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By STEVE MASCORD
JON Bon Jovi’s vocals three months out from his band’s return have been described as having “a long way to go” by a friend who has issued a public appeal for the superstar to accept his help.
Guitarist Steve Brown tells Hot Metal he first offered the now-64-year-old his assistance at the 50th birthday party of actor Gwyneth Paltrow, dragging him away from Steven Spielberg and Jerry Seinfeld to deliver the pep talk.
The Trixter axeman has recently made contact with his long time friend again, concerned at the possibility of fans on both sides of the Atlantic being let down at a run of dates beginning in July, warning “you cannot go out there and be bad … I don’t think the right people are working with him”.
“The last time we hung out was in 2022, right after he had that really rough tour and he has his first bout of vocal surgery,” Brown tells Hot Metal.
“And I saw him at a gig, I played Gwyneth Paltrow’s 50th birthday party with the eighties band that I was in and Jon was there and I saw him after the show and I grabbed him and I said ‘Jonny!’ and he was like ‘Steve!’.
“I grabbed him and I pulled him away from Jerry Seinfeld and Steven Spielberg … that’s a whole another interview in itself. I pulled him away and I said ‘I love you bro and I want you to know: I heard the tour and you’ve got some serious problems’.
“I said ‘I had surgery around 10 years ago, I’ve been through the wringer. I’ve become … I’m not a doctor but I know every trick’. He looked at me and he said ‘I really appreciate that, I’ll reach out to you if I need ya’.
“I haven’t heard from him but after the last couple of months, over the last year, I’ve been reaching out to people in his camp, his brother, tour managers, everybody and trying to get to him. And finally I got his cell (phone) and his email and I sent him an email and I called him and texted him and I said ‘hey man, I’m here’.
“I told him I jammed with (Bon Jovi keyboardist) Dave Bryan in December right before I launched (tribute band) Always Jovi. We played three songs together down in Nashville.
“I told Dave the same thing, man. Because Dave … we all want Jon to succeed but you cannot go out there and be bad. There’s no hiding it anymore and we saw that last thing that came out, that Tony Robbins Special, and I’m not going to slag on anybody but (he’s) got a long way to go.
“And if this gets to him, know it’s all with love. I told Dave Bryan that. I said ‘dude, I fuckin’ love Jon, I love you guys, I want you to succeed’. I believe it’s kinda like what happens to an athlete when you lose your technique. If you’re a golfer … Tiger Woods had to relearn how to play golf again. I think that’s where it’s at with Jon right now.
“I hear they’re rehearsing and dude, no-one wants to see him succeed as much as I do. And I think we all do because w all know what he’s been through and I don’t want to see … even my enemies, dude. I don’t want to see anyone go through that. And I expecially don’t want to see fans pay $500 for a ticket and walk out of there and be disappointed.
“It’s like the boxer who’s been in the ring too long but I honestly believe, I think, there is hope and sadly I don’t think that the right people are working with him and I hope I’m wrong. I swear to God. I hope we’re both talking about this but Jon and everybody who’s listening in that camp, I’m here man.
“No-one wants to see Bon Jovi succeed as much as I do. You know, this goes back 40 years, 40-plus years. Jon was the first guy that got behind us. Let’s see what happens. I hope I’m wrong and you’re wrong and Jon goes out and blows everybody away.”
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