Bon Jovi: I guess I might have a reason to watch Oprah's new network now

At least for one night.

OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network Adds New Original Primetime Specials To Its January Lineup

Written By Bill Gorman

December 21st, 2011

via press release:

OWN: OPRAH WINFREY NETWORK ADDS NEW ORIGINAL PRIMETIME SPECIALS TO ITS JANUARY LINEUP

"Oprah's Master Class" Returns as a Series of Specials Beginning Sunday, January 8 and the Special Event "Oprah and the Legendary Cast of 'Roots' 35 Years Later" will Air on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, Monday, January 16

Los Angeles, CA - OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network announced today two new additions to its January primetime programming lineup: "Oprah's Master Class" returns as a series of specials beginning Sunday, January 8 (10-11 p.m. ET/PT) and an OWN special event, "Oprah and the Legendary Cast of 'Roots' 35 Years Later," will air on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, Monday, January 16 (8-9 p.m. ET/PT).

"Oprah's Master Class" will debut with Academy Award-winning actress Jane Fonda (January 8). Other masters profiled this season will include three additional award-winning actors Goldie Hawn, Sidney Poitier and Morgan Freeman; media mogul philanthropist Ted Turner; acclaimed musicians Reba McEntire and Jon Bon Jovi; and professional athletes Laird Hamilton and Grant Hill.

There's more on a 35th anniversary of the movie Roots. But to me this was the only part that's interesting.

Bon Jovi: Images from the Hope Concert V

There's an article there at the bottom too.

Jon Bon Jovi appears on stage and describes how he and his teenage children began getting multiple calls and text messages from friends saying they heard a rumor online that he was dead. Bon Jovi performed at The Hope Concert -- a semi-annual holiday show at the Count Basie Theater in Red Bank. (12/19/11) Andrew Mills/The Star-Ledger

Jon Bon Jovi, alive and well, stars at the Hope Concert V

Published: Tuesday, December 20, 2011, 12:34 AM Updated: Tuesday, December 20, 2011, 1:02 AM

By Tris McCall/The Star-Ledger 

The wicked Twitterati had him in the grave earlier today. But on Monday night, Jon Bon Jovi disproved rumors of his death at the Hope Concert at the Count Basie Theatre in Red Bank. The rock star, who was the latest high-profile entertainer to be prematurely buried by pranksters on the Internet, looked and sounded fit as he sang a jazzy version of “The Letter” by the Box Tops, the J. Geils Band stomper “House Party” alongside Southside Johnny, and Bon Jovi hits “Wanted Dead or Alive,” “Who Says You Can’t Go Home,” and “Born to Follow.". Backed by longtime sideman Bobby Bandiera -- the evening’s musical director -- and the 14-piece Jersey Shore Rock-N-Soul Revue, Bon Jovi ended the two-hour benefit concert with a flourish. 

Jon Bon Jovi returned for a holiday-themed encore set, pulling out his best Elvis impersonation for “Blue Christmas” and splitting microphone time with Nicole Atkins and Gary U.S. Bonds on a raucous rendition of “Run Run Rudolph.”

Atkins, Bonds, Southside Johnny, Brian Fallon of Gaslight Anthem, and Tim McLoone and the Shirleys all lent their strong voices to the Hope Concert cause -- raising money for the Cancer Institute of New Jersey. The benefit, which was the fifth in the series of occasional charity concerts at Count Basie Theatre, brought in $175,000 for the comprehensive cancer center. Unlike most all-star charity shows, the Hope Concert was well paced: No performer outstayed his or her welcome, and the musicians (mostly) resisted the temptation to extend their songs to absurd lengths. Bandiera had his Rock-N-Soul revue drilled, and he proved to be a generous, graceful master of ceremonies.

Like Scott Baio, who was victimized by a similar prank a few days ago, Jon Bon Jovi seemed unnerved by the barrage of Twitter rumors. He referred to the hoax several times, and even pantomimed taking phone calls from concerned friends checking to see if he was still alive. He even felt the need to rehash the old Mark Twain quip about how the reports of his death had been exaggerated.

At the last Hope Concert in 2008, Jon Bon Jovi shared the Count Basie stage with Bruce Springsteen. The Boss did not make a surprise appearance on Monday, but “Thunder Road” pumped over the theatre sound system after the show prompted a compensatory singalong.

Bon Jovi: JON IS NOT DEAD

Kim Jung Il is, sorry North Korea.

Bon Jovi not dead: Rumor was Twitter fiction

Published: Monday, December 19, 2011, 6:05 PM Updated: Monday, December 19, 2011, 6:06 PM

By Amy Kuperinsky/The Star-Ledger 

Tim Farrell

Jon Bon Jovi performs at a charity show for the Parker Family Clinic at Starland Ballroom.

Singer-songwriter. Philanthropist. Father. Dead?

Jon Bon Jovi trended worldwide on Twitter today when people thought he was dead. But he is not dead.

A poorly constructed, fake press release got retweeted a whole bunch of times and eventually, talk progressed from his appearance in an Advil commercial to his supposed demise.

