Quack!

David and Joe were at the Peabody today, leading the Duck Parade :)

Then they were at a Memphis radio station for an interview.  The full interview isn't up yet (as of this posting) but I imagine it will be soon.

~ Hath

JonBon in DC

JonBon was in DC today, speaking at the White House Council for Community Solutions.  It was streamed live (though apparently not where I work...) and I'm sure his speech will turn up on YouTube at some point.

Thanks Rike and Catte for the photos.

~ Hath

  

 

New Year's Eve Photos

From the re-shoot back at the end of September (thanks Catte!)

~ Hath

  

  

  

  

Billboard Story

In case you can't wait to get the next issue in your hot little hands, Billboard has the cover story up on their website.

Around the turn of the millennium, Bon Jovi found another gear.

The result of the shift has been a decade of career-altering achievement in just about any category used to quantify success in popular music: touring, hit songs, awards, branding, No. 1 albums, DVDs, all produced at a remarkably prolific pace.

Call it the next level. But not the last level.

Driven by the intense work ethic, broad vision and rock'n'roll charisma of its frontman and namesake, Jon Bon Jovi, this band is still breaking new markets, finding new fans and remaining relevant while most of the rock groups that emerged in the '80s either have disbanded or are relegated to playing decades-old hits with little hope of charting new ones.

If Bon Jovi were a stock, it would be a blue-chipper-savvy investors would be bullish. And Jon Bon Jovi is CEO, the personification of that delicate intersection of art and commerce. He accepts that description, with a caveat. "The commerce is really just a by-product of the art," he says, calling from a hotel room in Los Angeles where he's decompressing from the latest mega-tour by writing and cutting tracks with multiple Grammy Award-winning songwriter/producer John Shanks for what will end up being the next Bon Jovi album.

Go here to read the rest of the story.

~ Hath

PS: Thanks to everyone who sent me emails on this -- JS, Kiwi, Rike, A, FF :)

WTB in Beverly Hills Magazine

Snagged from Facebook (thanks, Catte!)

~ Hath

"Interview" with Jon on NYE set

I put "Interview" in quotes because, well, you'll see.



NOW I totally understand his dislike/distaste/whatever of the interview process.

Wow.

~ Hath

Mid-Day Motivator: Go Ahead!

NEW RICHIE ALBUM!

Yes, I had to use all caps; I'm shouting.

Aaron Sterling (a session drummer in LA) posted this on his blog:

I’m here at Oceanway for the next few days working with the great Richie Sambora on his next solo record. He’s a super cool guy and the music has been a blast to play. We have a great band with Curt Schneider, Rusty Anderson and Matt Rollings.

This photo is courtesy of Curt Schneider's website:

Curt is a producer/songwriter/composer/mixer/musician in LA who's worked with Todd Rundgren, Dishwalla, Jason Mraz, Rod Stewart, and most recently, our Richie.

I'm always cautiously optimistic when talk of "Richie's Solo Album" is bandied about, but this sounds like work's ACTUALLY BEING DONE!  (yes, I'm still shouting)

Thanks Rike, for dropping this information in my inbox.  It made me VERY happy!!

~ Hath

Poly Prep Benefit Set List

Thanks to BigAppleJen for tweeting the set list the other night (you can see her review of the show and more photos on her blog), to CatteSambora for sending me the pictures, and to juliedreamon08 for the video links.

~ Hath

Update 10/17 -- lots more videos from BetsyR88 (UBER close and gorgeous) and chickieT (who got pretty much the whole show).  Thanks ladies!!  Also, if I have the set list out of order, please let me know!

1. Help (The Beatles)
2. Rock and Roll Star (The Byrds)
3. You Give Love a Bad Name 
4. Pretty Woman (Roy Orbison)
5. House Party (J. Geils Band)
6. Lost Highway | Lost Highway-2
7. Chain of Fools (Aretha Franklin)
8. We Weren't Born to Follow
9. Under Pressure (Bowie/Mercury) | Pressure-2
10. Glad All Over (Dave Clark Five) | Glad-2
11. Wanted Dead or Alive | Wanted-2
12. Sympathy for the Devil (Rolling Stones) | Sympathy-2 | Sympathy-3
13. Start Me Up (Rolling Stones) | Start-2
14. Teenage Wasteland (The Who) (Bobby Vox) | Wasteland-2
15. I'll Sleep When I'm Dead
16. Who Says You Can't Go Home
17. The Letter (The BoxTops)
18. Old Time Rock and Roll (Bob Seger) | Old Time-2
19. Living on a Prayer (acoustic)
20. 634-5789 (Wilson Pickett) | 6345789-2
21. Twist and Shout (The Beatles) | Twist-2

The day after the show, Jon was snapped walking around NYC.

