A Portrait of the Artist

Another great article from the Guardian:

What got you started?

I was just another long-haired teenage kid with visions of grandeur, strumming a tennis racket or a broom in front of his bedroom mirror.

What was your big breakthrough?

Every step along the way has felt like the big time: from playing our first high-school dance, to getting a record deal, to releasing a monumental album like Slippery When Wet, to playing our first stadium. It just never ends.

What has been your biggest challenge?

To be sure that I never sold out or sacrificed my art for commerce. We never had rappers when that was popular, or hung out with grunge guys, or tried to be a boyband. What Bon Jovi did, we did our way.

What have you sacrificed for your art?

Quite a few body parts. My knees, ankles and lower back hurt a lot; I moan and groan every time I get out of a chair.

What's the worst thing anyone ever said about you?

Where do I begin?

If you could send a message back to your critics, what would it be?

Have a nice day.

What one song would work as the soundtrack to your life?

In My Life by the Beatles. It summarises the fact that life has been a page-turner for me. And I can't wait to get to the next chapter.

What's the greatest threat to music today?

We are at a crossroads in the music business: with the rise of the internet, the world we live in has changed, and the past is not coming back. But I see the glass as half-full: the internet and social networking are new avenues for the next Bob Dylan to be born on.

What work of art would you like to own?

For years, I've had a hankering for the portrait of Benjamin Franklin by Joseph Duplessis. Franklin is credited with so many inventions: the postal system, lightning rods, the constitution. He was a rock star before there was such a thing.

Is there an art form you don't relate to?

There's a lot of them. I don't work well outside the lines; my report card once read, "doesn't play well with others".

What's the biggest myth about rock stars?

That if you didn't throw up today, you don't really rock. I haven't thrown up yet.

Interview by Laura Barnett

In short

Career: Has released 11 studio albums with his band Bon Jovi, and two solo records. Bon Jovi Greatest Hits was released on Mercury on 1 November.

High point: "I don't think I've achieved it yet."

Low point: "The summer of 1991. I'd been living out of a suitcase since 1983, and I couldn't remember what I loved about music."