Japan charity album

From Q1043.com:

Stars including Justin Bieber, Rihanna and Nicki Minaj are offering up their songs for a compilation album to raise funds for Japan following the devastating earthquake and tsunami earlier this month.

Executives at Universal Music are releasing a digital record later this week, with the profits going towards the Japanese Red Cross relief appeal.

A spokesperson for the label says, "We are doing it only digitally because it is faster, and this will be a worldwide release. The plan is to have it available later this week."

Other artists rumored to be on the playlist include U2, Lady Gaga and Bon Jovi.

Toronto Sun interview with Richie and Tico

This is another modge-podge article, nothing too new - but I have to say, this was my favorite line of the piece:

"Tico's got his drum right up my butt and he plays some different feels and he does some different things, and I smile..."
-Richie

Sorry. Take that as you will - dirty or just simply silly! - but it made me laugh out loud.

Source

Bon Jovi gearing up for big tour
By Jane Stevenson

There's no rest for the wicked, or in the case of New Jersey rock veterans Bon Jovi, for the super-successful.

Hot on the heels of having the No. 1 tour of 2010, and releasing a greatest-hits collection in November, the band is hitting the road again. They visit four Canadian cities between next week and May, as part of an extensive North American tour. First up is a two-night stand at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto on Feb. 14-15.

Bon Jovi have been in the music business together for 28 years and sold 125 million albums worldwide. The keys to their success? Simple. Hard work and friendship.

"Love of music, love of each other," said guitarist Richie Sambora, 51, down the line with drummer Tico Torres, 58, during a teleconference interview.

"We're brothers. And we go out there and we look at each other and I don't want to play with nobody else, you know? Tico's got his drum right up my butt and he plays some different feels and he does some different things, and I smile -- and then I'll play something different. And it's an exchange of energy. Not only between the band and the audience, but between the band. I mean those three hours or two-and-a-half hours on stage every night is what we live for."

Added Torres: "Richie's right. We play off each other and that's what we have, that's what a band is. Really, the innuendos and the changes that we make are (the key). We play differently every night. It's something that you look forward to because, you know, you spend a lot of time in the hotel room away from home, and you're looking forward to those three hours on stage."

Sambora said that over the years Bon Jovi has perfected the art of what he calls "giving good stadium." Through the use of large video screens audience members "can see the sweat,' and having a charismatic frontman in the form of Jon Bon Jovi, who manages to keep things intimate no matter how large the setting. Neither Sambora nor Torres says the band thinks about scaling things down to do a theatre tour.

"Maybe when we're 85 we'll do the small, little tour because you don't have to run around a lot," Torres cracked.

After the current tour wraps with European dates in August, Bon Jovi will take the next couple of years off. Jon Bon Jovi has already said he might make another solo record in the group's down time.

"I think it's important for us to just get away from the audience for a bit," Torres said. "We've toured the world quite a bit, and sometimes you've got to get away so people can appreciate you better."

Added Sambora: "We do need a little bit of a break, but not that much of a break because what's going to happen is there's going to be more songs to be written and, you know, guess what? We want to be the Rolling Stones. I know I do."

Bon Jovi might not get the same critical respect as the Rolling Stones of the music world, but they have had the top-grossing tours of 2008 and 2010.

"You know what, we get the respect from the people," Sambora said. "And on this particular tour, on the Circle Tour (in 2010), the media came around ... Personally, I don't read the reviews myself."

Added Torres: "I don't think we ever did (read the reviews). I think you gauge yourself. Remember, we're from the East Coast -- Jersey, New York -- and our motto has always been. 'Go up there and kick some ass.'"

Sambora, however, does bristle a bit at the fact that this was the first year Bon Jovi was nominated for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame but didn't make the final cut.

"Personally, I mean I think it's a boys club over there. I don't know what they're doing. And, you know, they're looking for ratings or what are they're doing, I have no idea. Is it legitimate? Let's ask that question."

Torres has a more diplomatic take on it.

"The bands that were nominated this year and the ones that made it -- well deserved. And it's just -- well, it's nice to be nominated. We have a long life ahead of us. And I think there's a lot of bands that we're included with that, one day, should be in the Hall of Fame, and will be. So we just do what we do, play in front of people and have fun until then."

