Bon Jovi: Bon Jovi to rock Melbourne in December

Bon Jovi to rock Melbourne in December

Superstar rockers Bon Jovi will tour Australia in December – with a stadium-size spectacular.

"We're back on the road, doing it, and all is going well," frontman Jon Bon Jovi said.

"We built our reputation on being a live band. It took three albums to break and 500 shows to build a foundation around globe.

"Now, we're on the most upper echelon of what a touring band is.

"We can't wait to bring that to Australia."

The amazing numbers and statistics surrounding Bon Jovi’s latest tour, called The Circle, support this.

The show, one of the biggest-ever staged in Australia, will play in stadiums.

A massive stage, with an inner circle for 420 fans, is backed by the world’s largest high definition video screen, 35 metres long.

Promoter Paul Dainty said the tour blows all expectations.

Dainty, who saw the show with 55,000 fans in New Jersey said: "I thought I'd seen it all until I walked into this.

"This is beyond huge, this is amazing. Bon Jovi fans in Australia are in for the night of their lives."

In an exclusive, wide-ranging interview, Bon Jovi revealed:

* HE wants to emulate the Rolling Stones, but not tour forever like they do.

* HIS band hired a psychologist to help them keep it real.

"You learn to say 'Yes, dear' a lot. Or 'You're the boss," Bon Jovi laughed.

He and wife, Dorothea Hurley have four children, Stephanie, 16, Jesse, 14, Jacob, 7 and Romeo, 5.

"We are lucky. Our kids are great. They are trying to get life lessons from their parents right now.

"But there is no manual that comes with parenting. You figure it out as you go along."

Bon Jovi wished there was a guide to handling success.

He said the band hired a psychologist when they struggled to cope with riches and fame.

"Suddenly, you go from guys in a garage to somebody making decisions that affects people’s lives," Bon Jovi said.

"Then there are the stupid, wonderful things thrust upon you, like money and excess.

"At that stage, you need somebody to talk to who isn't getting paid by you – someone who is not your manager, agent or lawyer.

"This independent third party is there to say: 'Look, put a mirror up, and you'll see this is a bunch of bullshit.'

Most bands go through this. They get to a crossroad and ask: 'Where to now?'"

Bon Jovi knows his band is still relevant to millions of fans worldwide.

But he is uncertain about performing at Mick Jagger's age, 66.

"Let me be clear. The Rolling Stones are our idols, role models and heroes.

"But I don't know if I can be out here, doing this, 20 years from now. said Bon Jovi, who is 48.

"So I want to be the Stones in every other way there is, except touring forever."

Bon Jovi will perform at Subiaco Oval, Perth, on December 8; Etihad Stadium, Melbourne, on December 11; Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane, on December 14; and Sydney Football Stadium on December 17.

Tickets go on sale on July 8.

Bon Jovi: Bon Jovi Two decades of full stadiums

I love articles where they get facts wrong, aka go to the Obie O'Brien school of Bon Jovi history.  Read the article below and let me know if you found the error.  It's so obvious.  LOL

Bon Jovi

Two decades of full stadiums

BY ERIN HARDE, FOR THE LEADER-POSTJUNE 19, 2010 4:02 AM

- - -

When rockers Bon Jovi play to 35,000 screaming fans of all ages on July 28 at Mosaic Stadium, it may be hard for some to reconcile the now middle-aged clean-cut frontman and founder Jon Bon Jovi with the '80s glam metal icon.

But his roots, quite literally, are the reason Bon Jovi and his band can still fill stadiums more than two decades later. The New Jersey group found fame as part of the hair band movement -- that is, for those too young to remember, hard rock and metal bands whose long scraggly locks, bandanas, ripped denim and tattoos defined their image and music.

