Each team has 10 massive trucks full of staging. He leads three separate road crews that leapfrog one another throughout the tour. The scale of his responsibility is enormous. Their leader, a bear of a man called Bugzee, has been touring with Bon Jovi since 1986, and has been on the road since 1971, when he came to England with a little-known American college band called McKendree Spring. The crew has already been working for seven hours, and they have 11 more to go. It's 2pm, and the stage at Croke Park, a north Dublin behemoth, is fully operational. 'See you in Dublin,' he says, over his shoulder. With that, he stands up and heads for the door.

'But, whatcha gonna do?' he shrugs, sounding every inch the New Jersey boy. He says he hates the fact that Bon Jovi are seen as a 'guilty pleasure', and gives a weary sigh when asked about the critical acclaim that has always eluded his band. 'Wanna drink?' He pours a Coke, and adds: 'Don't say I'm not a good host.'Īnd, as I'm wondering whether 'blows' means the same as 'sucks', the rock star is off, filling the silence with pre-cooked statements on the state of the Democratic Party how downloads are killing the music industry the melting of the icecaps the need to eradicate homelessness and the bonuses of record-label bosses.

(He later admits, with a pinch of understatement, that he has 'a close relationship' with his dentist.) The glare off his teeth could solve the world energy crisis. The hair, once the standing joke of the rock world, is more respectable in its 44th year than it was in its 21st - blond (artificially), a touch feathered, and shoulder length. Jon is short, but not tiny (think Michael Owen, not Tom Thumb), wearing a T-shirt tight enough for his tanned, muscular arms to get a good show. Indeed, despite the bonhomie, the songwriting collaborations, and public declarations to the opposite, Jon Bon Jovi is Bon Jovi.Īs the door to his dressing room is opened, there's a palpable shift in atmosphere outside, where half a dozen trusted deputies are stationed. will utter one negative word about their boss. And, over the coming weeks, not one of the employees of Bon Jovi Inc. Despite the vastness of the travelling team (the European leg of the Have a Nice Day world tour employs more than 130 managers, road staff, chiropractors, cocktail-shakers, lighting designers and flight attendants) they all share one verbal characteristic: they say the word 'Jon' more than is natural, and with more reverence than might be thought seemly. If Bon Jovi is a business (and 100 million album sales is very definitely a business) then there is no doubting who is the CEO.

Bon Jovi by Jon Bon Jovi