Here is a piece of interview i got from the internet ....Read on.. It's 10 A.M. in New York City. A bleary-eyed Jon Bon Jovi opens the door, shakes my hand, and thankfully accepts the bucket-sized cup of Starbucks that the Mercury Records publicist has brought for him. He pulls a hand through his famous head of hair (I know better than to ask him about his new coif), and fires up the first of many Marlboro Lights. Pictures of his wife and children clutter the shelves. The occasion is Jon's second solo record, Destination Anywhere. Bon Jovi may not be a critic's darling, but he has probably sold more records than everyone else in this issue put together. So there. SPIN: Who gave you that piece of art hanging on the wall? Jon Bon Jovi: Elton gave me that. Is he a close friend? Yeah. He's the sweetest, most generous man on earth. Did you hear the story about the Concorde flight he was on that lost an engine? Pete Townshend was also aboard, and everybody was looking at these two rock stars and thinking, We can't die with these guys on the plane. Here's another one. I heard that Sly Stallone was on his way to Cannes and the windshield on his private plane popped out. So they had to fly across the ocean like that. [Laughs] And Sly said, "I always wanted to cross the Atlantic in a convertible." Speaking of Sly, tell me about your own acting career. Did you have any formal training? Oh yeah, I studied for six years. Moonlight and Valentino [his first film] was only two-and-a-half years ago. I'd written the music for the film Young Guns 2, and it turned out to be a surprising success. I won a Golden Globe and was nominated for an Academy Award. And I wanted to do it again. That was going to be my outlet. So I was getting scripts with the idea that I would be writing the songs. But eventually the scripts stopped coming, and I thought that if I took acting lessons, maybe I'd meet more movie people. So I took some lessons, and then a couple of years into that, I went on an audition. And eventually I got a role. My first day on the set was the first time I ever acted with a group of people. I had spent two years like this, with a guy in a room. So it was like being thrown right into the fire, but it was cool. How does it compare to music? Is it a similar buzz? My greatest creative pleasure is still writing a song, because I created it. Being on a set and making a film is like jamming with a band; it's a collaboration. It's more like being a rhythm guitar player. You just show up, play your part, and walk away. Does your rock-star status create any special problems on the set? Beefed-up security and the like? No. I mean, today I'll go to the set [of the upcoming Ed Burns movie Long Time, Nothing New]. Everyone in town knows I'm there. I've been there for two months. There'll be, maybe, a hundred fans out there. They'll stop and take a picture or something. They're not Lee Harvey Oswald; nobody wants to shoot me. They just want to say hi, and that's that. What was your childhood like? It was a very good, middle-class, New Jersey upbringing. I was blessed growing up. My parents worked six days a week so we could make it. They taught me and my brother that hard work could get us what we want. You still believe that? Yeah. I've always believed that nothing was going to be handed to me, but that if I went out and hustled, I could have it. On Christmas morning when I was 13, I wanted this electric guitar so bad, and my folks hid it under the couch, they wanted to see if I'd act pissy. But I didn't. I just said, "Oh well, I didn't get it." And then they pulled it out. Do you still have that guitar? No, I wish I did. I sold it Before you got famous? Yeah. I bet the guy who bought it made a mint. I heard he did, actually. Speaking of which, whatever happened to that guy who won your house on MTV? He sold it two months later. After he posed for all the pictures for MTV. He made himself $100,000. [Laughs] Who were your heroes growing up? Southside Johnny. Bruce [Springsteen] and Steven Van Zandt, of course. They made the impossible possible because they were 20 miles from your house and they were writing songs about the streets that ran through your neighborhood. The Who and Led Zeppelin and all those groups were just too unobtainable for a kid from Jersey. Too big. When did you know you were going to be a big rock star? You