Jon Bon Jovi, 62, reveals he is ‘getting back’ to performing live and taking recovery ‘step by step’ following rare throat surgery two years earlier

Jon Bon Jovi revealed that he is slowly ‘getting back’ to performing live after he underwent a rare throat surgery two years earlier in June 2022.

The Livin’ On A Prayer hitmaker, 62 – who recently attended Tom Brady’s induction to the Patriots Hall of Fame with wife Dorothea Hurley – opened up about his health update during an interview with People.

While at the opening of an exhibit at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for his band, Bon Jovi, the rocker was asked if he has been regaining his vocals following the release of the group’s latest album, Forever, which dropped on June 7.

‘I guess I am,’ Jon informed the outlet. In regards to stepping back onto the stage to perform in front of a live audience, he added, ‘We performed last night in Nashville, and everything was very good.’

‘So step by step, I’m getting back to it,’ the Grammy winner continued.

In the summer of 2022, Bon Jovi had a vocal fold medialization procedure (also known as thyroplasty) done.

And last month in May, the performer got candid about the vocal surgery during a cover story for AARP’s June/July 2024 issue.

While talking to the outlet, the singer shared his initial reaction to potentially suffering from vocal loss.

‘People had to talk me off the ledge, because you’re like, “I didn’t do anything wrong! What’s wrong?”‘ he expressed.

Lip-syncing and Auto-tune was not an option for Jovi when it came to live performances, with the star stating, ‘I’d rather get hit by a bus on the high­way.’

Jon was weighing different options when fellow performer, Shania Twain, recommended her doctor, Robert Sataloff, after she suffered voice issues of her own.

Sataloff also told AARP, ‘Jon has worked, throughout his career, harder and more diligently than most of his fans would ever have guessed.’

However, he explained that the star’s thinning vocal cords were not caused by injury or any type of illness – but simply was due to aging. ‘Eventually it catches up with all of us.’

While talking to the outlet, the singer shared his initial reaction to potentially suffering from vocal loss. ‘People had to talk me off the ledge, because you’re like, “I didn’t do anything wrong! What’s wrong?”‘ he expressed; seen in 1985

In regards to vocal cords losing mass over the years, the doctor stated, ‘the vocal folds fail to meet firmly.’

‘People naturally and unconsciously work harder to squeeze their vocal folds together so they can get a strong voice. However, that kind of excess muscle tension is counterproductive, inefficient.’

Sataloff added, ‘It causes muscle strain that makes it more effortful to talk or sing and leads to fatigue of the voice and sometimes to the vocal fold injury.’

And then in June 2022, Jon underwent surgery and got a Gore-Tex implant in the attempt to strengthen his vocal cords.

‘I could talk the day after the surgery,’ the singer recalled. ‘I just sounded like the Godfather. It takes some retraining of the mind and the body and then the spirit, and you just have to be patient.’

‘I did not excel in the patience category,’ the stat admitted to the publication. ‘I’m not Superman. It’s just a tattoo that I have on my arm.

‘Part of the human experiment is that you just have to try to stay focused and keep moving forward. But it doesn’t mean that, you know, life’s over because I’m 62.’

He later explained, ‘It’s like an athlete getting back onto the field again. Until you’re out there during the game, one will never know if it’s going to hold up.’

Jon also revealed if there was a possibility of going on tour again and stated, ‘Whether or not I can ever do a 100-show tour again, I don’t know. But if I can have joy on the stage on night one, that would be great.’

‘I could talk the day after the surgery,’ the singer recalled. ‘I just sounded like the Godfather. It takes some retraining of the mind and the body and then the spirit, and you just have to be patient’; seen earlier this month in Cleveland, Ohio

Jon also revealed if there was a possibility of going on tour again and stated, ‘Whether or not I can ever do a 100-show tour again, I don’t know. But if I can have joy on the stage on night one, that would be great’; seen in 1984 in Illinois

To make the goal a potential reality, the rocker has been focused on a strict recovery process, from a fitness routine in the gym geared towards his core and back, as well as working with speech-language pathologists to retrain his vocal muscles.

‘Don’t doubt that I can’t sing anymore,’ he said during his interview with AARP. ‘This isn’t a situation that the singer has lost his voice.’

‘But during this recovery, my goal is to do two and a half hours every night, four days a week,’ Jon explained, referencing to how often he wishes to take to the stage on a tour. ‘And you know, I am not going to go out there and give less than 110 percent.’

Back in April, Jon’s vocal cord issues were seen in the Hulu docuseries titled Thank You, Goodnight: The Bon Jovi Story.

While talking to People at the time, the singer further reflected on the procedure and said, ‘The thing that gave me so much pleasure had been taken away.’

‘Joy is something you got to work at, right? Happiness is what you make it. It’s not about seizing the day anymore.’

He added, ‘I think it’s about embracing the day. I don’t have to punch it in the face anymore, now I just give it a hug, and that’s a good place to be.’

In regards to the band’s new album, Forever, the star explained that the theme is ‘really about my finding joy again.’

‘What really matters in a life? It’s love and loyalty and finding things that make you want to get up out of bed in the morning.’

Along with slowly returning to performing live and dropping new music, Jon also recently celebrated his son, Jake Bongiovi, secretly tying the knot with Stanger Things actress, Millie Bobby Brown, last month in May. 

During a recent interview with BBC’s The One Show, Jon opened up about the intimate nuptials and his daughter-in-law. 

‘It was a very small family wedding and the bride looked gorgeous and Jake is happy as can be,’ he expressed.

The singer also gushed, ‘Millie’s wise beyond her years, wiser than I was at her age. She and Jake are figuring things out together. You talk to them and they say, “We’re developing these [ideas for] films together” and I’m taken aback.’

Bon Jovi shares Jake, 22, as well as Stephanie, 31, Jessie, 29, and Romeo, 20, with wife Dorothea Hurley – whom he tied the knot with in 1989.