  

  

New Year's Eve Poster

Thanks Rike, for tweeting this pic!!

The movie hits theaters December 9th.

~ Hath

David Sighting in Memphis, TN

In case you're in the area....

From BroadwayWorld.com:

David Bryan and Joe DiPietro will make a special appearance at The Stax Museum of American Music to tour the facilities and observe sessions taking place at the Soulsville Charter School.

WHEN: Friday, October 14th at 11:45 AM.
WHERE: The Stax Museum of American Music. 926 E. McLemore Ave. Memphis, TN 38106.

In other Memphis-related news, Memphis will be available on DVD/Blu-ray and Digital Download in January.

~ Hath

Larry King Tribute

Billboard.com is reporting that Jon Bon Jovi will be taking part in the Larry King tribute in NYC next month:

On November 14th in New York City, [Patrizio] Buanne will perform as part of the Friars Club Tribute to Larry King at the Sheraton New York. The event, emceed by Katie Couric, will also feature such superstar artists as Jon Bon Jovi, Tony Bennett, Kathy Griffin, and many other luminaries.

Read more here.

~ Hath

Pick up Billboard Magazine October 22

"Why?" You ask? Guess who's gracing the cover?  Hiya, Blue Eyes.

Who is this fresh faced gent on the cover of Billboard? Why, it's none other than Jon Bon Jovi, rock and roll champion, surprise country and screen star, and pro sports team owner. Pick up a copy of the magazine, out Friday [October 22], for our in-depth convo with the dynamic Bon Jovi frontman.

Hmmm, is this an old interview?  I'm referencing the "pro sports team owner" part.

Or do they mean "pro sports team former owner" and the Philly Soul?

Or did he buy into an NFL team when we weren't paying attention?

Guess we'll HAVE to buy the magazine now to find out.  Devious bastards.

~ Hath

PS: Thanks Kiwi, for the link :)

Behind Memphis the Musical

From Fox Memphis:

MEMPHIS, Tenn. - Music and lyrics are the most important elements of a musical. Good Morning Memphis sat down with the men behind Memphis the Musical. David Bryan and Joe Depietro talk about their collaboration on the musical. The production opens later this week at the Orpheum and tickets are still on sale.

Soul Kitchen Opening

Today's Best Hits is reporting on the opening of the Soul Kitchen planned for next week.

Times are tough, and that's why Jon Bon Jovi is helping New Jersey folks out with a new restaurant where the bill isn't too hard on the wallet. Next Wednesday, Jon and his Jon Bon Jovi Soul Foundation will officially open up the Soul Kitchen, an eatery in Red Bank, New Jersey where people can dine out, and pay what they can. If you don't have the cash, you can volunteer at the restaurant and pay your bill that way, and people can also make cash donations to pay for the meals of those who can't.

Jon's non-profit Soul Foundation, now in its fifth year, had previously focused on affordable housing, but it's now tackling the hunger issue head on with the official opening of the Soul Kitchen. At the launch event, which Jon and his wife Dorothea will attend, details will be provided about how to get reservations, and what the menu will feature: think locally-sourced ingredients and organic produce.

Best of luck to the Kitchen.

~ Hath

Mid-Day Motivator: Misery

Awww...

~ Hath

Soho Penthouse Up for Sale

From Curbed:

Jon Bon Jovi paid a cool $24 million for a duplex penthouse at 158 Mercer Street's New Museum building in 2007. Those dollars bought him 7,400 square feet, with "terraces of unparalleled proportions," a laundry room, two kitchens, an "enormous elevator," and some equally enormous arched windows. (Check out the c. 2007 floorplan below.) But we've got no idea what the place looks like now, because Bon Jovi apparently gave it a multimillion-dollar renovation. With that finished, he's ready for something new: the Post reports that he's quietly trying to sell the place. For $45 million.

Can JonBon really do anything on the quiet?

Curbed's city sites breathe life into real estate and neighborhood news with witty and insightful coverage of the country's most vibrant urban centers. Our editors relentlessly report on sales and rental prices, new developments, neighborhood trends, and celebrity deals.

~ Hath

New Richie/Nikki Music: How to Love

Comments were disabled on the YouTube page, but not here.  Thoughts?  One comment I heard was "the best thing you can say about it is that it's better than the pants/ass/dance song".

Gotta admire the concept of sticking to your word and fulfilling obligations and all that -- but yikes.

~ Hath

Tico and Bobby

Thanks Rike, for dropping this in my inbox, and for the translation. Note that the website refers to Bobby as Alec.  Rike knows darn well which is which.  Tico and Bobby visited a Stammersdorf winery during the tour's stop in Vienna.

Music makes the world go round...
It doesn't happen every day that world stars get lost unrecognized in a small village Stammersdorf.
But yesterday was the day.