don't ever know. When you play a bar you think that's big. Then you get your first bus, and you think that's big. When [1986's 12-million-selling] Slippery When Wet hit, though, that was the big time. Was it too big? When Slippery came out, we were thrust into it so fast that when I now look back on it, those aren't fond memories at all. I was burned out beyond belief. I was getting shots of steroids in order to sing every night. My eyes were sunken, I weighed about 102 pounds. It was too much to enjoy, it was too fast. Can you look back on it objectively now? Yeah. I know now that if I'd taken one wrong turn 15 years ago, I could have been the one rolling the room service tray into the room instead of the one receiving it. And I don't take any of that for granted. Ever. But when Slippery hit, we were wealthy, and we did all the goofy things. We felt that the way you showed your love for your family was to buy them a house, or a Ferrari, or Cartier. But I've had success now for ten, 11 years, so I've gotten past that. What's important now is when [guitarist] Richie [Sambora] calls me and says, "How ya doing?" I get much more out of that. When did you, Richie, and the band decide to take a break from Bon Jovi? When it started to feel like an oldies act. I knew when to put in "You Give Love A Bad Name," I knew when to pull out the big stadium trick, when the fireworks should go off. I thought, I'm not going to get caught in that. I'm going to walk away from this. Like the words to "Every Word Was a Piece of My Heart" [from his new solo album, Destination Anywhere]: "It was all I had to give you / And I gave it to you / And now I'm walking away." How do you feel about the music press? Well, they're obviously not big fans. We're not the critics' darling, we never were. We were always the people's band. The harsh reality is that we've sold 70-odd-million albums, and I'm not on the cover of SPIN this month. I'm an article inside it. And whoever is on the cover this month or next month, I'm sure we've sold more records than they have. Does that frustrate you? [Shrugs] You can't demand respect. You just have to stay around long enough. SPIN once asked me if Bon Jovi released our late-'80s records in such quick succession because I was afraid it was all a fluke, that it would soon be over. I didn't realize it then, but the answer was yes. But now we know that we could walk away and we'd all be fine. Now we know that the band is going to make it into the '90s, that there's going to be a next record. It's no longer a question of whether or not we're going to make it into the millennium. We're going to. Do you consider yourself an optimist? Sure. I have nothing to be pessimistic about. My life is blessed, I know that. I'm grateful for it every day. And it bothers me to see kids of this era saying, "We don't have a future, we don't have a job." I was born during the Kennedy era, when we still believed. My parents believed that they could own a house and a car. And when I was old enough to vote, and Ronald Reagan was telling us that everything's going to be okay, the bad guys are still in Russia and we're the good guys and all that nonsense, and you're 18 and impressionable, and you're watching the debates between him and Jimmy Carter and he whoops Carter's ass on TV, you think, Yeah, I could vote for that guy. Up to that point, people still believed they could achieve things. I did. I took the longest of shots and said, "I'm going to be a rock star." Interview with Jon Bon Jovi - US Magazine (August, 1995) IF YOU HAD THE 1980'S TO DO OVER AGAIN, WHAT WOULD YOU DO DIFFERENTLY? Everybody's going to have their baby pictures to regret. For me, looking at the 80's is looking back at pictures from the disco era. I think maybe I should have stuck to a pair of Levi's jeans and not been the king of long hair. But that's how things worked out. You survive it and move on. HOW DID IT COME ABOUT THAT YOU'RE PLAYING WITH THE STONES IN PARIS? I wrote Mick a note and said "Mick, I want to open for you." Honest to God I said: "I'd carry your luggage any day of the week, you're the coolest. Let me open for you." AND? AND? And he said yes. It was that simple. It's a dream come true. I can't wait. IT MUST BE A DIFFERENT EXPERIENCE THIS TIME AROUND WITH FAMILY ON BOARD. They're the only thing that makes it worthwhile. I wouldn't be here