Jon Bon Jovi is a snowbird, a term used to describe people of a specific age who depart their northern residences during the winter months for warmer climates.

It is late April, and the famed New Jersey native is in Palm Beach, Florida.

“My licence still says the great state of New Jersey,” the Bon Jovi frontman tells me on this week’s “Just for Variety” episode. “I am present when it is not chilly. But when it’s chilly, these elderly bones are at the beach.”

The rocker, 62, has been talking and thinking a lot about his age recently. While his Hulu docuseries, “Thank You, Goodnight: The Bon Jovi Story,” follows the renowned rock band’s ascent to fame, the four episodes’ common thread is the singer’s effort to overcome vocal issues in time for the group’s 40th-anniversary tour.

As of now, Bon Jovi says the earliest he can return to the stage for a full-fledged tour is sometime next year. But even this is not assured.

He apologised for being 20 minutes late for the interview. He was in voice therapy. “It’s a range of emotions on a daily basis,” Bon Jovi explains. “Yesterday was unbelievable. And today was less than ideal. It’s frustrating. I understand that none of us can achieve perfection, but I must achieve excellence in order to perform at that level again, or I will not.”

He adds, “I don’t want to pretend to be someone I’m not… I don’t try to be the boy I was 29 years ago, but I do want to be the best version of myself in 2024.”

Bon Jovi formed the band in 1983, along with guitarist Richie Sambora, pianist David Bryan, drummer Tico Torres, and bassist Alec John Such. Along with their enormous success came painful setbacks. Such was kicked out of the band in 1994 due to a drug issue, and Sambora likewise struggled with substance misuse before leaving in 2013 to seek treatment.

Bon Jovi avoided hard partying, stating that he was “never doing drugs.” But he wasn’t an absolute saint.

He and his wife Dorothea have been married for 35 years, although he acknowledges that being a rock star occasionally got the best of him: “It was the ’80s, for God’s sake. It was the 1990s and 2000s. Has a girl ever thrown herself at me? Fuck, sure. “I am Jon Bon Jovi.”

He and Dorothea, high school sweethearts who began dating 44 years ago, have four children and are “madly in love more every day,” he claims.

Bon Jovi made his acting debut in 1995, starring opposite Gwyneth Paltrow in “Moonlight and Valentino”. On television, he appeared in ten episodes of “Ally McBeal” in 2002. However, a Hollywood career proved elusive.

In retrospect, he recalls almost getting the role that eventually went to Val Kilmer in “Heat.”

“I wasn’t good enough in the audition to listen to [director] Michael Mann,” he recalls. “He wanted to do it three, four, or five times: ‘Take your shoes off, jump on that couch, talk to me, how would you do this?'” “I just repeated the lines.”

He submitted a self-tape for a role in “The Perfect Storm,” but he never heard back from director Wolfgang Petersen: “If I had gotten those kinds of roles, who knows where I would’ve gone.”

He has been offered Bon Jovi Broadway musicals. “I’ve been asked to do that 100 times,” Bon Jovi explains. “Everybody wanted to write the story of Tommy and Gina [from “Livin’ on a Prayer”], but I’m going to guess that Abba and the ‘Jersey Boys’ did it, and they did it very effectively many years ago. So I’ve turned down the opportunity several times. I recall watching “Jersey Boys” years ago and thinking, “Oh, that’s our story.” That is every band’s narrative. So our tale isn’t very exceptional. And then I realised that if you take the characters Tommy and Gina and build two and a half hours around the catalogue and their lives, it’s ‘Mamma Mia.’ So that is not unique.”

Bon Jovi permitted cameras to follow him around for “Thank You, Goodnight,” but the family has no intentions for “Keeping Up With the Bon Jovis.” “Not going to ever, ever, ever, ever happen,” he replies. “This is not for me.” I’ve never spent 60 seconds of my life watching a Kardashian show, a housewife show, or any other. I’ve never seen 60 seconds of any of it.” For the record, he has recently appreciated Ryan Murphy’s “Feud: Capote Vs. The Swans” and the Ben Franklin series “Franklin” on Apple TV+.

Bon Jovi listed the Rolling Stones’ and Pearl Jam’s most recent albums as examples of new music he is enjoying. “On the other side of the ledger — Zach Bryan, Inhaler, Noah Kahan, Olivia Rodrigo,” he continues. “These young talents all have something to say.”

Taylor Swift is praised as “absolutely incredible” by him. “She established an industry. “She did what she does best,” Bon Jovi claims. “She sings like Taylor Swift.” She plays guitar like Taylor Swift. She’s not pretending to be someone she’s not, and that connects with a unique audience.”

Back in the late 1990s, Bon Jovi was the face – and body – of Versace in an ad campaign photographed by Richard Avedon. “[Gianni Versace] goes, ‘Take all your clothes off, wrap this blanket around your waist and go stand over there,'” he continues. “I went, ‘Whoa!'” So I did, and I loved it when Elton John approached me and said, ‘I have the outtakes.’ I said, ‘Fuck.'”

You can listen to the entire chat with Jon Bon Jovi on the “Just for Variety” podcast above, or wherever you download your favourite podcasts.