Anybody who loved Bon Jovi in the '80s likely also had cassette tapes of Ratt, Poison, Slaughter and Cinderella. While those bands are still active, Bon Jovi prevailed, weathering industry changes, and persevering through the creative dry spells. Madonna may be a musical chameleon and the Rolling Stones are as indestructible as cockroaches, but hard-working Bon Jovi has held his own, and is still beloved by millions today.

So how has he remained so popular? Maybe it's because when glam metal gave way to grunge in the early '90s, he began shifting into the pop genre, attracting a brand new demographic of fans. Maybe, as any female fan will attest, it's because of his rugged good looks, with or without his famous hair. Or it could be that he's just a decent, hard working nice guy. Like fellow New Jersey legend Bruce Springsteen, Bon Jovi has kept his nose clean over the years.

He married his high school sweetheart Dorothea in 1987, has four children with her, and they're still married, practically unheard of in the industry. Just ask his womanizing guitarist, Richie Sambora, who found himself in plenty of mischief over the years from rehab to a high profile divorce from Heather Locklear. Bon Jovi's biggest scandal? He cut off his famous mane in the early '90s, which made headlines on CNN.

Not that the band members didn't squabble, but rather than resolving it the usual way with drunken fighting, they once retreated to the Caribbean specifically to work out their issues and discuss the future. Ultimately, the group went on hiatus a few times in the '90s, but all four members -- Bon Jovi, Sambora, drummer Tico Torres, and keyboardist David Bryan -- kept busy with solo projects, including television and movie stints in Bon Jovi's case. Even in many of those roles, like his kind contractor Victor on the Fox sitcom Ally McBeal, he was a nice guy.

In the last decade, Bon Jovi has enjoyed a huge resurgence with Crush, which featured "It's My Life," Bounce, a nod to the band's ability to bounce back into the limelight, Have a Nice Day, Lost Highway, and their latest The Circle.

Make a Bon Jovi playlist that pulls singles from each era, and it's easy to see how much the band has experimented with its sound. Classics from Slippery When Wet, like "You Give Love A Bad Name," "Livin' on a Prayer" and "Wanted Dead or Alive," wildly vary from newest single, "We Weren't Born to Follow."

Yet, he lost few fans along the way. Regina couple Blaine and Chera Miller have been devoted to Bon Jovi since 1987.

"I was 12 years old, and had the Slippery When Wet tape," says Chera, a Grade 3 teacher at Henry Janzen School.

" 'You Give Love A Bad Name' was their No. 1 hit, and that was pretty much when I really fell in love with Bon Jovi."

Her husband picked up on Bon Jovi when sophomore album 7800° Fahrenheit was released.

"I got into that glam rock era. My friends were all into it, Motley Crue, Cinderella, the hair bands," says Blaine, a maintenance worker with the Regina Public School Board.

For the Millers, Bon Jovi isn't just a band, it's a way of life. Between them, the Millers have seen Bon Jovi nine times. Blaine first saw the group on its New Jersey tour in 1989 while Chera camped overnight at the Agridome to be the first to buy tickets for the band's 1997 performance in Saskatoon. She laughs at herself now, acknowledging that kind of dedication wasn't necessary as Bon Jovi wasn't at its peak then.

When the couple married, their first dance was to "Thank You for Loving Me," and when their second child was born, they named him Jovi, showing just how dedicated they are. Already, the one-year-old pays tribute to his namesake when he wears his Bon Jovi onesie.

"We saw him in 2006, and after watching that concert and falling in love with him all over again, I said to Blaine, 'Our next child, boy or girl, we're naming him or her Jovi.' "

Friends and family weren't surprised by the choice of name. When people think of Blaine and Chera, they think of Bon Jovi.

Like Bon Jovi and his wife, the Millers are also high school sweethearts, finding each other at F.W. Johnson Collegiate and discovering their common passion soon after dating. As members of the Bon Jovi fan club, the pair landed fourth-row seats to the Regina performance, and hope to hear tunes from their favourite Bon Jovi eras.