What it takes to succeed in music

Bon Jovi guitarist Richie Sambora has some advice for the young hot music stars of today -- the Justin Biebers of the world.

Write your own songs.

"Well, you know, I had the pleasure of meeting Justin, and I introduced my daughter (13-year-old Ava, with ex-wife Heather Locklear) to him. And hopefully she won't be going out with him any time soon," Sambora said jokingly.

"Although, I thought he was a great guy, I really did. I think he's a nice boy. And, you know, now the business has changed and you just got to write great songs that get to people. I mean, that's the advice."

Sambora also advises working with like-minded people.

"You've got to get in the band with people that have your same passion. If you don't have passion for something, you know, then there's a problem there. So continue to be better, because every time that this band gets on stage we try to get better. Every time I sit down with Jon (Bon Jovi), we try to write a great song."

Australia's flood relief album

This was posted on bonjovi.com, so I'm sure you've seen it, but just in case:

SONY MUSIC TO RELEASE ‘FLOOD RELIEF ARTISTS FOR THE FLOOD APPEAL’ TO RAISE MONEY FOR FLOOD VICTIMS ACROSS AUSTRALIA

SYDNEY – 21st January 2011 – Sony Music Entertainment Australia is pleased to announce its support for the victims of recent floods across Australia through the release of a special benefit compilation CD “FLOOD RELIEF – Artists For The Flood Appeal”.

The response from both Australian and international artists wanting to lend their support has been so overwhelming that an additional disc was added making it a special 3 CD set. “FLOOD RELIEF – Artists For The Flood Appeal” features 59 tracks over three CD’s and features Aussie artists including Midnight Oil, Jessica Mauboy, Guy Sebastian, Tommy Emmanuel, Lee Kernaghan and Crowded House together with international artists such as P!nk, Keith Urban, Sting, Bon Jovi, Kings Of Leon, Beyonce, Billy Joel, Bruce Springsteen, Foo Fighters, John Mayer, Bob Dylan and Jeff Buckley.

Sony Music proceeds from the sale of the CD will go to the Salvation Army Flood Appeal through the charitable arm of the Australian Sony Group of Companies, The Sony Foundation to support young people affected by the tragic floods.

I am not a fan of Who Says AT ALL, but I actually think this is a good choice for the album because of the message for all those who may be wondering if they can go home or not.

Bon Jovi denied Rock Hall of Fame

UGH. Seriously? What a slap in the face.

It's okay, boys, you're all still Rock Hall of Famers to us. Maybe next year the judges will see it too.

From rollingstone.com:

Neil Diamond, Alice Cooper, Tom Waits Inducted Into The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

The votes are in and next year's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame class will include Neil Diamond, Alice Cooper, Tom Waits, Darlene Love and Dr. John. Leon Russell will be receive The Award For Musical Excellence (formerly the sideman category) and industry legends Jac Holzman and Art Rupe will both receive the Ahmet Ertegun Award. The ceremony will be held March 14 at New York's Waldorf Astoria Hotel and it will be broadcast live on Fuse.

Artists are eligible for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 25 years after the release of their first single or LP. All of this year's inductees, however, started in the 1960s — with the lone exception of Tom Waits, who released his first LP Closing Time in 1973.

Dr. John, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inductee, Was 'Surprised' By the News

Love feels that the long wait was well worth it. "I was on my way to Atlantic City in a limo when I got the call," she says. "I started screaming and I thought, 'I sure hope the driver doesn't think that my husband's trying to kill me.' I was laughing and crying at the same time."

Darlene Love, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inductee, Says She's on Cloud Nine

The ceremony falls right in the middle of Neil Diamond's Australian tour in March. Nothing is set yet, but Diamond hopes to re-shuffle some dates so he can make it. "I'll get in somehow," he says. "They are working on the details right now. I 'm very hopeful it'll work out because I don't want to miss this ... Any club that has Chuck Berry and Little Richard and The Everly Brothers is a club that I want to be a part of."

