Jon Bon Jovi has always been an optimist, in a way that is characteristic of the
American spirit.
As a kid, he was told that no dream was too big. Hard work pays off. True love
is real. And good guys prevail.
"That was my upbringing," Bon Jovi said, recalling his childhood in Sayreville.
"That optimism came from my folks and where I was brought up and the time I was
raised. I was born in the Kennedy era -- it was that magical Camelot time -- and
it gave me blind faith."
Bon Jovi grew up to become a husband, a father of three, and a world-famous rock
star. He and his wife, Dorothea, and their children live in a beautiful estate
on the Navesink River in Middletown. They enjoy the good life, but they also
stay grounded through philanthropy and close ties to the local community. This
is American optimism richly rewarded, this is the American dream dressed to the
nines.
But money, fame and popularity can't shield you from something like Sept. 11,
especially when you live in a county that lost some 158 people that day and one
of your kids wants to know, 'Dad, why didn't the president stop it?' It's easy
to be an optimist when things are going your way. The challenge, to quote a Bon
Jovi hit, is to 'keep the faith' when global turmoil pays a visit.
"It was a very difficult lesson to teach," Bon Jovi said. "How do you tell your
kids there are bad people, to that extent, people who take life without a
thought? You always know there is war and terror in the world, but when it
happens in your back yard, you have to face it. So I sat them down and told
them, yes, bad things happen to good people. And you have to tell them what it
means when someone passes away, but also that just because your friend's dad is
going to heaven, don't think that your dad is going to die, too. You have to
tell them you'll be there for them, no matter what. It's hard."
Almost a year after that traumatic day, Bon Jovi and his bandmates -- Richie
Sambora, David Bryan and Tico Torres -- will perform in New York as part of
all-day festivities planned by the NFL.
A 'Giant' show
"NFL Kick-Off Live From Times Square," scheduled for Thursday, serves to herald
the football season and the opening game between the New York Giants and the San
Francisco 49ers. Bon Jovi will be the headliner, playing from about 7 to 8 p.m.
before heading to Giants Stadium in East Rutherford to perform the half-time
show. The day also features a New Year's Eve-style ball drop -- shaped like a
football -- and recognition of the city's upcoming Sept. 11 memorial events.
Bon Jovi is a serious Giants fan and was eager to support his favorite sport --
he'll debut his band's new single, "Everyday," at the NFL events. But he also
saw this event as a prelude to the Sept. 11 commemorations. Most major sporting
events of the past year -- from the World Series to the Olympics to the U.S.
Open -- have acknowledged Sept. 11 with ceremonies.
"I haven't gotten the official line from the NFL," Bon Jovi said, "but as I see
it, the season starts in New York, and this is an opportunity to thank the
country on a nationwide level for the support shown to New York, and to
recognize, a week before the anniversary, that New York is getting through
this."
VH-1 will broadcast Bon Jovi's Times Square performance live. ESPN and MTV will
televise portions of the kick-off party. CBS will tape the event and air a
one-hour primetime special the following night, Sept. 6. Westwood One will
produce and distribute the radio broadcast of the event to stations nationwide.
On the morning of Sept. 11, Bon Jovi was exercising in his home gym when a
breaking news report came on the TV. The night before, Bon Jovi and bandmate
Richie Sambora had been working on songs for the band's next album.
"Richie was at the house, so I woke him up and said, 'There's something going on
that you need to see,' " Bon Jovi said. "We couldn't contact his wife (actress
Heather Locklear) and child on the West Coast. We didn't know what to do about
my kids. Should we run to the school and get them? We drove to the beach and
watched the burning, and then we went home."
When the first shock subsided, Bon Jovi grew restless. Like so many Monmouth
County residents, he brought supplies ("sandwiches and socks") to local drop-off
points, to be ferried over to lower Manhattan.
"I tried to be on the bucket brigade but they wouldn't let me because I didn't
know CPR," he said. "I tried to donate blood but they didn't need it. We did
everything we could from this side, everything we could think of."
Waving the flag
That included performing at two concerts in October at Count Basie Theatre in
Red Bank, which raised money for local 11 families; the massive Concert for New
York at Madison Square Garden, which honored firefighters, cops and recovery
workers; and the understated national telethon for United Way's Sept. 11 funds.
Bon Jovi draped the front of his home with an enormous American flag, big enough
to be noticeable to drivers on Navesink River Road. "It's still there," he said.
Needless to say, when he and Sambora returned to their songwriting, a dark tone
emerged.
Musicians can't help but write about Sept. 11. Everyone from Sleater-Kinney to
fellow New Jerseyan Bruce Springsteen has written music inspired by the day.
Springsteen's album, "The Rising," dealt with the ongoing trauma of Sept. 11 and
the many layers of grief sparked by sudden, massive loss. Bon Jovi has followed
Springsteen's path by writing songs about hardship and blue-collar heroes, but
Bon Jovi's perspective has been rosier. Bon Jovi's approach is more like Dr.
Seuss's bittersweet children's book, "Oh, the Places You'll Go," wistful but
playful, while Springsteen takes a cue from John Steinbeck's "Grapes of Wrath,"
serious and bleak, hinting at hope.
No surprise, then, that Bon Jovi's innate optimism resurfaced in the studio. Bon
Jovi's eighth studio album, "Bounce," is set for release Oct. 8 on Island/Def
Jam, with a tour to follow in December. It picks up where the wildly successful
"Crush" left off, albeit tinted by recent events.
"I didn't want to do a whole album about Sept. 11," Bon Jovi said. "I have a few
songs on 'Bounce' directly related to it, but I've taken it more from what I saw
emerge after Sept. 11: the unity among people in this community was unparalleled
anywhere in the world. To see those flags everywhere, that was something that
got to me.
"When I'd read your paper, I'd read about families who are getting on with their
lives, women who'd lost their husbands and were dusting themselves off and
running the household, making this part of their lives, but not all of it. I
noticed that nobody pulled their kids out of school, nobody moved away. None of
the things that often happen after a tragedy happened here. Everybody stayed,
stuck together and helped each other. So, the subject matter is resiliency and
optimism in the face of adversity."
That is reflected in the title of the album, "Bounce," as in "bounce back," and
in the first single, "Everyday," whose chorus of "I'm gonna live my life
everyday," echoes the promise so many Americans made to themselves after Sept.
11.
"Life is short and you never know what's going to happen," Bon Jovi said. "So
you better make the most of it while you can."