For Blaine, it's "Wanted Dead Or Alive," and "Blood on Blood," while Chera loves Lost Highway the best and wants to hear "(You Want To) Make a Memory" and her wedding song.

Despite their long-standing devotion to the band, the Millers have yet to meet Bon Jovi, but Chera hopes a letter she wrote to the fan club about how much Bon Jovi has impacted their lives will one day lead to a photo opportunity with her son and the band.

"I've never met him in person yet, but I'd love to."

Rosie Blais also hopes to meet him in July. Blais is lead singer of Enjoy Your Pumas, the Winnipeg act that landed the opening slot at Mosaic Stadium before Kid Rock takes the stage. The 19-year-old figures she could learn a lot from the rock veteran.

"I think I would ask him how to stay relevant, and stay real," she says.

"You gotta think about this. Bon Jovi is an enormous act, the biggest tour in the world, and he's asking local acts to open for him. He doesn't have to do that, it's so nice he does give this opportunity to people."

With ticket prices as low as $25, Bon Jovi is giving fans the chance to see a huge rock show for next to nothing. Neil Donnelly, vice-president, events and entertainment, at Evraz Place, promises the show will have all the spectacle of the Rolling Stones and AC/DC concerts.

"The lighting, the staging, the video, the audio will be just as big as what we saw at AC/DC. It will be a full-on rock show."

Rather than a catwalk through the middle of the crowd, Bon Jovi's setup will have a semi-circle jutting out from each corner of the stage. Those willing to pay more than $500 a ticket will enjoy the show from inside 'the circle,' as dubbed by the band.

Whether fans are teenagers or 30-something parents, love Slippery When Wet or Crush, once worshipped hair bands or just like to sing along to the band on the radio, they're sure to agree on one thing -- Regina is in for "one wild night."

- - -

TOP SONGS

Selected by Tim Harrison, Jack FM.

5. "Blaze of Glory"

I know it wasn't a band song, but it just seemed perfect as the theme for the Young Guns II movie complimenting the "young dudes" cast of Kiefer Sutherland and Emilio Estevez. Plus it hit No. 1!

4. "Wanted Dead or Alive"

So fitting a song for the time period. It was the third release from Slippery When Wet, they were the biggest band in the world, jetting all over the globe on the "Steel Horse" they rode. And people clammered to see them "Dead or Alive." The video just showed the exhaustion, yet they had to bring it every night.

3. "Bad Medicine"

So, it had been two years since Slippery When Wet overtook the world, they had toured extensively and now they had a new album. How good could it be? Could it rise to the heights of Slippery? The first single answered that question. That nasty hook in the intro of the song grabbed everybody -- and the ride was on again.

2. "You Give Love a Bad Name"

Up until this point, they were another flashy young band with long hair and some catchy hooks. But when they released this song to radio, I remember getting goose-bumps playing it. The cold intro -- "Shot through the heart and you're to blame" They had no idea what this song was going to do to them for the next five years.

1. "Livin' on a Prayer"

What do you say? It's their signature song. I remember seeing them in Calgary back in the early '90s and I wasn't sure which song I most wanted to hear until half the show was over and I said to myself, "They have to do 'Livin' on a Prayer.' Everybody around kept screaming 'Livin' on a Prayer,' 'Livin' on a Prayer.' " That's when I knew this was their biggest song. Oh, and it was their final encore of the night. It may be that way July 28th at Mosaic Stadium!!!

Bon Jovi: Bon Jovi's Richie Sambora talks to TNT

Bon Jovi guitarist and songwriter, Richie Sambora, on taking the mic from Jon, having a wild time in the ’80s, and balancing life as a single dad and rock star

How’s the tour going?

The shows have just been stupendous. We’re just having such an amazing tour, especially in such a time of economic downturn. People are still coming to see us … And we’re actually getting good reviews for a fucking change. I think the world’s gonna end or something.

Is it true you take 22 guitars on the road with you?

