Jon Bon Jovi Live from SiriusXM Miami Studios

0:22Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Conan O 'Brien!

0:31Wow. Incredible. I had no idea. I didn't know you'd be here. This is amazing. Incredible. That's all I can say. Incredible. They told me this was a storage room, and it's like a surprise party. This is amazing. Thank you so much for being here. Who's from Miami? Are you guys from Miami? No, how many people, just make noise if you're not from Miami. Okay, what the hell's going on? Because yesterday I came out and talked to the crowd and went, yeah, Miami, and they're like, I don't know, we're from Germany. You all, who traveled the furthest to be here? If you think you traveled the furthest, raise your hand.

1:20Yes, how far did you travel? Boca Raton. Boca Raton. Oh wait, so you're all from Florida. Oh, well screw you then. I did a show in Brooklyn and people were from, remember they were from the Netherlands. Oh yeah, somebody came from like Venezuela or something. Yeah, exactly. And these people were like, Boca Raton. How long a drive is Boca Raton? Oh, hour and a half to see the greatest, greatest comedian who ever lived, who can't say greatest, but says greatest. No, thank you very much for being here. We're gonna have a lot of fun today, and Blay, it's been pretty crazy since we've been here. I know you're not, and the only one of you have been to Miami before now, but...

2:05But no, we had a pretty good time last night. We hit a restaurant, and then I'm pretty proud of myself because I managed to avoid the paparazzi. And when I say avoid the paparazzi, I mean they don't give a shit about me. I'm the most boring celebrity, but we come out of the restaurant last night with you and the whole entourage. and there's a paparazzi guy there filming us. That's right. And I come out. You tell the story. It's your show. You go ahead. You're wearing the Hawaiian shirt. I'll just stand over here like an asshole. So sorry. I was just going to say, before we went out, this woman approached you and said, Mr.

2:40O 'Brien, there's paparazzi outside. Do you want to go out the back? Yeah. And I was like, no. I want to see what paparazzi looks like. I want to see what this paparazzi thing is all about. So we went out the front, and I brought you all out with me, and then the guy starts filming me, and then I walk up to talk to him, and he puts the camera down. And I guess it's online today. Like, I bored him to death immediately. You talked to him for like 10 minutes, and then he was like, I gotta go. He's like, I gotta go. And I'm like, don't you want a picture of me maybe kissing someone who's not my wife?

3:13And he's like, nah, I'm good. That's the effect I have on these people. I've seen, I've walked past guys before who have the long lenses in New York and they start to lift the camera and then they go, I'm like, it's digital. You're not way... Just get one just in there like, it's good. We're fine. You're too boring. Hey, Ruthie, how are you? You shooting this on the socials? I don't know what that is. I'm 85 years old. Hi, Instagram. How are you? Okay, well, anyway, that happened. David Hopping, is David Hopping here? This is, David's my assistant. Yeah. Who fills in for some... Don't play music for David!

4:01That's my music. Here, you stand over there. You're being punished for having your own music when you came out. I didn't say give him music. That's insane. No, we have so much to talk about. I talk about our big paparazzi experience. That was fun. Oh, yeah. Yeah. They couldn't wait to get away Okay, shut up, David Conan started to walk and was like Do you want to see the buns? And the camera goes down so fast Give the mic away There you go That's enough, David No, no, no You lost your mic privileges, David No, he'll get it back Don't worry We're going to have such a good time We're going to have a really good time here Oh, one thing I have to mention This show is going to drop in March, I believe Is that correct?

4:43Yes, that's correct So please play along, okay? Don't be like, Merry Christmas! Because when it drops in March, you'll look like we're brain damaged. So don't do that. Just be chill. It's March when this airs, okay? So if I say, man, spring is sprung.

