The pandemic delayed his band’s album and upended plans for a tour this year, but Jon Bon Jovi has doubled-down on 2020, writing songs that speak to the state of our union today
When Jon Bon Jovi was in Nashville putting the finishing touches on the band’s 15th studio album, it was a different age – and by that we mean only a year ago. Back then, he and the band were looking to the future. In fact, they optimistically titled their upcoming album « 2020. » « ‘2020,’ it’s a bumper sticker, you know? That’ll sell some T-shirts! » he laughed. But then of course 2020, the year, became what it became. Bon Jovi put the album on hold, and cancelled a sold-out summer tour which was to have a big two-night finale at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Walking through the empty arena with correspondent Lee Cowan, Bon Jovi said, « Nobody’s ever seen it like this, with nobody here. The silence is deafening. » « And you don’t know when you’ll be back? » Cowan asked. « No, not for quite some time. » What the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer saw during the pandemic was what we all saw: people needed help. And he put his back into doing just that. « See that smashed-in finger? That was from one of the cases that I dropped on my finger! » he laughed. « I wasn’t made for manual labor! » He’s been applauded for feeding the hungry out of his JBJ Soul Kitchen restaurants in New Jersey, but he knew the restaurants alone weren’t enough during COVID. So he, along with his wife of 31 years, Dorothea, opened up a food bank, too, on the eastern tip of Long Island. Cowan said, « I imagine most of those people are people that had never been to a food bank before. » « Correct. These are the folks that are watching the show right now, and had never even considered going to a pantry. » At his home in New Jersey, along the banks of the Navesink River, Bon Jovi has his own studio, and it was where during the pandemic he’d come to play and keep his voice in shape. « I think when you’re younger you’re a little more bullet-proof, » he said. « You know, you just sorta gargle with tacks and nails and you go and you do it again! » He began writing, too, about everything that was going on around him – his own state of the union, if you will. Tonight they’re shutting down the borders And they boarded up the schools Small towns are rolling up their sidewalks One last paycheck coming through I know you’re feeling kind of nervous We’re all a little bit confused Nothing’s the same, this ain’t a game We gotta make it through When the rest of the band joined in, his « Do What You Can » had the sound of a pandemic anthem to frontline workers everywhere.