Probably more by now – I pick ’em up. In fact, one of my favourite guitar shops is Fat Rick’s Vintage Guitar Emporium [in Fulham]. Rick’s an old friend of mine so I’ll probably purchase a guitar or two while I’m in London.

You’ve been taking the mic a bit more lately. Is it nice to have the limelight instead of Jon hogging it all the time?

Ha ha! Well that’s why I make solo records. But yeah, it gives Jon a nice little break in the middle of the show … Over the last couple of tours I’ve been doing Bon Jovi songs like I’ll Be There For You, Homebound Train and Lay Your Hands On Me.

How do you stay grounded? Like, do you still take out the trash?

What? Are you kidding me? I’m still picking up dog poop and taking out the trash, you know.

It’s the craziest dichotomy of a person you could ever imagine cos when I go home I’m a single dad … I wake up very early in my house in California, make my kid breakfast, drop her off at school then get in the limousine, go to the private jet and fly to New York and play in front of 80,000 people.

In interviews, you and Jon always allude to the wild times you had in the ’80s. But how wild are we talking – groupies queuing around the block?

The best way I can put it is, think of the wildest stuff you’ve ever done and times it by 100, and that was my daily consumption.

We were young and riding the rocket ship to fame and stardom, and rock ’n’ roll was a different animal back then. That period finished for us when the grunge era entered. Rock ’n’ roll shifted. Aids came around so women weren’t as promiscuous as they were back in the ’80s.

It was good fun stuff. I don’t really have any regrets … We didn’t get so out there – we weren’t doing heroin, all that kind of stuff. But we had our share of consumption of other intoxicants and we had a good time with the ladies.

Are you single at the moment?

Yes, I am and enjoying every minute of it. I’m scouring the world for my future ex-wife. (LOL - DB) It’s only a joke. I’m enjoying dating and meeting ladies. I’m so busy anyway. I’m either looking after my daughter or busy being a rock star.

What advice would you give your daughter Ava about showbiz?

Don’t get discouraged or heartbroken. It’s a very, very tough world out there. Work hard and have something to fall back on, whatever your second passion is … I was studying psychology. Now they [Kean University, New Jersey] gave me my honorary doctorate so you can refer to me as Dr Sambora!

Interview: Alison Grinter

Bon Jovi: Is there any Soul without Jon Bon Jovi?

Big news yesterday!  The Philadelphia Soul are back.

Oh, but before you break out your autographed Soul Jersey, Jon Bon Jovi will not be back.

Per a statement from Jon Bon Jovi from different articles:

“I will not be part of the ownership group due to my focus and attention being on the current Bon Jovi worldwide tour, but I have fond memories of my experience with the Soul and especially our 2008 ArenaBowl championship season," Bon Jovi said in a statement. "I continue to be a fan of the team and want nothing but continued success on and off the field for the Soul.”

Here's my take on why Jon Bon Jovi will not be a part of the Soul.

The AFL in it's current situation has no ties whatsoever to the NFL, in it's previous incarnation the NFL backed the league financially and otherwise.  The NFL in it's history does not like competing leagues and does whatever it can to destroy them (the American Football League now known as the American Football Conference, lesserly the XFL, and more importantly the USFL which was better than the NFL during its heyday and gave Doug Flutie a place to play (he was the QB for the Tampa Bay Bandits) ).

Jon Bon Jovi wants to own an NFL team or be a part of an ownership group, the NFL will not look fondly on his ownership group if he owns a stake in a team that's in a league not affiliated with the NFL.

Jon also wants to play the Super Bowl, you think they would let him if he owns a part of the new Soul?

And the statement above is so lame, he toured extensively during the previous incarnation of the Soul (watch WWWB and see) and still found time to support the team.   

A publicist needs to do a better job when writing these things.  