5:06You know, play along. Like spring really just sprang, you know? If I say, well, April, only a couple of weeks away, Sort of nod and go, yeah, yeah. A couple of weeks away. Boy, these are boring things I'm talking about. If I actually say those things, it means we're in deep trouble. But anyway, that's the plan. It's, when is it, David? Okay. It's March. It's March. Yeah. Too much. You overdid it. Some people came as far as Boca Raton. That's an hour and 20 minute drive. Yeah. Probably running an errand here anyway. So, yeah, and then just came in here and was like, I guess I'll watch him. Yeah.

5:49I've never seen the paparazzi photos of him, so I'll check him out in person. All right, well, I guess we should get started, shouldn't we? Yes. Do you want to sit? Let's get David up here. David, you want to sit with me for a second? What is this transition music doing? What's it accomplishing? It's a night. We're playing you over to the stage. I just stepped up onto this little riser thing, and there has to be a song? This chair is too low. I'm sorry, folks. I just, I gotta get it together. I stayed out really late at the clubs. It's not true. It's not true. We dropped you off at the hotel and then Blay, Ruthie and I went out.

6:28I know. I went right up to my room and, yeah, watched like, just whatever. I forget what I watched. Agent Cody Banks? Agent Cody Banks 2. 2. They go to London. It's a true story. Well, anyway, I'm a creep.

6:45No, it's what was on when I turned on the TV and I thought of you, because I know you love 90s television. I do. You even have a podcast. I do. I'd like to, why don't you say the name of your podcast? Oh, that's nice, it's called Back to the Best. Okay, yeah. You can all follow us on Instagram, at btdbpodcast. We can pause so the audience can all follow right now. What are you doing? I just said you can mention your podcast. Thank you. There you go. All right, well anyway, are you having a good time here in Miami so far? I am, yeah. Yeah. Yeah, it's cool. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Okay, that's all the show we have.

7:15Thanks a lot for being here. I'm very excited. Yeah. I think we should get our guest out here. Let's do it. I really do. I think we should do this thing. Let's do this thing. I never get to say do this thing, but I'm gonna say it now. All right, let me get the correct card. Here we go. You folks ready for our guest?

7:33And what month is it? March. You bet it is. It's March. It is. Yeah. Summer's coming on fast. I'm sure that's almost here. Hey, David, what did you get for Christmas? What was your favorite gift? What about the Maserati I gave you? Hey, that was so nice. I loved that. Yeah. Too bad we had to take it back. All right. It was just a stunt. I hate it here.

8:01I gave him a Maserati and then took it away immediately. That's the meanest joke ever. My guest today is a Grammy Award winning rock and roll Hall of Fame musician and front man, one of the most successful rock bands of all time. He now has a new single entitled Legendary, as well as a new docuseries I just watched, entitled Thank You, Goodnight, The Bon Jovi Story. I'm thrilled he's here today. Jon Bon Jovi, welcome!

8:31Hi, I'm Jon Bon Jovi, and I feel mildly amused about being Conan O 'Brien's friend. I'll take it, I'll take it.

8:46I need a phone book. I know, what is it? We're both sinking into these seats. We both like Mr. Burns. Yes, excellent, excellent, yes. I know that we are a similar vintage, I think we were probably born around the same time. And all I ever do is I walk in the room, this is like the best looking man I've ever seen at any age group. And every day I look at my face in the mirror and it's a pumpkin rotting in the sun. I don't know what you're doing. You're drinking the blood of the living, but whatever you're doing, absolutely incredible. Thank you very much. I'm older than dirt. I've earned this gray hair.

9:24At least you're still... This is a wig. I can just... I just strapped this on. It's just Velcro and it goes on in the back. Yeah, that's me. No, thank you so much for doing this. You've been very nice to me over the years. He came on the late night show, I think seven times, which I don't - You guys were incredibly supportive of the band. Thank you. Yeah, yeah. And you were even crazy enough to invite Triumph along. Yes. It's one of the fans' favorite remotes is Triumph giving you guys endless amounts of shit. And I remember when Robert Smigel told me, yeah, they've invited Triumph. And I said, why would anyone invite him in?

