FRIDAY,
18 AUGUST, 2000
BON JOVI: MY WIFE LIKES SOCCER & SEX
Sex symbol ... rocker Jon
ROCKER Jon Bon Jovi is
one of the most enduring sex symbols of our time.
The spandex-wearing, poodle-haired pin-up of the '80s has
matured into the smouldering movie star of today.
But despite being constantly under siege from an army of fans
for nearly two decades, Jon has no problem knocking back offers.
Because the 38-year-old star remains utterly devoted to his
childhood sweetheart Dorothea Hurley.
That is despite the temptations of the average rock star
multiplied a thousand-fold.
When Bon Jovi's Slippery When Wet album sold 14million copies
after its release in 1986, Jon became the target of every lusty rock chick on
the planet.
Since then his band has gone on to sell more than 80million
albums and Jon has become a Hollywood star. His hair alone became an icon to
such an extent that when he had the long locks lopped off in 1991 it was a news
item on TV channel CNN.
Yet all he wants from a woman are the simple things in life.
When asked how he keeps his marriage interesting after so
many years with so many women around him, he jokingly replies: "Cheap sex
whenever and wherever you get it.
"Seriously, one of the greatest pleasures you can find
in a women is someone you can have sex with then watch the football and eat
pizza.
My wife loves doing all those things."
The couple have two children - Stephanie, seven, and Jesse
James Louis, five - and live on a ranch in his home town of New Jersey.
Although Jon is a loving father he has spent much of his
kids' lives on the road touring with Bon Jovi. The reason they tour so much is
simple - their music is constantly in massive demand.
The band has become an institution in contemporary music with
hits including You Give Love A Bad Name and Livin' On A Prayer.
Perhaps appropriately, they will be the last band to play
under the famous Wembley twin towers in front of 72,000 fans this weekend.
Despite some severe low points for the band and times when
they looked ready to split they have, miraculously, lasted.
Jon says: "We have always been a great live rock 'n'
roll band and we've always stayed true to the music and not changing fashion.
"If that was the case then back in the Eighties, I would
have had to have been Culture Club and Cyndi Lauper and now I'd have to be a
Backstreet Boy. I think we realised by the third album we just had to be
ourselves and not try to keep up with anything. If you do that you
realise how quickly things come and go."
And Jon doesn't see any reason why Bon Jovi can't follow the
lead of bands like the Rolling Stones.
"The Stones are a good example to aspire to in my eyes
because they're still a great rock 'n' roll band.
"They still go out in front of massive crowds and do it
in a major way. They set the barometer for the question, 'How old's too old?'
"
But Bon Jovi nearly failed to make it through the tough
times.
Crush is their first album for five years and many fans
thought they would never see the band play live again. Then Jon and the boys
realised that what they had was too good to lose. He thinks that is a lesson
Oasis's feuding Gallagher brothers could learn from.
Jon says: "We figured out what it could have been like
if someone took it away from us.
"At the moment the Gallaghers are behaving like
four-year-olds.
"It would be a shame to lose the great songwriting
talent of Noel Gallagher. "You guys in the Press should not pay any
attention to them
and watch them stick together. Take it away from them and tell them to go home.
Nobody wants to see it, nobody wants to hear it.
"Take it away and see how quickly they go in a room and
make up. Tell them nobody cares any more, go play the pub, you're done - just
watch what happens. When it's like that, you realise it has nothing to do with
arguments about sleeping with your wife or stealing each other's money. Then you
realise they're just being spoilt brats.
"They're two talented guys and I buy their records.
"But someone needs to tell them to get in a room and
pretend for a moment that none of this existed. What would they do, pump
gas?"
Jon promises that the Wembley gig will be just as electric as
anything the band has done before.
"I think it's an honour. I don't know what people think
about their famous stadium being torn down for progress.
"Between all the soccer and the great music events that
have taken place there over the years, it's one of the great venues in the
world."
When Jon does get a chance to take a break from touring
there's nothing he likes more than settling down in his own pub.
He says: "My private pub's called the Shoe Inn and it's
right in the grounds of my New Jersey home.
"The sign has a horse with a horseshoe sticking out of
it's ass, it's quite funny.
"In many ways I feel like that horse, the horseshoe
thing is meant to mean luck. I feel like the guy who was born with a golden
horseshoe up his ass.
"I have friends over to drink and it's a really homely
place."
But Jon maintains he's going to be crazy until the day he
dies. At his funeral he says he would have Wild Wild Life by Talking Heads
played.
The new album Crush is a No1 hit and Jon thinks it is the
best the band has produced.
"We worked for two full years on this and demo-ed 60
songs.
"I think this is our best album - every song is
something I'd love to do live."
He adds: "This tour proves we're still a band capable of
selling out stadiums."
With 40 looming, Jon is also still capable of kicking up a
stink at his gigs.
He vows: "I'll kick and scream until the house lights go
out.
"I'm very comfortable on the stage. It's a very physical
thing and you've got to be up for it.
"But I'm back into the way of things now. I'm still a
fan ultimately. When you get the chance to play a legendary stadium like Wembley
it's
such a buzz - if it isn't, you're dead."