The above is just my opinion, but I think I hit the nail on the head.  I did not root for the Soul even with JBJ in command, my dislike for any Philly sports teams (coming from Northern New Jersey) prevented me from embracing the Soul.  It would be like rooting for the Eagles (only when they play the Cowboys and not when Michael Vick is playing).  It doesn't happen.  

Non Jovi: Cinderella's Story

Cinderella opened for Bon Jovi on the Slippery Tour, in fact Jon Bon Jovi discovered them.  It's nice to read about another act from that time that's still out there with the line up intact (Can't say that for Bon Jovi, hey there Alec John Such).

Cinderella's Story

Hair-metal band from suburban Philly is still rocking after 25 years

By Ed Condran

Cinderella is in its prime

A quarter century has passed since Jon Bon Jovi placed the glass slipper onto the foot of Cinderella. The future pop-rock superstar checked out of the band’s shows and was impressed enough to let his label, Mercury Records, know about the young metal act out of suburban Philadelphia.

Mercury was just as taken with Cinderella as Bon Jovi.

A year after signing the band, the group released its breakthrough debut album, Night Songs. The disc, which dropped in 1986, went triple platinum courtesy of such hit singles as “Shake Me,” “Nobody’s Fool” and “Somebody Save Me.”

It didn’t hurt that Mercury gave the band ample support as the group continued to flourish during the hair-metal era.

“Those were some great days,” singer-songwriter Tom Keifer tells Atlantic City Weekly.

“So many things went our way during the ’80s. We worked the songs hard and people responded. It was a period that I’ll never forget.”

But grunge burst the hair metal bubble during the early ’90s. Cinderella’s last album, 1994’s Still Climbing was but a blip on the rock radar. After appearing for just a week on the Billboard Top 200 chart, the album fizzled and Mercury dropped Cinderella.

But that wasn’t all that troubled Cinderella.

“I had vocal problems back then and even earlier than that,” Keifer says. “That’s why there was such a gap between the albums Heartbreak Station and Still Climbing. It was a really scary time. My voice was all over the place at the end of the Heartbreak Station tour. I had no control over it.”

Kiefer was diagnosed with paresis of his left vocal cord, which is akin to paralysis.

“It was difficult because it can be career ending,” Kiefer says. “There’s no surgery or medicine to cure it. You have to re-train the vocal cord to do what it should do. I had to work hard so we could make Still Climbing.”

Kiefer was rolling along fairly well vocally until the band’s 2006 tour with Poison.

“It hit me again, but this time it was really hard,” Kiefer recalls. “I decided to tour with my voice in such shape. At first it wasn’t so bad, but it got worse and worse.”

Surgery was necessary since Kiefer put a great degree of stress on his vocal cord while gutting through the tour. Kiefer has been rehabbing his pipes and is on a tour with Cinderella, which stops Wednesday, June 23, at the House of Blues at Showboat in Atlantic City.

“I can’t imagine not singing,” Kiefer says. “It’s my passion. You don’t realize what you have until it may be taken away from you. I lived through some terrible experiences, but I’m just so thankful that I can sing.”

Kiefer, who has always accentuated the positive, continues to see the silver lining in the clouds. While recovering from surgery and rehabbing in Nashville, he has witnessed the development of his son, who was born six years ago.

“It’s been amazing since I got to experience so many of the benchmarks that a child hits,” Kiefer says. “That wouldn’t have happened if I was on the road. A lot of guys in bands hardly see their kids because you’re always going from city to city. Surgery was no fun, but being home with my child was an experience I couldn’t put a price on. That was the upside of a pretty difficult experience.”

But Kiefer is making up for some lost time.

“I’ve always enjoyed being out on the road,” Kiefer says. “I remember how much I loved it when this band started out and that hasn’t changed one bit. It’s as exciting as it’s ever been.”

The band, which also includes guitarist Jeff LeBar, bassist Eric Brittingham and drummer Fred Coury, still gets on very well. Perhaps that has something to do with the act’s longevity.

