can go sell a stadium out. or an arena out and give people a show that belongs in a stadium. So that's the other thing is you can, you could sell a stadium out. It doesn't mean you can do a stadium show. Understood. The only way this thing continues is if that kid goes and sees that thing and becomes that kid.

That becomes that guy. Yep. And, you know, wants to beat you. Yeah. And that's the whole point. It's like, you come behind and try to do it bigger, do it better. The next generation. Yeah, I don't know, man.

I'm just stoked. that your voice is okay. Yeah, me too, thanks. And I love the record. Thank you. Oh, I was going to ask, if there was, I guess sitting here, right,

you can look in both directions in life and you can see down the road and you can see back down the road, what would you say stands out as a thing that you're the most grateful for? Or is there anything? Yeah, but there's so many. I guess the first thing you asked that question,

I would say the friendships. Yeah. So many friendships that came out. out of it. And people that were on the ride throughout that process may have gotten off the ride, but it doesn't mean you're still not a friend. Yeah. You know, and they're not worth you anymore, but that's okay. They're still your friend because they were a part of that. So the journey is made it all worth it. That to me is probably the thing that I hold closest is those friendships. Yeah, and your fates are all intertwined somehow. Sure. Yeah. For forever. Yeah. And, you know,

sometimes it's easy to lose faith, but you know, you struggle through and you get to that next goalpost and you go, okay, I got to this one, I'll get to the next one. And, you know, a lot of people makes for the collective we. It's never been me. It's always been we. And it has to remain that in my mind and in my heart. And that's how it'll go on to, you know, the next chapter. As long as I continue to remember that we can hold each other up, we can, you know, enjoy this time in the limelight. And then we could share this audience. And that should be enough to fuel me. Yeah, well, as a fan, I was so excited to talk to you.

But also, like, when you get to sit with someone and you get a sense of them and it's, what's the word, you're delighted. I don't think. You know what I mean? When you meet someone, you're like, fuck yeah. Because I love your music. I'm coming to the show. I admire the way you've always carried yourself, which is something that you look out and

you see how people roll. But also to sit with you is fucking awesome. dude. Thank you, brother. Thank you for your time. Thanks for the support. Much love. Thank you. Thanks for coming. Thanks, John. Thank you for watching artist friendly. If you like this episode, please make sure you hit the like button. You follow the channel and please share it with your friends. We appreciate the support. That is why this show exists because you listen to it. Thank you guys. We'll see you next time.