CLEVELAND, OH - APRIL 14: Inductee Jon Bon Jovi attends the 33rd Annual Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony at Public Auditorium on April 14, 2018 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Theo Wargo/Getty Images For The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame)
“We’ve got to hold on to what we’ve got.” Well, Jon Bon Jovi is more than fine letting yesteryear pass him by, and would rather embrace his old age.
Jon sat down with Celia Walden of The Telegraph to talk about everything from his career, his marriage, being fine with aging, and even Mark Wahlberg. Yes, the Mark Wahlberg. “Who is living the better life?” Jon pondered. “Mark or the guy I was just sipping wine with in a little village outside of Narbonne? Because I think hard about that guy as an example of who is living this short period of time on earth best. I’m certainly living life fully. In fact, I must have been living life really fully on the day Marky wrote about his sit-ups on social media, which was why I didn’t even take the time to read it.”
Poor Mark.
Jon is making sure to live every minute of his life, even being all about his grey hair. “Yup, I’m the guy who embraced going grey! There are a lot of gentlemen out there whose names I won’t mention — and none of them have embraced the real them, have they?” he shared. So yes to the grey hair, but how about those tight rocker leather pants? “Oh I was done with leather pants at 30,” Jon said. “The only man who pulls off leather trousers at any age is Mick Jagger. But he’s the exception to that rule because he’s the greatest of them all.”
Jon made it clear that he was done with that whole rock look as the years went by. “I remember saying, ‘The day I turn 50 and I’m still writing ‘b–ch’ on my belly and painting my fingernails black, I’m quitting,’” Jon said. “Equally the day I’m not doing this in the style to which I’m accustomed, I’m quitting. So yes I’ll embrace the grey hair — but I won’t become fat Elvis.”
And Jon is good with this life, especially since he has his wife Dorothea Hurley by his side, who he has been married to for almost 30 years.
“We got together in high school so she’s seen every iteration, every page in the book since the beginning,” Jon said. “There is no need to explain what the process is because she’s been here since before there was a process. And actually I’ll tell you what, our wedding anniversary is the same as Prince William’s.”
But even though Jon may be getting up there in age, and even though he’s staying away from leather pants and painted nails, at least he’s still touring, showcasing music from the album This House Is Not For Sale. An album that was released after a three-year hiatus, a hiatus Jon described as a “living hell.” He continued, “I certainly wasn’t depressed. No, I just had to deal with a lot. But I got through it. And came out the other side, it seems, with renewed vigor. Honestly I’ve never worked so hard at being great as I have in the last three years. I’ve had thousands of lessons and worked diligently at being the best I can be.”
So let that be a lesson to you all: even though you may be getting up there in age, it doesn’t mean you still can’t live your best life. Just check out how Jon’s doing it.