Neil Diamond, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inductee, Says He Feels 'Very Lucky'

When Alice Cooper got the news he immediately called his former bandmates in the original Alice Cooper band. "I said 'Well, remember when we started in high school?" he says. "Here we are. It only took 45 years."

Alice Cooper, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inductee, Was 'Elated' When He Got the News

Cooper plans on performing with the band, something he's only done a handful of times since they broke up in 1976. "We're trying to figure out if we do 'School's Out,' do we send balloons of confetti into the audience?" he says. "I doubt there'll be a snake there though...If you look at the list of past inductees it's all of my heroes, from Pete Townshend to The Yardbirds to The Beatles to The Stones. It's everybody that we listened to in order to become Alice Cooper, so it's pretty amazing that those are the same people that actually voted for us."

This article from nj.com is more positive, though - as they put it:

It's not all doom and gloom, though. On Tuesday, Jovi lead singer Jon Bon Jovi was named to the White House Council for Community Solutions by President Barack Obama.

Also, Billboard magazine has named the rockers the top touring act of 2010. The band has snagged the top-grossing spot for the second time in just three years. "The Circle Tour," which began in February 2010, sold out stadiums and arenas around the world to the tune of 1.5 million fans in attendance and grossed more than $146 million.

Read the rest of the article here.

Is it time to stop making fun of Bon Jovi?

Well, um...YEAH! ;)

A nice, praising article about the boys for once - enjoy!

From vanityfair.com:

Is It Time to Stop Making Fun of Bon Jovi?
by Marc Spitz December 14, 2010, 3:52 PM


Then: poodle-haired lite-metal punch line. Now: Beloved—and highly profitable—entertainer.

“Stevie Ray Vaughn is dead and we can’t get Bon Jovi near a helicopter? Come on, folks. ‘Get on that helicopter, John. Shut the fuck up and get on that helicopter! There's a hairdresser in there. Yeah, go ahead in there, yeah, yeah!’”

The comedian Denis Leary spoke—or, rather, shouted—those words nearly 20 years ago, when it was easier to lump New Jersey’s other favorite sons together with other poodle-haired, smugly grinning, lite-metal acts such as Dokken, Cinderella, Poison, and Ratt. That Bon Jovi survived the alternative-rock meteor shower that killed off most of their 80s peers can be attributed to luck or karaoke, but shouldn’t we finally give the band themselves some credit for the Springsteen-level success they are now enjoying in middle age? With the recession making Tommys and Ginas of all of us, Jon and Richie feel somehow more necessary than they did back when they were still writing songs about Diane Lane. This week, Billboard announced that, for the second time in three years, Bon Jovi was the most profitable touring act in the world, edging out McCartney, U2, The Eagles, The Dave Matthews Band, and such respectably heavy rockers as Metallica and AC/DC. These guys are even outselling Gaga and the Black Eyed Peas.

In September, Bon Jovi was nominated for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, putting them in the company of critical darlings like Laura Nyro, Tom Waits, Dr. John, and the Beastie Boys. They may not get in (in which case they will also be in good company, alon gside Roxy Music, T. Rex, The Smiths, and Sonic Youth—but don’t get me started on a Leary-style rant), but for many fans it’s a major step towards righting a weird injustice. If you are asking how this happened, just go to the set list. Or, the next time you’re in your car, driving really fast, pull up “Runaway” (and dig the Morrissey-like falsetto at the end) or “You Give Love A Bad Name.” How about “I’ll Be There For You” or (once you’ve parked) “Born to Be My Baby”? Bon Jovi speak the truth—“Sometimes when you’re alone, all you do is think!”—and in a Ponzi-scheme world, this has real value. The Jov can be facile at times (“Have A Nice Day” is supposed to be ironic, right?) but they believe they’re being profound, and that keeps them from getting lazy. Certainly not onstage where they tend to sell even the most pat sentiments.