Jon Bon Jovi is a snowbird, a term used to describe people of a specific age who depart their northern residences during the winter months for warmer climates.

It is late April, and the famed New Jersey native is in Palm Beach, Florida.

“My licence still says the great state of New Jersey,” the Bon Jovi frontman tells me on this week’s “Just for Variety” episode. “I am present when it is not chilly. But when it’s chilly, these elderly bones are at the beach.”

The rocker, 62, has been talking and thinking a lot about his age recently. While his Hulu docuseries, “Thank You, Goodnight: The Bon Jovi Story,” follows the renowned rock band’s ascent to fame, the four episodes’ common thread is the singer’s effort to overcome vocal issues in time for the group’s 40th anniversary tour.

As of now, Bon Jovi says the earliest he can return to the stage for a full-fledged tour is sometime next year. But even this is not assured.

He apologised for being 20 minutes late for the interview. He was in voice therapy. “It’s a range of emotions on a daily basis,” Bon Jovi explains. “Yesterday was unbelievable. And today was less than ideal. It’s frustrating. I understand that none of us can achieve perfection, but I must achieve excellence in order to perform at that level again, or I will not.”

He adds, “I don’t want to pretend to be someone I’m not… I don’t try to be the boy I was 29 years ago, but I do want to be the best version of myself in 2024.”

Bon Jovi formed the band in 1983, along with guitarist Richie Sambora, pianist David Bryan, drummer Tico Torres, and bassist Alec John Such. Along with their enormous success came painful setbacks. Such was kicked out of the band in 1994 due to a drug issue, and Sambora likewise struggled with substance misuse before leaving in 2013 to seek treatment.

Bon Jovi avoided hard partying, stating that he was “never doing drugs.” But he wasn’t an absolute saint.

He and his wife Dorothea have been married for 35 years, although he acknowledges that being a rock star occasionally got the best of him: “It was the ’80s, for God’s sake. It was the 1990s and 2000s. Has a girl ever thrown herself at me? Fuck, sure. “I am Jon Bon Jovi.”

He and Dorothea, high school sweethearts who began dating 44 years ago, have four children and are “madly in love more every day,” he claims.

Bon Jovi made his acting debut in 1995, starring opposite Gwyneth Paltrow in “Moonlight and Valentino”. On television, he appeared in ten episodes of “Ally McBeal” in 2002. However, a Hollywood career proved elusive.

In retrospect, he recalls almost getting the role that eventually went to Val Kilmer in “Heat.”

“I wasn’t good enough in the audition to listen to [director] Michael Mann,” he recalls. “He wanted to do it three, four, or five times: ‘Take your shoes off, jump on that couch, talk to me, how would you do this?'” “I just repeated the lines.”

He submitted a self-tape for a role in “The Perfect Storm,” but he never heard back from director Wolfgang Petersen: “If I had gotten those kinds of roles, who knows where I would’ve gone.”

He has been offered Bon Jovi Broadway musicals. “I’ve been asked to do that 100 times,” Bon Jovi explains. “Everybody wanted to write the story of Tommy and Gina [from “Livin’ on a Prayer”], but I’m going to guess that Abba and the ‘Jersey Boys’ did it, and they did it very effectively many years ago. So I’ve turned down the opportunity several times. I recall watching “Jersey Boys” years ago and thinking, “Oh, that’s our story.” That is every band’s narrative. So our tale isn’t very exceptional. And then I realised that if you take the characters Tommy and Gina and build two and a half hours around the catalogue and their lives, it’s ‘Mamma Mia.’ So that is not unique.”

Bon Jovi permitted cameras to follow him around for “Thank You, Goodnight,” but the family has no intentions for “Keeping Up With the Bon Jovis.” “Not going to ever, ever, ever, ever happen,” he replies. “This is not for me.” I’ve never spent 60 seconds of my life watching a Kardashian show, a housewife show, or any other. I’ve never seen 60 seconds of any of it.” For the record, he has recently appreciated Ryan Murphy’s “Feud: Capote Vs. The Swans” and the Ben Franklin series “Franklin” on Apple TV+.

Bon Jovi listed the Rolling Stones’ and Pearl Jam’s most recent albums as examples of new music he is enjoying. “On the other side of the ledger — Zach Bryan, Inhaler, Noah Kahan, Olivia Rodrigo,” he continues. “These young talents all have something to say.”

Taylor Swift is praised as “absolutely incredible” by him. “She established an industry. “She did what she does best,” Bon Jovi claims. “She sings like Taylor Swift.” She plays guitar like Taylor Swift. She’s not pretending to be someone she’s not, and that connects with a unique audience.”

Back in the late 1990s, Bon Jovi was the face – and body – of Versace in an ad campaign photographed by Richard Avedon. “[Gianni Versace] goes, ‘Take all your clothes off, wrap this blanket around your waist and go stand over there,'” he continues. “I went, ‘Whoa!'” So I did, and I loved it when Elton John approached me and said, ‘I have the outtakes.’ I said, ‘Fuck.'”

You can listen to the entire chat with Jon Bon Jovi on the “Just for Variety” podcast above, or wherever you download your favourite podcasts.