if they weren't out here. The only reason I'm on time is because Jesse woke me up and said "Wah!" All right, all right! I looked at the clock and said "Holy shit, it's one o'clock." ARE YOU DOING 3 A.M. FEEDINGS? No, actually he sleeps. He's sleeping like a trouper right through the night. DO YOU CHANGE DIAPERS? I haven't changed his diaper once, and he's 3.5 months old. DO YOU KNOW HOW TO? Yes. JESSE JAMES LOIS BONGIOVI IS AN INTERESTING NAME. I thought I was destined to have girls drive me crazy for the rest of my life. My whole life is surrounded by women. They completely manipulate my every move. My manager, my publicist, my wife and my daughter, my mother, you name it. Then it was Jesse James to the rescue! DO YOU THINK YOU'RE A GOOD FATHER? I think so. My kids are really cool. Stephanie is just a trip. It's her birthday next week, and I called up a dear friend of hers to come to her birthday party - Barney's making an appearance. Now she's like "Barney's coming, Barney's coming!" BARNEY'S PROBABLY A BIGGER STAR IN HER LIFE THAN YOU ARE! Actually, Stephanie came to her first show last night. I set her on the front of the stage, and it was packed, 60,000 seat stadium. It was funny because all she could say afterwards was "Daddy. Sing. Microphone. Lights. People clappy." She didn't know what to do, so she just started clapping her head off. WHAT'S ONE THING YOU'VE DONE THAT YOU WON'T TELL YOUR KIDS ABOUT? Well, you know, I've lived all the excesses of this business for a lot of years. But I won't NOT tell them about it. I mean, I've done it all, shit. It certainly hasn't been an easy time, you know. YOU ONCE SAID YOU FELT LIKE A "PLAY TOY" FOR OLDER WOMEN. When I was very young, I truly was. TELL ME ABOUT THAT. I was a little gigolo when I was 17. And I had older women picking me up when I was 15. So, I've been around the block a time or two, you know. HOW OLD WERE YOU THE FIRST TIME? When I first got laid? Eighth grade. Age 14 probably. DO YOU EVER TALK TO HER NOW? No. I wouldn't know her if she were in a rest room. WAS IT A GOOD EXPERIENCE? No, it was terrible. But you learn. It was pretty wild, you know. Because you're so young, you don't even realize what's happening. Could you imagine if you had the knowledge that you have right now and could go back to high school? You'd be manipulating everybody and fucking with the teacher. [Lauhging] If I only knew then... HOW DO YOU KEEP YOURSELF SANE OUT HERE ON THE ROAD THESE DAYS? I've had the same band for 12 years, I've had the same friends my whole life, I've been with my wife for 15 years. I'ma fan of music, so I still have my heroes that I get to play with. My guitar handler has been working with us since I was 16. You bring pieces of home with you. WHAT'S YOUR WIFE LIKE? IS SHE STILL THE SAME WOMAN YOU KNEW BACK IN THE DAY? I read in an article somewhere that in relationships, when you get beyond the initial sexual attraction, you realize that you sort of want to be like the other person. And I thought, Yeah, I'd like to be my wife. She's incredible focused and itelligent, and she's cooler than anybody I know. She's very, very, together. Probably a lot of that has to do with her martial-arts background [Dorothea is a black belt in karate]. DOES SHE EVER USE IT ON YOU? Not so far. But at the heart of martial is a focus. I'm one who sometimes says things before he thinks, and she thinks before she says things. That's a talent, and I learn from her all the time. SO, JON, IT'S POURING OUTSIDE. YOU'RE ABOUT TO PLAY AN OUTDOOR CONCERT. HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THIS? People think it's a drag. This is the best. One simple reason: Anyone can sing in the shower. Welcome to my fucking shower! This is the best singing weather in the world, humid and wet. They're going to have to pull me off the stage tonight. You think Micahel Jackson's weird? I'm in the shower the whole time. I need humidity man, I am Aquaman. WHAT'S THE STRANGEST PLACE YOU'RE EVER PLAYED? I've been to some pretty funky places but I'd have to say it was Kuala Lumpur. They took our tour poster and erased our earrings, our long hair, and they made up a quote from me. WHAT? THAT THE GOVERNMENT IS GREAT? No, it was about drugs. Drugs down there are called da-da, and they had me saying "Hey, da-da is unhip." I didn't even know what da-da was, but it was right there on