The most appealing thing about this band, though, is the size of their heads. They are low-maintenance heroes, and I’m pretty convinced their stature is down to tenacity and not some elaborate marketing campaign to get people like me to write words like these. (I could be wrong, but you gotta believe, right?) I once interviewed them for Nylon magazine. It was one of those terrible situations where the Q & A and the photo shoot are done at the same time, which usually finds the writer waiting for hours while trousers and split ends are discussed by the stylists and the photographer. Not at a Bon Jovi shoot. They walked right in, Jon ran a hand through his hair, shook his head out, and said, “O.K., let’s go.” Later, he shrugged as he told me, “It’s just genetics.” I’d never seen anyone less affected, much less a major rock star.

It’s a little odd to proclaim affection (and respect) for Bon Jovi, since what I do for a living is completely irrelevant to them. I occasionally contribute to the music magazine Uncut and I read all of the expensive English music mags and papers (Q, Mojo, the N.M.E.), which essentially dictate what bands we are supposed to like (even the ones that come from America), and I cannot recall a single feature on Bon Jovi … ever. (Please correct me if I’m wrong here.) And yet, when they play over there, it’s cricket fields or Wembley Stadium. I know some of those in attendance must be rock writers in disguise. I once got a text from a very influential music journalist who was standing on the side of the stage during a Bon Jovi show out in Jersey. It was a gush; the kind of thing you can’t tweet if you want to keep your job.

But slowly, with every passing honor and record set, the secret is getting out.

JBJ planning a long hiatus after 2011

Even though we all knew it was coming, I still hate hearing this. :/

From contactmusic.com:

Jon Bon Jovi is planning a long hiatus from rock when BON JOVI's current world tour ends next summer (2011) - because he needs to take a rest.

The exhausted Livin' On A Prayer singer admits his age and a number of other things have made him rethink his plans for the second half of 2011.

He says, "It's time. We have to go to bed."

And the 48 year old admits the sheer magnitude of the world tour has forced him to stop and take stock: "When you're going to places that they don't have their own electricity and you say, 'Don't worry, we'll bring our own,' it's time to take a break."

But he insists he won't be retiring anytime soon.

He adds, "For an old man who has no plastic surgery, still has all his own hair and wears a 30-inch waist, I'm doing OK."

Kerrang! Readers Poll 2010

Thanks to Katja for posting this on Twitter!

Kerrang.com wants to know who/what you think "rocked your world over the last 12 months!" Categories include Best Band, Best Live Band, Best Track, Best Album, and a whole slew of others.

There are no choices; you submit whichever name you want for each category.

I personally nominated the following:

Bon Jovi for Best Band and Best Live Band

Jon Bon Jovi for Sexiest Male

The Circle for Best Album

What Do You Got for Best Track

Track, album, and male are up to you, obviously - but I think it would be a given to submit Bon Jovi for best band and live act. ;)

Go here to vote now. Have fun!

Vote for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductees

Rolling Stone wants to know who YOU think deserves to be nominated for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame!

After 27 years, Bon Jovi is finally nominated for the 2011 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. The inductees will be announced in December, and formally inducted in March 2011 at Waldorf Astoria in New York City.

Bon Jovi is currently in 3rd place behind Alice Cooper and Neil Diamond - so vote now and show the world that Bon Jovi deserves to be Rock & Roll Hall of Famers!

Bon Jovi at the 2010 European Music Awards

I refrained from posting this until I knew everyone had seen the show, so for some of you this is late news. ;)

But CONGRATULATIONS to Bon Jovi on receiving the first-ever Global Icons Award! You are more than deserving and I am SO proud of you.



It's too bad they lost the Best Live Act category to Linkin Park, but they were hailed (unofficially) as the favorite band at the show this year!

So in case you missed it, or want to rewatch, here's video of them receiving the Global Icons Award:




And their performance at the end of the show:




And a whole slew of pictures:

Bon Jovi One Night Only - UK Interviews

I saw part 1 posted on Facebook earlier, so I went and found parts 2-4. It was on UK TV yesterday.

Who's going tomorrow? I am! And very excited to relive the New Meadowlands experience. :)

More Madrid pictures

From the press conference and secret gig with Rihanna, and arriving at the MTv EMAs (which are streaming live right now!)

Press Conference - 11/6/10





"Secret Gig" with Rihanna





Arriving at the EMAs (tonight)