While reflecting back on his four-decade-long career in the music industry, Jon Bon Jovi couldn’t help but mention megastar Taylor Swift — and gave a playful shoutout to her songwriting inspiration.
During an appearance at the Television Critics Association panel on Friday, February 9, for his upcoming Hulu docuseries, Thank You, Goodnight, Bon Jovi, 61, recalled how his music has changed through the years as he’s experienced life.
“That’s been the magic of 40 years of career. At 20, when I got a record deal, I didn’t have a lot else to write about except high school,” Bon Jovi said. “And I didn’t break up with people like Taylor did.”
Swift, 34, has famously sung about love — and breakups — since her career began. The pop star told Dateline in 2009, “If guys don’t want me to write bad songs about them, they shouldn’t do bad things.”
Bon Jovi, for his part, married his high school sweetheart, Dorothea Hurley, in 1989. The pair have since welcomed four children together: Stephanie, 30, Jesse, 28, Jake, 21, and Romeo, 19.
Bon Jovi and the “Karma” singer have crossed paths before, singing his “Livin’ on a Prayer” alongside Prince William at the 2013 Winter Whites Gala. The Prince of Wales, 41, confessed in 2021 that he doesn’t know “what came over [him]” while performing with the two.
“Honestly, even now I’m cringing at what happened next, and I don’t understand why I gave in,” the royal said on the “Time to Walk” podcast. “But, frankly, if Taylor Swift looks you in the eye, touches your arm, and says, ‘Come with me…’ I got up like a puppy and went, ‘Yeah, OK, that seems like a great idea. I’ll follow you.’”
William admitted in 2021 that he didn’t know the “You Give Love a Bad Name” singer and Swift would be at the event, adding that their appearance “nearly knocked [him] off my feet.”
“When I sat down to watch Jon Bon Jovi do his performance, I thought: ‘That’s it. My job is done. I’ll get a dinner in a minute and I might be able to have a chat to some people and, you know, I’m off-duty a little bit now.’”
Bon Jovi’s four-part docuseries will chronicle the band’s rise to stardom in a series of videos and interviews. “This is in fact the band’s 40th anniversary,” Bon Jovi said on Friday. “I wanted to document what had happened in my past, with the vision on what is the future.”
Hulu’s Thank You, Goodnight will be released on April 26.
