It’s shocking to open your computer’s camera and come face to face with Jon Bon Jovi. The American rock star is one of those names that flirt with unanimity when we talk about music from the United States and remember hits like Livin’ on a Prayer It is Always. Today, he sports a thick head of white hair and takes on the challenges of age – on stage, but also on the small screen with the documentary series Thank You, Goodnight: The Bon Jovi Story.
The production, which premieres in full on April 26th exclusively on Star+, attempts to reflect the band’s 40-year trajectory Bon Jovi over four episodes. In addition to long interviews with the main people involved in the story, archive images recorded by the band members show behind the scenes and the unexpected intimacy of the artists.
“I really wanted to tell the truth,” says Jon in a video interview with Estadão. “Creative control was all with the director [Gotham Chopra]but we were both committed to making the documentary more than a mere personal compliment. I wanted to tell the truth and not just my truth. It’s true of all the guys in the band”.
Relationships in front of the screen
Jon’s desire is perhaps the most sensitive and complicated point in the series: after all, there are some tortuous paths in Bon Jovi’s history, especially the departure of guitarist Richie Sambora – recently, the vocalist even told Entertainment Tonight that his former colleague “I had problems.” To the Estadãohe says he didn’t want to interfere in the series.
“There may have been some discrepancies, but to tell you the truth, you have to leave all the discrepancies in the film, and I’m proud to let that happen,” he says. “I wasn’t willing to discuss anyone’s point of view. That, in the end, was really great.”
Cut out of the poster for ‘Thank You, Goodnight: The Bon Jovi Story’, a Star+ series about the band CREDIT: Star+/Disclosure Photograph: Star+/Disclosure
Director Gotham Chopra says, about this contact with the band members, that everything ended up flowing in a simple way. “I spent time with Richie, who has been out of the band for 10 years. We did two interviews, but that wasn’t all. We talked, exchanged messages and built a real relationship. Of course, there was the issue of separation, but before that it had been 30 years of building something and he was excited to talk about it,” he says.
Archives and memories
The main challenge, in fact, was dealing with so much material and stories. Jon Bon Jovi had stacks and stacks of videotapes stored – according to them, there was even material for more than four episodes. “The challenge is that there is a lot to be told. It’s understanding how to handle everyone’s memories and emotions. But at least no one said no, there wasn’t a single person who said they didn’t want to be part of it”, explains the director.
“Having so much archive is a luxury and a curse”, continues the filmmaker, son of Deepak Chopra. “This is one of the biggest bands in the world, so the story was very well documented, on MTV and in each country they visited. There are still issues going on, like Jon’s issue with his voice, that we didn’t know how that was going to play out. It’s all part of it.”
Jon Bon Jovi in an interview with ‘Estadão’. Photograph: TV Estadão
Jon himself, for example, says he didn’t think for a minute that it was time to celebrate the band’s history, even if it means touching on thorny issues, such as Richie’s much talked about and controversial departure or, even, problems Jon’s voice.
“It was time to document our history. I didn’t know at what volume, but we were archiving everything I had and I asked the band to contribute, as 40 years is a pretty significant statement and, ideally, we were going to document everything and somehow put it on film,” he says. Jon. “It was a journey of more than two years to the final point.”
Was he ever afraid of exposing himself? Of showing too much? Until, who knows, the spell breaks? “I was very pleased with the result. We needed to celebrate the 40th anniversary and we achieved that. We moved forward with the new album, but I think it was worthy of something more, that shows everything that has happened so far. And at the end of the day, we won’t have another 40th anniversary.”
