00:00I know what songs like Living on a Prayer or It's My Life have meant to people over the years.
00:05I know what so many of those songs have meant to people.
00:11And I get it because I know what songs mean to me.
00:15Bon Jovi is finally telling their story in the new Hulu docuseries Thank You, Good Night.
00:20Band members John Bon Jovi and Tico Torres, as well as director Gotham Chopra,
00:24spoke to The Hollywood Reporter all about the project.
00:27The series, timed to the 40th anniversary of the band releasing their first album,
00:31juxtaposes Jon Bon Jovi working through a vocal injury over the past few years
00:35with footage chronicling the band's rise to fame.
00:38What really stood out to me is how I felt like you're essentially the same guy.
00:42You still have that drive, that determination that's never really left you.
00:46What was your takeaway from watching that?
00:48I was certainly single-mindedly focused.
00:52And I think a lot of that had to do with passion and desire, sure.
00:55But a lot of it had to do with being so young.
00:59So, you know, that kind of focus was not unusual.
01:04I guess what differentiated me is I wasn't ever the best singer,
01:09the best guitar player, the best songwriter.
01:11But I tell you what I was the best at, hard work.
01:15You know, I was not afraid of working eight days a week to make it work.
01:19Tico, when you watched the docuseries for the first time, how did it make you feel?
01:24Old.
01:28It's, you know, again, you can see yourself grow up on camera.
01:31And Jon hit it on the head.
01:33I mean, his drive, all our drives as individuals, that there's an effervescence.
01:38It's like that club soda's got lots of bubbles.
01:41You know, and that was us at the time.
01:43One thing you can't be in this world is a quitter.
01:47So there's no way we're going to slow down.
01:49Chopra, who's also directed documentaries on sports stars like Kobe Bryant and Tom Brady,
01:54weighed in on how Jon Bon Jovi and the band have stayed true to their roots while achieving four decades of success.
02:00He loves to wear that shirt on tour, New Jersey versus everybody.
02:04You know, it's like, that's like him.
02:06He's like New Jersey strong.
02:07And yeah, he's gone on, he's at Homes in Palm Beach and East Hampton and all this, you know.
02:14But he's still this sort of blue-collar kid from New Jersey.
02:18I think that's the chip he carries on his shoulder.
02:20And again, this is very similar.
02:22I'm, you know, super close to Tom.
02:24Tom, in his mind, was always the 199th pick, the sixth-round guy who every team passed on.
02:30I do think that sense of, you know, work ethic is really like the secret sauce.
02:35Some of the songs I wrote in my bedroom in New Jersey, I remember the day we wrote in a prayer, not thinking much of the song.
02:43What also stuck out to me while watching the docuseries is how, for you, from the beginning, you understood the importance of songwriting.
02:50And you're like, we got to write a good song.
02:52And it reminded me of a pop artist who's very big today, Taylor Swift.
02:56For her, it all comes down to writing good songs.
02:59And her fans, like your fans, are so about the songs, you know, no matter how many years later.
03:04Your songs are your story.
03:07And I think the same thing can be said about someone like Taylor Swift's songs.
03:13These are her stories.
03:15And when they ring true to her, chances are those stories will resonate with someone else who will make those stories their own.
03:24And so that, to me, is the magic of songwriting.
03:28What can your fans expect from your new music you have coming out this summer?
03:31We have a new record.
03:33The first single is called Legendary, and it's out now.
03:35And it's actually exploding on the charts, which is just fabulous to have a hit single 40 years into a career.
03:43But again, because it rings true, it makes perfect sense that people are going to make that chorus their own lives.
03:52And here we are writing about us and how I'm finding joy again for the first time in 10 years, post-surgery and post-COVID and post-Ritchie leaving the band.
04:02When it comes from that pure place, people gravitate towards those songs.
04:06Richie Sambora, who left the band in 2013, was also interviewed for the docuseries.
04:11Was there ever a question as to whether or not Richie would be involved in the docuseries?
04:15There wasn't any question, like, that we wanted him to be involved.
04:20I wanted him.
04:21John wanted him.
04:22The question was, like, will he want to be part of it?
04:26And will we be able to get him?
04:28And that ended up surprisingly not as difficult, maybe, as I envisioned.
04:33Because, you know, John and him are still in touch and they still correspond.
04:37And I think maybe through this process they got more in touch with each other than they had been in a couple of years.
04:43But I think once Richie understood, like, what the goal and the vision for this was, he wanted to be a part of it.
04:51And, you know, it was like, you can't do it.
04:54You cannot tell the story of Bon Jovi without Richie Sambora.
04:58He was gracious, he was funny, he was charming, he was warm, he was combative.
05:03You know, it was all of the above and it was super fun.
05:07Thank you, good night.
05:07The Bon Jovi story hits Hulu on April 26th.
05:11For The Hollywood Reporter News, I'm Tiffany Taylor.
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