Jon Bon Jovi stopped by Jimmy Kimmel Live! to discuss Bon Jovi’s new documentary, Thank You, Good Night: The Bon Jovi Story, his relationship with Bruce Springsteen, and more.
Kimmel and Bon Jovi began by discussing his first hit, “Runaway,” and how he brought it to radio stations. “The most passionate man in the music business is a DJ,” he explained. “Why? Because he’s alone with a microphone, preaching the gospel of music to who knows who, if anybody.
“At that time, when DJs were really influential, and I wasn’t getting any response to ‘Runaway’ as a cassette that I was sending along to anyone and everyone, I thought, ‘Who’s the guy? A DJ…’ The station was so new they didn’t have a receptionist. I literally knocked on the window the booth and he said, ‘Shush.’ He came out after the show was over and heard ‘Runaway’ and said it was a hit. I said, ‘I know!’”
Bon Jovi also discussed his relationship with Bruce Springsteen. He said, “Nowadays, we go out of our way to spend time together. The story that’s gone around is we take these drives. No radio, no phones, nobody, we’ll go for 100 miles…The two of us can lock the door and go for a ride and talk…For the first five, six, or seven times I’d say, ‘God, I wish a cop would pull us over, this would be a great shot.’”
Bon Jovi also chatted about the documentary noting that the band, “…had a lot of fun. We were in a rock band.”
The new Bon Jovi album, Forever, will be released June 7 via Island Records. This year marks Bon Jovi’s 40th anniversary as a band, and on top of the new record they’re celebrating with a retrospective Hulu docuseries, Thank You, Goodnight: The Bon Jovi Story, which will premiere on Hulu in the U.S. and on Disney+ in the U.K. on April 26.