10:02He was on the podcast last week and he spent 15 minutes absolutely ripping me apart. And when he was done, I was laughing - As triumph? As triumph. He had the puppet there ripping me apart. And then when he was done, I was really laughing hard, but when I went home, there was blood in my urine. He attacks and you think you're having a really good time and then you get home and realize, oh my God. He destroyed me. He absolutely destroyed me. Triumph. Classic. At MetLife Stadium. I mean, he didn't like come, you know, to a little club somewhere. We took him to the stadium. Oh, I know. I remember seeing it.

10:40You guys were very good sports and fools, I think, to have them. We loved them. But I was talking to you backstage that I got to see this documentary about you, the band, how it all got started. And the first thing that struck me, which I could relate to, is how much things change. you get a little older and how much harder you have to work just to stay at the same level and if that's something you talk about like your work ethic is absolutely insane and very admirable because people think being in a rock and roll band and being a massive star would just be fun Of course it is. Of course it's fun.

11:17Yeah, I got that from the documentary. You didn't have to work at all Totally phoned it in. Yeah, but it's it's impressive like well how much work you have to do well Look, every kid thinks he's a singer because he's in the shower doing it. And then you can do it in a bar. And then you can even make a record. You make a record, now you've set the bar. And now you have to beat that record every fucking time. You can watch The Swearing a little bit. This is a podcast for children. A kid's show. It's a kid's show, five and six years old. Yeah. No, but it is, and it starts out with you doing all these vocal exercises and you're just talking about like, yep, 60, the band's been around 40 years and you do all this work.

12:04And I don't even think fans, they're not supposed to know how much work you put into it. Right. It's supposed to look easy. But the harder you work, the luckier you get. And, you know, on the other hand, I had an old adage, nobody loved the fat Elvis. you know it's like i don't want to go out like that if i'm gonna if i'm gonna die it's gonna be you know out there doing it the right way or don't do it right you know i mean just if you're not gonna do it don't be the fat elvis yeah yeah so i i disagree i i plan i plan to really fall apart and hang around and i'm just hanging around And we're constantly doing research that shows no one wants me anymore and I'm like, I don't care.

12:49I'm going to eat these pork chops and get out there. It's my microphone. Just embarrass myself. Yeah. No, it is a real testament and also it is a great story. I think people should watch this because like anything else, when you see everything that went into it, what I took away from it is you're this kid and no one's... you have music teachers in school telling you, yeah, you're not a singer. Everyone's telling you you're not a singer and you just are like, uh-huh, yeah, no, I am. You'll see. You just keep going in the face of a lot of adversity. You know, give a kid a dream, it's dangerous. So it was as simple as that.

13:30And at the time, growing up in New Jersey was very different than being in Los Angeles or Manhattan or somewhere that had a big spotlight on you. we were in the shadow of the greatest city in the world with new york city we're close enough to greatness but we could craft or we could develop our chops we could learn our craft we could we could play other people's music and emulate them until the time when we got to that place where you felt that the hell would it i'm going to jump off the diving board and see if i can swim and so that was really important the time the late 70s was a melting pot of great music that was happening It was a time when a DJ could influence an audience.

14:11They had an endless playlist and a microphone. And they could talk to the audience and say, check this out. And a band could break out of a city. It didn't have to be a national thing with a big push behind it. So all of those things came together at a time for me. Even by the time I was 18, I said, I can't play other people's music anymore. That's right. You were a cover band. You were in a cover band. And you're only playing other people's songs. And then you decide. I'm 18. Yeah, 18 years old. That's enough. And you decide I'm going to start writing my own stuff. Yeah. And I have a decent imagination and I've made my living off of what goes on in my brain.