the concert poster. Very strange. LET'S TALK ABOUT MOVIES. YOU'VE REALLY GOT THE ACTING BUG, HUH? I don't want to quit my day job. WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE IN THE SATISFACTION LEVEL? It's being artistic without having the responsibilities or writing and directing it or taking 15 guys on the road. With this, I just show up, do my job and walk away. No questions. I did one play in high school. A little bitty part of Mame. But I had no aspirations to be an actor. It's intriguing hobby, I mean, when I look at real actors like DeNiro and Pacino and young guys like Sean Penn and Val Kilmer, those guys are masters at what they do. I'm just intrigued by the process. ANY MOVIES IN PARTICULAR YOU'D LIKE TO DO? Interview with the Vampire II. That would be great. It would be easier if my name was Johnny Jones. But now that people have seen Moonlight and Valentino, the offers are starting to come. SO DO YOU FEEL LIKE EVERYTHING IS REALLY COMING TOGETHER FOR YOU? Between '86 and '90, I never unpacked a suitcase. That killed me. Everybody thought I was happening, but when I look at pictures from that time, I look beat up, with black circles under my eyes and everything. Now there's a new picture: getting on the plane with my family and coming here. I'm going to remember these days. In the past, I would have blocked them out - I'd get uptight, I'd worry about everything. But I'm here to enjoy the ride this time. I told the guys that I'll stay out as long as there's not something better to do that night. As long as every day is fun, fun, fun, I'm there. BON CHAUVI HE'S THE EMBODIMENT OF THE GOOD AND GOOD-LOOKING MACHO; SYMPATHETIC, A BIT DOMINANT, ATTRACTIVE, BUT STILL OBSTINATE, HARD BUT HEARTY. SO MUCH ABOUT THE PERFECT IMAGE OF A STAR-ROCKER. BUT IN REAL LIFE OF JON BON JOVI NOT EVERYTHING IS SO WELL BALANCED King Midas, the legendary emperor of the antique, in the end was only a small man - with relatively limited talents. Whatever he touched always turned to gold - but what is that since the Midas, the modern, Jon Bon Jovi, simply turns every tune into platinum? Small man, very big: Jon Bon Jovi, next to brother Bruce Springsteen, New Jersey's biggest rockstar, is on his way and once again fights his habitual fear of boredom in his spare time. But this time not as a filmstar but with a solo-record, without his band, which probably nobody will notice anyway. The direction is still unclear ("Destination unknown") - rumors about a crisis in his marriages aren't dying either -, but musically the genuine and shirt-sleeved hardrock-sound is a bit more in the design of the 90s. MV-editor Detlev Reinert was granted a meeting with the singer, guitarist, songwriter and movie-actor in Cologne in appropriate atmosphere - the star welcomes him majestically sitting on a colorful throne. MV: Mr. Bon Jovi, isn't it endlessly hard to live with your image? Jon Bon Jovi: Obviously not, otherwise I wouldn't be doing something totally different now - sound and lyric-wise. MV: But let's take Bruce Springsteen and David Bowie. You would probably picture yourself more close to Bruce Springsteen, the straight one. Bon Jovi: Okay, there are certain similarities. Because after all those guys have already been making records 10 years before I did and were my huge idols; I grew up with them. But at some time one gets to the point, where you have to say, what you yourself have to say. Surely we have totally different subjects nowadays. MV: But still you can't play with the image of your early years much either, even if you are only changing the surface of the public personality. Take yourself as an example - how much fuss was made about your new short hair-cut. Your fans were really mad, shocked and devastated. Bon Jovi: So what? What do you want to say with that? MV: Very simple: How do you cope with the opinion others have about you? Bon Jovi: Ah. I don't care about that at all. I write songs and have sold 75 million records after 14 years. My haircut? That is totally silly. Just look at Madonna. If she wears her conical-shaped bras, there's going to be a big hoopla about it. One year she's blond, the next she's brunette. That's just part of it, in the world of pop everything is fashion. But if nobody would like my songs anymore - who would be interested in my haircut then? MV: Do you picture yourself in the