A Few Questions With JonBon

One week after Bon Jovi’s latest album release “The Circle,” Fox411 was invited to a private discussion with Jon Bon Jovi and an exclusive performance of his greatest hits sponsored by American Express.

The singer, philanthropist and father got real and sang his favorite songs, including “Dead or Alive,” “Livin’ on a Prayer” and his new hit, “Superman.” Jon shared his insights on writing with best friend and business partner Richie Sambora and many very personal moments with us.

On similarities between Bon Jovi and The Beatles:

“Paul would write a song and John would put his name on it, John would write a song and Paul would put his name on it and sometimes they wrote together. Richie and I sit down together. We both play the chords, figure out the words and come up with titles. Bono and The Edge’s writing style seems to be more similar to ours. Maybe it’s my Irish envy, I want to be Irish when I grow up!”

Jon on writing with Richie Sambora, his best friend for 26 years:

“There’s a deep seated bond that can never be broken. When I mumble and look for a word – that’s the way Richie and I write. We don’t have to finish each other’s sentences at this point.”

On embarking on their 10^th tour, 25 years after they started:

“I refer to this tour as a gentlemen’s tour. We don’t go out for 240 shows nonstop. You do 20 shows, you take a couple weeks off, you do 20 shows, you take a month off. It’s pretty civilized. Now, we all have places to go instead of hotel rooms. We all have families, things to do and lives that are running parallel.”

On his new documentary film “When We Were Beautiful”:

“I wasn’t going to candy coat this film. I think I can dunk, like I’m 6’5”, but I’m not! You think you walk and talk and act a certain way but I don’t and that’s what the movie is all about. It is showing life with all it’s warts.”

On philanthropy:

“My upbringing, where I was brought up, when I was brought up and traveling the world for a quarter of a century. In a strange way we’ve been ambassadors of American pop culture in far off lands. We’ve been a part of people’s lives and you know how good you’ve got it here. (In the US.)”

On his favorite song Bon Jovi ever made:

“We’ve written a lot of songs that have touched people but “Livin’ on a Prayer” will probably be right up there, that would be high on my list. I don’t know - I’m not writing my epiteph, yet!”

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If you haven't seen/watched the Amex JBJ and Friends show, there's videos and MP3s up on the BJCT blog.

~ Hath