From Pain to Slane

(October 31, 2012)

From pain to Slane, how Irish doctors helped Jon Bon Jovi keep on rocking

ROCK star Jon Bon Jovi has thanked Irish doctors for career-saving surgery that kept his million-selling rock band on the road.

The 50-year-old landed by helicopter at Slane Castle to announce a monster concert next June 15, when he will play to 80,000 fans.

However, Bon Jovi, real name John Francis Bongiovi Jr, said the high point of the Because We Can world tour would not be going ahead had Irish surgeons not operated on him last year.

The singer was performing in a brace with a locked knee when he suffered the injury during a date in Finland on their world tour last year.

"A doctor in Helsinki told me: 'That's it. The tour is over'. I was devastated; I didn't want to cancel all those dates. So I rang my doctor in New York for a second opinion and he advised me the best surgeons for this sort of surgery were in Ireland, which was great as our next date was in Dublin."

Consultant orthopedic surgeon Ray Moran at the Sports Surgery Clinic in Santry, north Dublin, was chosen to operate on the rock star and successfully repaired the damage.

The operation took place after Bon Jovi played two sell-out concerts at the RDS. "I had a lot of pain but that ended the afternoon I had my surgery.

"The surgeon really put my wheels backs on. I had a week off to recover before we started the tour again and my knee has been perfect ever since."

Mr Moran, a brother of football great Kevin Moran, was delighted with the rock singer's comments.

"Jon was the perfect patient. I remember the first thing he said to me when we met: 'I'm playing in Athens in eight days.'

"But we got the job done, and its very kind of Jon to thank us again now."

The surgeon hopes he will be able to attend Bon Jovi's concert next year.

Another Irish figure to whom the frontman owes a debt is Crumlin man Phil Lynott of Thin Lizzy.

Bon Jovi credits Lynott with being a huge influence on his hugely successful brand of stadium rock.

"Our whole electric guitar cowboy theme came from Thin Lizzy. We got away with it because Phil and Thin Lizzy really aren't that well known in America and only had one Top 10 hit."

He said his band may play a Thin Lizzy cover in tribute on the site the Irish band played August 1981, the very first Slane.

Slane owner Henry Mountcharles saluted the live appeal of Bon Jovi, describing them as "one of the most successful touring acts in rock'n'roll history" having sold 130 million albums since forming in 1983.

The rocking aristocrat was later presented with an acoustic guitar by Bon Jovi before the pair celebrated the announcement of their big date with a pint in local Slane pub Cassidy's, which opened early for the occasion.

Tickets are priced from €79.50 inclusive of booking fee and will go on sale at 8am on Thursday, November 8, from Ticketmaster.


source

~ Hath