Reactions ranged from shock and appreciation for Bon Jovi's work to statements like "Jon Bon Jovi can only be killed by silver bullets" (that one from @Beez_).

No official statement has been issued yet to confirm the death is just a rumor, though a rep is reported to have cleared up the matter, but But Bon Jovi would probably say he's far from suffering. Free of pain, even.

"Pain doesn't have much of a place in my life," he says in the Advil commercial. "I check the schedule and it's not on it."

As for the commercial in which he calls himself a father, philanthropist and singer-songwriter, here it is.

In case you were interested this is the page that started the rumor! <--click the link, this page didn't start that rumor.  I wouldn't play with other peoples emotions, nor my own considering I cried for a week when Jon got married (but I was only 13, I've matured, somewhat...)

Rockstar Jon Bon Jovi (John Francis Bongiovi, Jr) was pronounced dead today after paramedics found him in a coma at his Empress Hotel, city and law enforcement of Asbury Park, NJ sources told The Times after World Christmas Tour concert on 
The Bamboozle Festival,North Beach Asbury Park.

New Jersey Fire Department-First Aid Captain Douglas Gray told The Times that paramedics responded to a 911 call from the home. When they arrived, Bon Jovi was not breathing.

Ok, people believed that?  The World Christmas Tour takes place on December 25th, features Santa, his elves and assorted reindeer.  Jon Bon Jovi is not featured, although if he came down my chimney I wouldn't call the cops.

New Jersey Fire Dept First Aid???  WTF?  I know NJ is small, but it's a big enough place to necessitate boroughs having their own ambulance companies.  Even in my hometown of ToxicWasteburbia, I mean Ringwood, NJ had our own Ambulance Corp, and THREE fire departments.  My families house was protected by the Erskine Lakes Fire Dept, their motto, honest to whatever is "We've Never Lost a Foundation" which is comforting until you realize most of the houses have concrete foundations....

But I digress.  Jon I am happy you're alive and I hope tonight you play Sleep When I'm Dead and laugh this off.  Cause you know you're famous when you have a celebrity death hoax.

God help us all if that's the case.

Bon Jovi: Another Richie interview surfaces from Biker Bash

Bon Jovi: Hope Swings Eternal for Bandiera

HOPE SWINGS ETERNAL FOR BANDIERA

Bob Bandiera brings his all-star jinglebell-jam rock spectacular back to the Basie on Monday night with Hope Concert V.

In an interview we did with Bob Bandiera a couple of seasons back, the veteran musical go-to guy fessed up to the effect that “I’ve got about 95 guitars. My wife is not happy about it — she allotted me two rooms for my music. But you know it’s fun to have that arsenal.”

What the Hardest Working Man in the Shore Music Business also appears to have is a “little black book” of friends that must rival the Oxford Unabridged for sheer heft — that, or a Rolodex the size of the “Big Wheel” from The Price Is Right.

On Monday night, December 19, a few of those friends — otherwise known as “almost every significant artist on the Jersey Shore” — will meet up with Bobby B in Red Bank town to take part in a little fundraiser show by the name of Hope Concert V, a local tradition that makes a much anticipated (and very much SOLD OUT) return to the boards of the Count Basie Theatre.

Going up at 8pm, the Yuletide rock show marks the first Hope Concert since 2008 — a particularly memorable edition (well documented in cellphone-footage snippets like this) that found bandleader Bandiera wrangling a merry crew that included Bruce Springsteen, Jon Bon Jovi, Southside Johnny Lyon (helpfully introduced as “The Grinch” by The Boss), Nicole Atkins, Gary U.S. Bonds and pretty much anyone with the power to tear a full house of people away from home, hearth, holiday shopping and football.

One of many recurring high-profile events in the “Santa Basie” month of December, the all-star jinglebell jam took a hiatus after Hope Concert IV (a benefit dedicated to Red Bank’s Parker Family Health Center). In the ensuing interlude, Bandiera stepped up his activity as touring guitarist for Bon Jovi — this when not serving as Southside’s lieutenant in the Asbury Jukes, planning the latest in his Basie-based series of Jersey Shore Rock ‘N Soul themed concerts, hopping the goodwill train of Holiday Express, and simply flying solo (or as part of an allstar “supergroup”) at one of Tim McLoone’s Monmouth County establishments.

For the fifth edition of this increasingly buzzworthy endeavor, Bandiera (can we call him “Bob Hope?”) will be raising funds for The Cancer Institute of New Jersey, the sole National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center in the Garden State, and a New Brunswick facility that’s described in the event’s promo materials as “dedicated to improving the prevention, detection, treatment, and care of patients with cancer, through the transformation of laboratory discoveries into clinical practice, and by offering its patients access to the latest cancer research studies and experimental therapies.”

Bandiera, who was honored by the Monmouth County Arts Council in 2009, has said for his part that “Hey, at the end of the day I’m playing music in the spirit of fun.” For the audience members who paid up to $500 a head (for a VIP ticket that includes a pre-show meet-and-greet with the musicians), the chance to make a welcome contribution — and to take part in an event “we’ll tell our grandchildren about” — should help keep the Hope Concert springing eternal, here in the town Where Christmas Music Lives.