There have been days where I thought I was done: Bon Jovi

Roisin O’Connor, The Independent

Until recently, Jon Bon Jovi, the man behind one of the most recognisable voices in rock, didn't know if he'd ever tour again. Two years on from a crucial but risky surgery to repair one of his vocal cords — after it atrophied catastrophically at the end of his band's last tour in 2022 — he was still in recovery and unable to promote their 16th studio album, Forever. Suddenly, the title of the record seemed grimly ironic.

The musician born John Francis Bongiovi Jr tells me plainly. "We were releasing the album along with the docuseries (Thank You, Goodnight), and we were going to do our 40th anniversary celebration and tour. But I had this traumatising throat surgery, and as we released (the album), I started to rehearse with the band and I said, ‘Guys, I'm sorry, but I'm just not up to it yet.’” He was especially gutted because he was proud of what they'd made, a "joyful" record that marked his first return to the studio since undergoing surgery. But with a career spanning more than four decades, he knew all too well that without a tour to promote it, "it's dead".

So what an extraordinary turnaround it is that the band have just announced a run of stadium shows for 2026. They'll start with a nine-night residency at Madison Square Garden ("It's in our backyard, so I can go home at night and sleep in my own bed") and conclude with three nights at Wembley Stadium. "I'm just tipping my toe in," Bon Jovi says, his megawatt smile bearing just a hint of smugness at being able to think of these 14 concerts as some kind of underplay. He can't give much away about what fans should expect: "The only good news I can tell you is there's nothing in the catalogue I can't sing." In fact, he's so excited at the prospect of getting back on stage that he's come up with a bunch of alternative setlists. "So if we're doing multiple nights and I want to play, I don't know, 45 songs... I'm capable."

Bon Jovi certainly exudes confidence today. We're sitting in Studio 3 of northwest London's RAK Studios, where acts such as The Pogues, Kim Wilde and The Smiths have recorded some of their biggest songs. At 63, he remains every inch the rock star, from the off-duty ensemble of jeans and a smart black jacket to that famous head of hair ("I'm just happy to still have it"). He's also charming — I overhear him checking how to pronounce my name with his publicist before he walks in, offering a warm handshake and then introducing himself to The Independent's video crew, who are filming our chat for the Good Vibrations podcast.

He's obviously comfortable in front of the camera. Outside of the glittering rock career — the Grammy awards, the Top 10 singles, the 130 million records sold — he's also acted, with a starring role in the 1996 drama The Leading Man and a fan-favourite turn in Sex and the City as photographer Seth, who briefly dates sexpert Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker) in the second season. Still, I wonder if it was difficult for him to be so vulnerable in Thank You, Goodnight, which zooms in on his disappointment in a voice that doesn't sound the way it did in the Eighties. We see the slump of his shoulders, and then the flinch as he listens back to himself.

"I don't mind being vulnerable," he tells me. "I only ever wanted to tell the truth, no matter what phase of our lives we were in. But I didn't anticipate the surgery and I certainly didn't anticipate the recovery." There were a number of occasions where he told the band he was ready to go, only to be met with a chorus of "nos". That must have been tricky to hear, I say. "It's tough," he agrees, "and there have been (other) days when I've said I'm done, and they said, 'No, you're not. Think of the progress you've made since last month and the month before.’”