Bon Jovi fans who have been missing the legendary rock band, which has been on hiatus from touring due to Jon Bon Jovi’s vocal issues, can get their fix in a new documentary on Hulu.
Titled Thank You, Goodnight: The Bon Jovi Story, the four-part series chronicles the band’s journey from its beginnings in the 1980s through the Slippery When Wet era, when the band sold 28 million records, to the taping of the band’s soon-to-be released album, Forever.
The goal of the documentary, Bon Jovi has said, is to tell the “honest-to-God ups and downs of life behind the curtain.” When the lead singer’s vocal issues flare unexpectedly during filming, he is shown getting his neck scanned with lasers. The departure of guitarist Richie Sambora, who left the band in 2013, is not brushed under the rug either. In fact, he’s an interview subject, and his departure is one of the show’s central tensions.
Drummer Tico Torres, an original band member, recalled the band’s early days in an interview with New Jersey Monthly. After scoring their first big hit, Runaway, in 1984, things started to take off—but they were still taking the train into Penn Station to play at Madison Square Garden. Once, he recalls, Sambora’s guitar didn’t work. Their nervous energy caused them to play so fast that their set, scheduled for 35 minutes, took only 20. “It was hectic,” he says. “That’s everybody getting their feet wet in the big time.” But he says, their attitude was, “Let’s kick ass and take the world by storm.”
Torres says it was disorienting to see himself forty years younger. “Watching yourself grow up on camera is strange. You look at yourself and say ‘I look goofy.’ I guess the clothing and styles were in style at the time.”
Bruce Springsteen, who has maintained a close friendship with Bon Jovi, also appears in the documentary. In the early years, Torres says, it was unusual for musicians to identify as being from New Jersey. That has certainly changed. In fact, Torres sees the doc as a tribute to Bon Jovi’s Garden State roots. “This film is us growing up with you guys—our New Jersey fans,” he says.
No one knows New Jersey like we do. Sign up for one of our free newsletters here. Want a print magazine mailed to you? Purchase an issue from our online store.