14:53The one thing that's a complete mystery to me, and I've said this to a lot of my musical guests, is songwriting. It's completely magical. And you clearly have this great gift for it, but when you first start, how do you even know what you're doing? You don't. But I've heard others say that, and it sort of mystifies me because I think, oh, it's really not that hard, but I could never write comedy, or I could never write a script. I think how difficult that would be to write a script and all of that dialogue and every intention of each of the characters. But writing a song for me, it starts out very stupid and simple, and you're stealing from everybody, and then you're emulating your heroes, and then you're rhyming Moon, June, and Spoon, and with time.

15:35Hey, I like that song. That was a hit for me, by the way. 1987, it went to the top of the charts, yeah. You know, until eventually you develop a voice and then you're writing chapters in your own book. Yeah. But that's kind of what it is. When you're looking at those old tapes, 85, 86, and what is it that hits you right away? Is it what you're wearing, the look? You know, look, my baby pictures were public. your audiences were not you know so i have to live with that yeah the poster boy of the 80s no i i can chuckle at all of that now and really you know enjoy the the laugh uh as much as anyone else can but i think that what i enjoyed the most is that we made the impossible possible by just saying we can go why not you know it wasn't why it was why not we can do this if you really was great for me because i got to look back at this 40 years in a in a time capsule you know the four parts are well as you've seen and i hope your audience has seen um really telling because it's all the warts you know it's it's the ups the downs it's the hurting it's the healing any successful band to be really good there have to have an element where they're almost tearing each other apart i don't know what that thing is but clearly it just is part of the stew of any great band and uh another great music documentary was about the eagles and it's just about them they're all trying to kill each other at different times yeah i mean it's like you're watching survivor and uh and uh but that's the element that seems to be kind of important i i think it absolutely is it's a sexless marriage in most rock bands you know i mean you're you're in your marriage

17:29right anyway you're here with these guys 24 7.

17:37i'm laughing and crying at the same time you know so you you you're you're together to the point of frustration and and then there's there's all the infighting and and success is uh it's intoxicating and then it depends on what you do with it yeah you know how many comedians have we seen or actors or or singers that they get a taste of that and then they up or or you realize what you're doing and you go on i remember telling a story with that about the beatles that they were the archetype that you wish that john had lived because could they would they have gotten back together or could they would they have had a healing because they had seen someone else somewhere get fixed yep because the eagles were a great example right it's 15 years of not being together and then they get back together and they're still touring yeah you know every great band if you think about it technically the e street band was not working together the eagles weren't working together guns and roses were aerosmith had this whole period where they came apart down a list you know but um in a weird way you know you're you the gravitational pull gets everybody back together one more time and you know and if it can it does this one of the things that's very cool about your story that i'd heard about but didn't really understand completely until i saw the uh the documentary series is that you're a kid you know this is what you want to do and so you manage uh to get a job working at this recording studio and you're you're running errands sure you're getting coffee you're probably getting other illegal things uh for people as well you're around it and this is at that level at that level and i've always told young people are always saying to me if they're interested in comedy they say well how did you get into this so what do you think i should do what's your advice i say go to where they're doing the thing that you love and be around it just get close to it and if it means that you're getting paid next to nothing and you're getting coffee do that you pay them yeah and so um you were around in this studio yeah and famous studio the power station the power station and so you're around and you're 18 19 exactly there's aerosmith there's steven tyler yeah these huge stars are around and you're the kid yeah and you're close to it but i think it's far enough away because they weren't inviting you in right you know for nine out of ten times i looked through the control room door window freddie mercury david bowie singing under pressure that's incredible i jumped out of a cab one time paying with nickels and quarters no lie with my little band from a rehearsal studio about to go up to the stairs of the recording studio to just walk through the door paparazzi guy as you're talking about jumps out of a garbage can he starts taking pictures of what was the rolling stones jumping out of their limo to go in the studio.

20:30The guy yells at Mick Jagger, Mick, Mick, Mick, give us a picture of the band. He grabs me and my friends, throws his arms around me, and he says, this is our new band, the Frogs.

