Jon Bon Jovi says he’s “come to terms” with aging, though he’d “rather look” the way he did when he was younger.
The “Livin’ on a Prayer” icon, 63, spoke candidly about growing older during his appearance on the Wednesday, October 29, edition of the “How to Fail” podcast.
“Well, I’m fine with it, I’m not gonna ever get work done and my hair is gray and at least I still have all my hair,” he said. “I haven’t had any surgeries, operations, Botox injections, eye jobs or lip jobs or whatever the hell else you do these days. I’m not interested in any of that, nor would I do it.”
Still, Bon Jovi “had to come to terms with having gray hair,” and when “[stylists] would put hair color in, I hated that. So, I just said, ‘Screw it,’ like 12-13 years ago. I wouldn’t do that, and so I had to come to terms with aging.”
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The rocker, a sex symbol amid his heyday in the 1980s and ‘90s, feels nostalgia for his formerly youthful appearance.
“You know, I look at pictures of me now, I’m not happy about it,” he admitted to host Elizabeth Day. “I look at 30, 40, 50, and I go, ‘Yeah, I would rather look like that,’ but I don’t.”
However, Bon Jovi said there are benefits to being in his 60s.
“Wisdom,” he said, naming an upside to his older age. “These next couple years can be great if I’m physically right — because of the wisdom. The rollercoaster ride of getting punched in the face forces you to take stock in any- and everything. And health, of course, is No. 1 on the list. You can always make a buck. You can always write another song. But your health is key to the universe.”
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When asked how he measures success, Bon Jovi replied, “It’s not measured in terms of any numbers. Numbers don’t mean it. They’re not relevant. Relationships, family, legacy. Not necessarily in that order. Family obviously would be first. Keeping my family sane and together would be No. 1.”
Bon Jovi announced earlier this month that he’ll kick off his Forever Tour in 2026, with four shows at New York City’s Madison Square Garden before traveling to Europe.
“The road has been long. It’s been tough. But I persevered,” he said during an October 23 interview on the Today show, adding, “I think I can confidently say that I can go and do my two-and-a-half hours night after night after night. But I wouldn’t do it unless it was that.”
Three years ago, Bon Jovi had surgery to fix an atrophying vocal cord. He told Today’s Savannah Guthrie at the time that his stronger vocal cord was “pushing the weak one around,” and it was “dying.” He ultimately found a surgeon who placed an implant on the outside of his vocal cords.
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Bon Jovi’s injury sent him into somewhat of an existential crisis as he weighed whether to retire from performing altogether.
As Guthrie, 53, said, “There was a moment when it was, ‘If I can’t sing the way I want to sing, I’m not going to do it anymore.’”
Bon Jovi replied, “That’s right. I don’t do it for the applause. I’m not that applause junkie. I do it for the joy and I do it for the art. The rest of it is great because I’m good at it. But if you couldn’t do it from a place of joy, what’s the motivation?”