“We were all there from way back when [during our heyday],” Kiefer says. “I think that has something to do with how well we get along. We’re like brothers. We have that connection onstage. We know what each of us will do from playing for such a long time together. It’s amazing that we’re the same guys who were playing with each other all those years ago and we still step out onstage together. Not a lot of bands can say that. A lot of bands get torn apart due to some petty stuff, but we’ve persevered. We survived things like what went on with my voice, but I actually think we’re stronger because of all that.”

After a quarter century Cinderella and their Bon Jovi pals are still standing as many of their peers from the hedonistic ’80s are just a memory.

“It’s funny how things work out,” Kiefer says. “Bon Jovi has been good friends for so long. It’s great to see them do so well and then you have a lot of guys who couldn’t handle the excess or just changes in the music. And then there is our band, which has somehow survived. We’ve had our share of ups and downs, [but] It’s been an amazing run and the great thing is that we’re still standing.”

Bon Jovi: "Jon's like the quarter-back and he'll be pulling songs out of his butt!"

In all the news about Memphis winning the big prize last night.  (Congratulations! to Dave Bryan and Co. for all the awards) I found this little bit.

Ok, Contact Music isn't the greatest source, but sometimes they have these entertaining little stories, with these obscure sources (I'm still looking for the magazine they quoted saying Jon quit smoking because of the Life Insurance costs). And the picture they use of Richie isn't the most flattering. (see Below)

Non-Stop Songwriter Jon Bon Jovi

Richie Sambora believes bandmate Jon Bon Jovi is so talented he can make music out of anything.

Jon Bon Jovi can pull songs "out of his butt".

Bon Jovi's frontman - who was inducted into the Songwriters' Hall of Fame in 2009 - can produce hit tracks from seemingly nowhere, according to his bandmate Richie Sambora.

The guitarist told BANG Showbiz: "Jon's like the quarter-back and he'll be pulling songs out of his butt!"

Despite having such a huge back catalogue, Bon Jovi have not stopped writing new material.

Richie explained: "About three weeks ago Jon calls me up and says, `Let's write a couple more songs'. So we wrote a couple more songs and they turned out really good. We called the band and got them back in the studio and now we're cutting them."

The group are currently mid-way through a 12-night residency at London's O2 Arena - which kicked off last Monday (07.06.10) - and have promised fans can expect something different every night.

Richie said: "In this place you're going to see a change every night because there's repeat clientele and it makes it different for us.

"Sometimes we'll just pick an obscure song we haven't done in 25 years. We've got 12 studio albums and a box set of like 50 songs that were previously unreleased.

"I think our master set list is somewhere around 90 songs."

Adventures in Cooking: Pizza

I decided to make Pizza for Sunday night supper, I just decided after weeks of steak, I wanted something different.

2010 Tony Awards: Bon Jovi's David Bryan nominated for multiple Tonys

Good Luck tonight David all of us are pulling for you!!  BTW I think it's the first show he's going to miss in 27 years, but what are 4 years right? 

2010 Tony Awards: Bon Jovi's David Bryan nominated for multiple Tonys

Tris McCall/The Star-Ledger Tris McCall/The Star-Ledger

Jersey native David Bryan, best known as Bon Jovi's pianist, has found a second career on Broadway.

David Bryan is missing his first Bon Jovi concert in 23 years.

He’s got a good excuse: The rocker has important business to attend to at Radio City Music Hall tonight.

This founding member of one of the biggest rock bands on the planet is on the verge of also taking home Broadway’s highest honor.

“Memphis,” the show he wrote with stage veteran Joe DiPietro, has been nominated for eight Tony Awards, including best musical, best original score and best orchestration.

Bryan, whose dramatic piano, organ and synthesizer arrangements have always set Bon Jovi apart from its hard-rocking peers, is delighted by the unexpected success of his second career

“I’m not a guy who grew up in theater,” says Bryan, 48, who was raised in Edison and attended J.P. Stevens High School. “I’ve always played in rock bands. After my bar mitzvah in 1975, I went to see ‘Fiddler on the Roof,’ and for years, that was it. Musicals weren’t on my radar.”

