Jon-The-Dwarf

Now, don't go getting all PC on me.  I mean as in one of Snow White's lil cartoony guys.

Grumpy.

Read for yourself and see what I mean.

It was worth meeting Jon Bon Jovi, just to feel good abut being dismissed by him. On reflection, I thought it was shaping up as ‘one of those days’ as we began our formal interview in one of the up-market rooms of London’s Oriental Mandarin hotel.

As our cameramen informed me that we were set and right to start, Jon slouched into his chair, showing no sign of wanting to remove his rock star sunglasses and show me the whites of his eyes.

With natural trepidation, I asked if it was possible to see his face and reluctantly he obliged but the die was cast. Clearly, he looked tired – which was not surprising given the gruelling tour schedule the band is currently subjected to – and from the outset, not too happy.

That said, it was terrific to be able to chat to a real survivor of the music industry and a genuine star who has guided his band through a hugely successful career which still sees them pulling bigger crowds than the likes of Madonna, The Police or even Bruce Springsteen.

Aside from his obvious talents as a musician, the thing that makes Jon Bon Jovi unique is the relationship he has with his regular band members. Jon is essentially the CEO of the whole ship. It’s his name on the record company contracts and he in turn “hires” the other three members of the band – Richie Sambora, Tico Torres and David Bryan. So Jon is the boss and when you see him in action, even in a pre-concert sound check, you can see that quite clearly.

It’s a formula that has worked extremely well for them but, once again, not really one they want to be reminded of. After what we thought was a productive yak with the band in the bowels of the London’s O2 stadium, we copped a phone call the next morning from Bon Jovi’s P.R flak who suggested we might have offended them.

We later discovered, to our surprise, that they didn’t like questions about the nature of their employment relationship with Jon.

It was a shame as they seemed like really decent guys and hadn’t even hinted at any problem when we were face-to-face but, anyway, back to their boss. Jon’s grumpy demeanour improved markedly when we finished the interview at the hotel and jumped into the van taking us to their concert.

He was happy and joking all the way to the stadium, at which point the band began the sound check and his intensity went into overdrive.

Forty minutes later, as he exited the stage and we approached him for what we thought was the final time, he looked to his minder and barked: “I’m through with these guys, I’m finished with them” and turned on his heels. Now, under normal circumstances, I would have thought it rude but something about the whole rock stereotype thing made it just right. Almost fitting.

I’ve talked to quite a few big stars, who, to a person, always exercise a little graciousness in making their goodbyes, no matter what they really think of the questions but I suppose in Jon’s case, when you have that much money and you look that good, you really have a license to do anything, don’t you?

Thanks L, for the link!

~ Hath

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