fashion-world? Bon Jovi: No, basically not. I got into that by chance. I had known the Versaces, very well in fact; I really like them. The photo-session with Richard Avedon was just created on a sideline; somebody just gave me a couple of jeans and shirts, and I could do with them whatever I wanted. It was just a whole lot of fun - a day off for me. Because I didn't get paid and there were no duties involved with it. Just like that - to do something different for a change. Once in a while I just try new things, and these pictures really turned out good. MV: In the rock-business the opinions about fashion vary completely. Let's just take the two great classics: Armani and Versace. You are now 35 years old and you still have that hard-rocker-image. Do you have time for a decent gentleman-look? And why Versace? Bon Jovi: That's right, I'm not 20 anymore and "Destination Anywhere" is not my first record but my ninth. And of course I am 35 now - and definitely I have changed a lot. But! Just look at me real close, I'm sitting here in my cheap jacket and my torn Levi's. I don't really make a fashion-statement with that. Doesn't matter, on the opposite: I always felt it as having big luck that I don't have to appear at the office in a suit and tie for my job. That's a small freedom, which is enormously important to me. After all that is the rebellion of rock 'n roll: I can do as I please - and when I please. MV: Have you now reached the point in your life with "Destination Anywhere", which Eric Clapton always described with the old blues-classic "Crossroads" by Robert Johnson? At the crossroads? Bon Jovi: Maybe. When we decided to name our Greatest-Hits-record "Crossroads" it was the beginning of a new era. "These Days" was a statement about where we were at that point of time, and now "Destination Anywhere" is my way of saying that I don't know, which direction I will head for. I just know that I am on the way. The cover was also intentionally chosen that way that I am in the passenger's seat. I am somebody who can't wait to get going, but you have to get behind the wheel. The really exciting is to drive somewhere and do something totally new, no matter if it's going to be a success or a failure. MV: Are you on the track of the 90s? Bon Jovi: At least I made a rather contemporary album, risked to play with the technical stuff. Me, the typical traditionalist, who after all has been on the road with one band for 14 years. Me! To whom the micro-wave is already a high-tech-computer. I'm already happy if I don't burn the popcorn. That's why it really was an adventure for me to get in touch with the technology. The work with producers Steve Lironi and Dave Stewart really was a very exciting thing for me. I once again learned something in life. MV: But still. Your new music still sounds like the soundtrack to a traditional American road-movie. Bon Jovi: That's not a coincidence! I wrote the songs on the road in different cities, and I wanted the people to get to know a bit more about it. That's why I wrote in the booklet, if the songs were written in Vienna or in London, in Amsterdam, New Jersey or Los Angeles. I wanted to create some more atmosphere with it and open up the process of how my music arises: just on the sideline. Because I wrote most of the tracks during the filming of the "Leading Man". MV: Is it hard for you to do nothing? Bon Jovi: Sometimes yes. But when you're on the set you often just sit around getting bored, while the next shot is being prepared. I didn't want to spoil my time with brooding, that's why writing songs was a good distraction for me. I didn't have to keep thinking about the next shot, and that's why I did the shots on the set on the spot, totally spontaneous and naturally. That went pretty well. Truly! MV: What's the difference between 70,000 people in front of a stage and a camera on the set? Bon Jovi: Well, the spontaneous reaction of the audience is missing; with films it takes about a year until the whole thing is done and released. The other three movies that I made, but aren't at the theatres yet for long, "Little City", "Homegrown" and "For a long Time Nothing New" - I've finished filming them about a year ago. That's a long time. Then, short before the release, you do an interview for the "new" movie, and the interviewer is for example going to ask you: "Tell me a cute little