20:45What I would give to find that picture, 43 years later. It's out there somewhere, you gotta figure. I thought it was the guy Ron Galella, remember that guy? I thought it was him for the longest time. He says, no, it wasn't me. but somebody jumped out of that dumpster somebody took that picture of and and if i'm not mistaken it was bill wyman who held the door for us and and mick said yeah go upstairs and there was rolling stones in the lobby of this studio now granted we didn't get to hang out we didn't get to talk you know but i was lucky enough in that period of time to to be there um and having had several bands by that time and when i'd gotten out of high school that second cousin of mine is a guy that I didn't know before.

21:28Came to see my band play at my father's behest. And he said, the band stink. The kids sort of got something and stay in touch. And so for 50 bucks a week, I called him, you know, in September after I graduated high school with no college on the horizon. He says, yeah, I'll give you 50 bucks a week and come be a gopher. I was like, thank you, please. And I, you know, took the bus to New York every day and did that.

21:58I remember the first Comic Relief. I think they still have them, but for the first Comic Relief to raise money for unhoused people, they had got every famous comedian in the world. And I think at the time I was 21, complete unknown, just getting started in LA, but I volunteered and ended up getting coffee for people, but I just wanted to be around it. I didn't ask anybody for a favor. I didn't say, hey, I think I'm pretty funny. You don't do that. No. You just be of service. You make yourself kind of indispensable to people. And then they start to say. They're a little nicer to you. They're a little nicer to you.

22:36And when you have that proximity to it, it probably made you think this is achievable. This can be done. We believed that in Jersey at 17, 18. I believed that the band weren't together yet. It made the impossible possible for me because 25 miles south was the Asbury Jukes and the E Street Band. Yeah. It wasn't Led Zeppelin. And that was just beyond the reach. You know, that was too big. But those guys, and they were right down the street. And remember now, there was 10 Asbury Jukes and 70 street band members. There was always going to be one of them bumming a beer from somebody somewhere. Right.

23:10You know, so you couldn't help but run into them, even though, you know, I was obviously the next generation. But, I mean, the first time Bruce jumped on stage with me, I was 17 years old. It's amazing. They actually have photos. There's photos of that. You were singing. You're in a cover band. You're singing a Springsteen tune in New Jersey when this guy jumps on stage to grab the mic and sing with you. And it turns out to be Bruce. And it's pretty, pretty unbelievable. It doesn't happen a lot. I wouldn't think. Well, then again, Bruce plays with a lot of people. They've actually asked him to leave a couple of weddings.

23:44What do you mean I have to go? Just get out of here. Just one more. Come on. yeah i have uh my horn section at late night for all those years la bamba the guy who for years saying in the year 2000 he um he was an original they were the jute's uh horn section you bet and uh and south side's still doing and he's doing it great he's in great spirits and he's working and doing and being and of course the e street band are still doing their thing so it's yeah they're still doing it it's great and it's funny because at that time as bray jukes come along springsteen comes along they didn't proudly say we're from new jersey it wasn't something it wasn't it wasn't sexy no it's the punchline yeah you guys uh well bruce did but i'm saying as a as a group all of you sort of made jersey this magical place well he did he did and so for the next generation which is us we're the next generation not even a year or two or five or ten right the next generation you know give all respect where it belongs it's the e street band was everything but um you know for the next generation yeah bon jovi became a big worldwide band yeah yes i heard of you well it's so cool because uh you put in all this work and all this time it's really it's the third album yeah isn't that the slippery went wet that explodes i remember I remember this really clearly because it blew up just as my comedy career.

25:12I really get started in 86, right around the time. And so I'm hearing that on the radio. What really struck me about that whole part of your life is now I see how much work went in before that. Sure. At the time, it just looked like, well, these guys hit it big. And this John Bon Jovi guy just lucked out. And now all the women in the world want to be with him. And now I see that it was this relentless struggle for, you know, what must have seemed to you like a long time before it finally hit. But then you're ready for it. At every level of success, when you're playing a block dance, you think you're the king of the world.

