I’d love to come to India again: Jon Bon Jovi (Interview)

MUMBAI - American singer Jon Bon Jovi says his career-spanning new compilation marks the band’s arrival on the music scene once again. The blue-eyed boy of New Jersey, who had visited India 15 years ago, is keen to explore Indian music.

The frontman of the band Bon Jovi, who released two solo albums and 11 studio albums with his band in his 27-year-old career, titled his new album “Bon Jovi Greatest Hits”.

“This album reflects who we are and what we did and that we are back,” the 48-year-old singer told IANS in an e-mail interview from his hometown Sayreville, New Jersey.

The satisfaction of seeing a song complete is what drives Jovi even now.

“It is the greatest satisfaction of putting it from pen to paper that drives you to keep going because you hope that it is as good as you think it is when you’re writing. When you record it and if it turns out as well as you had hoped while you were writing it, you want to share it with people,” said the singer who is keen to visit India again.

“I have great memories of India from my last trip in 1995 and of Indian people. I would like to visit India again soon,” he said.

As part of the band’s “These Days Tour - 1995″, he had performed in Mumbai in April 1995.

“Unfortunately, I haven’t had any connections with the Indian music scene. I’d be open to hearing it during my next trip, but I haven’t had the opportunity till now. Music is the universal language, it doesn’t have anything to do with borders or even language barriers,” said the singer.

With age, most singers lose the quality of their voice, but Jovi is one man whose voice has become more grainy over the years and the new album is a proof of that.

The album not only transports listeners back in time, it also offers a bridge to the future with four brand new tracks. It has old chart-toppers “Livin’ On A Prayer”, “Always”, “It’s My Life”, “Wanted Dead or Alive”, and “Who Says You Can’t Go Home” as well as four new songs — “The More Things Change”, “No Apologies”, “This Is Love, This Is Life” and “What Do You Got?”.

When asked if the new songs wouldn’t be overshadowed by the popular classic numbers, Jovi said: “We wanted to make sure fans got value addition. There won’t be any overshadowing.”

It wasn’t a runaway success for Jovi when he burst on the music scene with “Runaway” in 1983. But three years later he and his band embarked on a glorious journey with the provocatively titled album “Slippery When Wet” and followed it with mega hits “You Give Love a Bad Name”, “Livin’ on a Prayer” and “Wanted Dead or Alive”.

Many felt that with its success, the band gave a new boost to the hair metal genre that was on the rise during the 1980s.

So how does he reinvent himself?

“I feel that no matter who you are and what you do in the world, if you really love your work that is a blessing. I think as soon as you start believing that you’re as good as you say, that’s when you become not so good. Every day you got to work harder at it so that you can reinvent,” he said.

(Ruchika Kher can be contacted at ruchika.k@ians.in)