"Tolerant" wife

Bon Jovi: Was “not always a saint” in marriage

Jon Bon Jovi with his wife Dorothea Bongiovi

(Bild: APA/Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP)

Singer Jon Bon Jovi has been lucky with his "tolerant" wife Dorothea. Because he hasn't been entirely well-behaved, he confessed a week before the couple's 35th wedding anniversary.

The 62-year-old rocker married Dorothea Rose Hurley in 1989 in the Graceland Chapel in Las Vegas. The fact that the parents of four children have come this far would not have happened if Dorothea had not been so "tolerant", he has now revealed.

Not "been a saint"
"It's all the wonderful clichés of the rock star," he told The Independent newspaper. "It's about never lying, having been a saint, but also not being stupid enough to mess up your family life."

Bon Jovi is certain that the couple's marriage has withstood the test of time thanks to "a mutual admiration and the good fortune of having grown up together", but above all due to his wife's tolerance.

Jon Bon Jovi

(Bild: Drew Gurian/Invision/AP)

"There are more talented guys"
US rock band Bon Jovi ("Living On A Prayer", "It's My Life") are celebrating the 40th anniversary of their debut album this year.

According to frontman Jon Bon Jovi, the fact that the group from New Jersey achieved their international breakthrough in the 1980s and are still successful today is mainly down to hard work. "There were certainly more talented guys you could find in any corner pub," the 62-year-old told the German Press Agency in London.

"But we had the work ethic. I spent 40 years fully focused on making it, not once, but over and over again," Bon Jovi said. The new documentary series "Thank You Goodnight: The Bon Jovi Story" (from April 26 on Disney+) shows how the young Jon Bon Jovi made a name for himself in the New Jersey club scene at the beginning of his career and impressed superstar Bruce Springsteen, who was also from the area.

"It certainly didn't hurt where and when we were born," said Bon Jovi, who comes from a working-class family. Thanks to Springsteen's success, record companies were specifically looking for new artists in New Jersey at the time.

"Lying right"
The third Bon Jovi album "Slippery When Wet" turned the five musicians into global stars, and "New Jersey" was the next hit album to follow. "It showed that we weren't wrong," said the singer. While many rock bands of the 1980s lost popularity or disbanded in the 1990s, Bon Jovi's "Keep The Faith" actually went uphill from 1992. 

"Shortly before that, the Berlin Wall came down in Germany and this song meant a lot to many people in Germany and Europe. That carried over back to America."

Good songs are crucial
Ultimately, Jon Bon Jovi is certain that the prerequisite for continued success is to continue to have something to offer musically. "It really always comes down to the songs. If you don't have a song, then you're nothing more than a pin-up and a poster in the middle of a magazine, if you're lucky."

The crucial thing is to deliver good songs in every phase and with every album. The US rockers intend to do the same in their anniversary year. The 15th Bon Jovi studio album "Forever" will be released on June 7. The first single "Legendary" has already been released.