25:45You know, I mean, just any time you stepped on the stage, I'm sure you were happy to be in front of 30 people going, I'm the king of the world. I'm going to O 'Brien now. And then all the way up that ladder. If it was just 30 people, no. And this was a problem for much of my career. I would scream at the crowd, why aren't there more? why aren't there more and then people would just leave kind of bummed uh that was a real roadblock for me but no but but it felt like when that finally hit and then you're playing stadiums you're ready because you've done well yeah you can do it over and over if you you've got some chops by then sure but every step along the way i swear to you if i played a block dance i thought that we had made it you played the fast lane which was the place in asbury where original bands played and that was so my home club which is no longer there tore it down but i thought we made it because we played there you know in every way you know getting a record deal or being opening act opening for somebody at the garden you thought that was it all the way up the ladder and to this day i don't think i've ever achieved the top of the ladder yet every day you want to do better not more just you want to do better it's funny because that kind of intensity can be tough on people around you.

26:56You know, if you have that, I've got it. It's not good enough, you know, or I think I could do better. I have a little bit of a negative voice in my head that's always saying, OK, that was all right. But other people are saying that was really good. I'm like, no, it wasn't. And it people check me on it all the time. And I realize it's not always fun to be around. But that's that's part of what it is. Yeah, I've learned to be more comfortable and stuff around everybody and open to being vulnerable i certainly will express to any and everybody you know i'm hurting i could use the help guys and everybody's very supportive of that um but i i won't accept mediocrity if you know i want it to be the best it can possibly be who you know i just i can't do anything else i think that the part that uh is mind-boggling to me is that if you are if you're playing an instrument if you're playing the keyboards if the bass player and you keep your chops up you can play that in a stadium but you have to put the song across vocally yeah and that's something where you start to run into you're fighting mother nature at a certain point which you show very honestly in the documentary how hard you have to work at one point you have lasers treating your throat to kind of take the inflammation down and uh the amount of work the amount of vocal training you have to do that you didn't have that you didn't have to do when you were 18 25 30 40 or 50 yeah but it um it caught up and again you know it's something that i work at every day so i i i enjoy it too though i i i like doing it you know it's just sort of what i do i guess at this point it's just ingrained in me i don't know what i would what i would do if i didn't do it not on the stage not in the spotlight but just singing and playing and writing you know it's not generated or motivated by the spotlight or the stage it really isn't you have this uh this new single yeah and legendary yeah and i'm curious at this point in um and i heard it today and loved it but i was thinking to myself how do you at this point in your life do you walk around and play it for people on a guitar and say what do you think of this do you have people you go to that you bounce it off of who you think are going to be honest with you yeah uh but because i don't no one will say people just tell me i just want to get paid just tell you what yeah this is what gets me paid today and i say just tell me it's great and they say it's great and then it's great and then it sucks um and that's worked for me for years but i would but i would think at this at this point even if if if i as long as i care enough look our last album was called 2020 and i put it into this black hole called covid and you know came out right i couldn't promote it in any way i couldn't tour it it was a very topical record it wasn't an up beat record i'm writing songs about george floyd and about coven about gun violence and my audience was like cool you know no hits why why and i go well depressing songs you know about yeah the mood of the world yeah but here's the diary of my life at that time and so you know you write these songs and i'm very very proud of the record now i'm in a better mood we can go out, you know, and, you know, I don't have to sit home and drink.

30:18I can go out. And so, you know. I prefer to drink at home. Yeah, I got good at that. And I'll tell you, people say that's not good, but. No, it's really good. You should try it. You don't have to share any. You don't have to share. The whole bottle's yours. And you have all these great ideas. And you start yelling. You write them down. And then in the morning, they just look like gibberish. No, but I get to talk to so many people whose work I admire and who've achieved these great things. And what you're saying resonates exactly with what Neil Young told me not too long ago on this podcast, which is he told me that whatever is happening to me right now, it's not my business whether or not it's a big commercial thing or not.