story from the set." My God, it's been a year, so I can't remember what I did on a particular day on the set. MV: So you are a passionate workaholic? Bon Jovi: Yes. Absolutely! MV: Are you afraid of yourself? Do you actually know who you really are? Bon Jovi: Very well actually. There used to be a time in my life, where somebody asked me the exact same question: Are you running so fast, because you're scared? To me that was like a shot in-between the eyes and all of a sudden I realized: Hey, that's really the way it is! That's why I took two years to do the "Young Guns"-album. All of a sudden there were other things besides the band: everybody had a wonderful family; and all the things we talked about on the side somehow also turned into success. That's why fear is really the last thing that drives me. I was ready to join in this Versace-campaign, even if I would have hit the ground with it. The same goes for my acting. I'm not afraid of a challenge. MV: The other image that you're branded with is the one of the "nice boy". Is there a crime you would be able to commit? Bon Jovi: I don't know that. I've never thought about it. MV: So why did you name your son Jesse James? Bon Jovi: There's a little story attached to that. We were absolutely convinced that it was going to be a girl and were really surprised when a boy arrived. So we took the little one home with us, watched him for a couple of days and constantly kept asking ourselves: "Just how should we call him?" We pondered about a couple of possibilities, peculiar Italo-American combinations like Anthony Joe for example. He definitely wasn't supposed to become Jon Bon Jovi jr. Then we came up with a couple of fashion names like Dylan. But then I also thought that in ten years time this is going to be an awful name. And then we finally found something that sounded well in our opinion: Jesse James. And so we left it at that right away. MV: How do you accomplish to not lose your rocker-image, being a family-dad and multimillionaire in his mid-thirties? Bon Jovi: You know what? This question is just one big cliche. I just don't waste a thought on bullshit like that. MV: Okay. Back to family-life. Your wife is a big fan of Elvis Costello. Bon Jovi: That's right. MV: So who's got control over the stereo at home? Or do you just have the same musical taste? Bon Jovi: Very much so actually. And I also like Elvis Costello. Most of the time there'll be singer/songwriters being played at our house. MV: One of your big idols is Van Morrison. Your favorite record? Bon Jovi: The new "The Healing Game" is very good. Spontaneously said "Brown-Eyed Girl" is my favorite song. MV: And from Bruce Springsteen? Bon Jovi: Hard to say. I can't decide. The same goes for my third big hero - Dylan. MV: You once called yourself a toy for elder women. Would you say that meanwhile you're the same for fantasizing teenagers? Bon Jovi: Rock 'n roll has always had that effect. If it was Jim Morrison or David Bowie, or me. This aura has always surrounded rock 'n roll. MV: Does sex play a big part in your life? Bon Jovi: What? What was the question? MV: If sex plays a big part in your life? Bon Jovi: Yes, sex is fun. Very much fun. MV: Would you say this subject is overestimated? Bon Jovi: What? Excuse me? MV: Do you think, sex is overestimated? Bon Jovi: No, well, I don't think so. MV: You do, what you have to do? And everything still turns into platinum. Bon Jovi: That's a nice side effect. I do what's fun to me. Fortunately I can afford that luxury. Life in general is conducted by fear. And people that have to work 9-5 every day in job that's no fun to them, because they have to pay their mortgage don't have another option. I deliberately chose this job, and it's still fun to me. That's my privilege. That's why I belong to the lucky ones, whose life is not conducted by fear. MV: You don't have any fears - never? Bon Jovi: No. MV: Truly not? Bon Jovi: No. If something goes wrong, it goes wrong. But I'm just talking about business not personal matters. Job-wise it doesn't matter to me at all, I've already achieved everything. I can afford to be self-confident. MV: Is there anything you're sure you will never achieve anyway? Bon Jovi: The way it looks, I won't be president. That's a dark spot. MV: What would be your first action in office? Bon Jovi: Discard taxes - for the rich people!