Jon Bon Jovi says his children look to his marriage as ‘example of what worked’

Jon Bon Jovi has said his children have been looking to his marriage as an “example of what worked” after actress Millie Bobby Brown recently married his son Jake Bongiovi.

The 62-year-old US rocker, who has been married to his teenage sweetheart Dorothea for 35 years, revealed their family has been kept busy with his sons Jake and Jesse both tying the knot in recent weeks, while his daughter Stephanie is engaged.

Amid the celebrations, his band Bon Jovi has released its 16th studio album Forever to mark the group’s 40th anniversary, describing the record as a “return to joy”.

Ahead of his album launch, he told the PA news agency: “Two of my sons have been married in the last couple of weeks, and I have a daughter who’s engaged to be married so we’re getting discounts on tuxedos in our house.

“Advice? Not necessarily. I think that all the kids have been looking, fortunately for us, to their parents and us as examples of what worked.

“And so we’re excited for them.”

The front man confirmed he did not have to perform at either of the ceremonies, which he described as “sweet” and “intimate celebrations”.

Reflecting on the pillars within his marriage, he said: “I think the big key of it is that we grew together.

“We went to school together as children. We met in high school, I was 18, she was 17, and so no matter what challenges there were, we lived through them together.

“We come from the same place, we had the same ideas, the same ideals, the same values.

“So with all of that, it made it easier to understand each other. I think that’s integral.”

Bon Jovi said he was “so proud” of the band’s new album as he felt it was “all killer, no filler”, but revealed the single Legendary was special to him as it was dedicated to his wife, who was referred to as the “brown-eyed girl”.

“Emotionally, with the sense that joy is at the forefront, Legendary speaks to that and to my relationship to Dorothea”, he said.

“When I grew up, Van Morrison’s brown-eyed girl was (mentioned in the song) Brown Eyed Girl, and she (Dorothea) happens to have brown eyes and so she’s that to me.

“And so that song is really about her.”

The album is also a celebration of a “post-surgery” world for the singer, who has spent the last couple of years recovering from vocal cord surgery which threatened to end his career.

He added: “So post-surgery, and with the pending 40th, and the promise of a post-Covid world, there was joy.

“And I started to realise that, and I really wanted to embrace it again. And so, inch-by-inch, I got back to joy.”

Bon Jovi’s album Forever is out on June 7.