They certainly are now. “Memphis,” which tells the story of a white radio disc jockey audacious enough to air black music in the early ’50s, has connected with the Broadway audience.

“We’re more than chugging along,” says Bryan, “making money every week.”

“Toxic Avenger,” a second collaboration with DiPietro based on the cult Troma film about a radioactive Jersey superhero, won the 2009 Outer Critics Circle Award for best off-Broadway musical. And the pair are hard at work on yet another production: “Chasing the Song,” which seeks to do for early-’60s Brill Building pop what “Memphis” did for the dawn of rock ’n’ roll.

As purposeful as it all seems now, Bryan admits that his introduction to Broadway songwriting was anything but. Frustrated by his inability to sell his original solo compositions to cover artists, Bryan told his publisher he wouldn’t write another until he’d had a song placed with a performer.

“My publisher asked, ‘How about musicals?’ ” Bryan recalls, “and I answered ‘What are they?’ He said, ‘What if I told you I could get 20 of your songs covered eight times a week?’ ”

“I said, ‘Sold.’ ”

While the rock ’n’ roll subject matter of “Memphis” appealed to the Bon Jovi pianist — as did the chance to tell the story of a forbidden interracial romance — it was DiPietro’s script that really caught Bryan’s attention.

“I read it through,” says Bryan, “and I immediately imagined what you see and hear onstage right now. The words were all in the right patterns for songwriting. I heard every one of the songs in my head.”

Excited, Bryan contacted DiPietro. The Oradell native, who’d written the lyrics to the long-running hit “I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change,” asked the rocker to send him a demo version of one of the “Memphis” songs. Bryan chose “Music of My Soul” (“the heart of the story,” he says, “and the heart of the main character”), and got to work.

“I went right down to the studio,” says Bryan, who, despite his long résumé, had no reservations about auditioning for his new role. “I played piano, organ and bass, mixed it all together and FedExed it to him. I talked to him at noon, I put it all together, and got it to Joe by 5:30.”

“He said, ‘If you’re not crazy, you’ve got the gig.’ ”

While nothing in “Memphis” sounds like Bon Jovi, Bryan’s long experience in rock bands helped him conceptualize the rest of the score.

“I thought of the show as a set-list,” says Bryan. “I knew we needed hit choruses. I knew where I wanted to put the emotional rides, and I knew the value of a big singalong anthem. Before I was in Bon Jovi, I played in a horn band with Jon, so when it came time to orchestrate ‘Memphis’, I definitely knew what I wanted to hear.”

At first, the immediacy of Bryan’s writing bewildered some of his collaborators. Broadway musicals are notoriously talky, and not everybody who worked on “Memphis” shared the pianist’s insistence that each song have a memorable hook.

“I’d be asked, ‘Why do you keep repeating that one part?’” says Bryan. “I’d remind them that some of the great Broadway songs have refrains, and if people are singing the chorus on the way out of the show, you know you’ve got a hit.”

The cast and crew of “Memphis” quickly came to respect Bryan’s dedication. And Bryan, who has toured stadiums all over the world with Bon Jovi — no minor undertaking — was astonished by the intricacy and scale of the Broadway enterprise.

“It’s the most complicated beast I’ve ever seen,” says the pianist. “It’s hard enough to write the music and the lyrics. Then you’ve got to orchestrate, you’ve got to do the sets, the choreography. We’re talking about 15-hour days, and then at night, you take notes and rewrite. The emotions are boiling.”

Once unaware of Broadway, Bryan is now hooked on the intensity of the stage. In between Bon Jovi tours, while his bandmates are resting, he’ll get to work on another play — and he doesn’t plan to slow down any time soon.

“I’m a lucky guy. I’m in an amazing band, and I found this new door, and opened it up.”

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