Tico Torres and [Bobby Bandiera] of Bon Jovi (the band with the highest income 2010) honored our winery with a visit one day before their show in Vienna. Why Stammersdorf, why we? You will ask yourself with good cause.

Maria Klager met Tico Torres during her last visit in USA and they agreed that Tico should call if they would come to Vienna. And really, yesterday (21.July, 2011) her phone rang and Tico was on the other end. They arranged a meeting at the winery in Stammersdorf.

Around 8pm Maria led them through hundreds of waiting fans from the Hotel Imperial so they could arrive unrecognized at the winery. There they were spoiled with Hermi's cooking skills and then they spent a nice and cozily evening together, with a little music. Around midnight they said their good byes.

The winery's website offers these pictures:

And a couple snippets of some singing from both gentlemen.

Thanks again, Rike. I just LOVE it when Tico sings :)

~ Hath

source

Mid-Day Motivator: Not a WORD!

You may know people, but they're ALL laughing at your clothes. Note to Richie, I had those spandex pants in purple.

~ Hath

Good Luck Dawn!

Dawn Jeronowitz, one of the roadies for Bon Jovi, could win a cash prize and exposure to 30 million readers if she wins a Reader's Digest contest.  You can help by voting for her story on Reader's Digest's Facebook page.

Courtesy of PhillyBlurbs:

Dawn Jeronowitz's 150-word entry in the publisher's "Your Life" contest is being considered for publication and a $25,000 award. Her essay, "Mixed and Free," draws on the race obsession she encountered while attending school in a southern state.

The self-described "mutt who became a college activist" has a Polish, Cherokee, Indian, Irish and Dutch background, but says she simply refers to herself as American.

"Growing up in New Jersey, (race) never really occurred to me. In school we learned about the history of this area, about Ellis Island and the idea of a melting pot," she said. "But people are still very racist in America today."

That reality surfaced during her college years at the University of North Carolina and contrasts sharply with her worldly career. As a rock band roadie whose clients have included Jon Bon Jovi, Janet Jackson and Cher, Jeronowitz says she gets to meet and travel with people from all over the globe.

The winning story will net one grand-prize winner $25,000 and publication in the print version of the magazine, and 10 runners-up will win $2,500 each and have their stories published on ReadersDigest.com.

Life lessons, simple advice or funny moments described in 150 words or less can be submitted online through November 1 to www.facebook.com/ReadersDigest. Site visitors can also view and vote on the stories, and Readers Digest editors will choose the winners from among the top vote getters.

Jeronowitz thinks the prospect of her sharing her ideas is more exciting than cash.

"I just want people to be proud to be American," she says.

Good luck!

~ Hath

Heart of Camden

From Philly.com:

Jon Bon Jovi will also be at the Cherry Hill Crowne Plaza, on Dec. 2, when the Heart of Camden Gala presents his Jon Bon Jovi Soul Foundation with the Small Things, Great Love Award. Heart of Camden says Bon Jovi's interest in Camden began in 2000, when he began funding projects in the city.

More info and tickets on the annual gala are available at heartofcamden.org.

~ Hath

JBJ & Friends ~ Poly Prep Benefit

From the Bon Jovi Facebook Page:

Join Jon Bon Jovi & Friends on October 12th, 2011 at the Best Buy Theater in New York City for an amazing fundraising event to support Poly Prep Country Day School!

Limited tickets remain for tonight's show!!

~ Hath

Vote JonBon as Hottest Man of 2011

Yes, he's in the running for "Hottest Man" as voted by the visitors to SoFeminine's website.

The celeb with the highest score and the most votes will be crowned Hottest Man of 2011. I'm pretty sure that and five bucks will get him a latte, but it's a damned hot picture -- go give him a click. So far, he's at 4.5 stars out of 5 with 600+ votes.

One vote for each star allowed per day.

If you're so inclined, you can go here to vote.

~ Hath

Happy Wednesday (or, "This Kiss")

So I had a fun-filled, long weekend with the Hathlet (whale watch, apple picking, Halloween decorating, and four live hockey games ~ 3 played, one watched), and was blissfully disconnected from the 'net. I had the Motivators and Story Update posts pre-posted, and I do have a backlog of emails from all of you (thanks!!) with articles, pictures and all sorts of goodies. I'll get to everything in the next couple of days, promise.

In the mean time...

Anyone else have Faith Hill's "This Kiss" running through their heads?

It's the way that you love me
It's a feeling like this
It's centrifugal motion
It's perpetual bliss
It's that pivotal moment
It's impossible
This kiss, this kiss,
Unstoppable

Anyone else figure they'd mess up the scene on purpose just to have to re-shoot the kiss?

~ Hath