August 11, 2020 • 15 mins
The novel coronavirus pandemic brought confusion and frustration to the world. The question, "What do we do now" echoed around the globe. Jon Bon Jovi answered that question, in action, word, and song. "When you can't do what you do, do what you can." was the caption to an instagram shot of him washing dishes at JB's Soul Kitchen, a community restaurant where "all are welcome, and locally-sourced ingredients, dignity, and respect are always on the menu." Those words became the chorus to another Bon Jovi anthem, one that is sorely needed right now, providing purpose and passion at a time of great need.
Jon joins me today to talk about the single, "Do What You Can", and his upcoming album, "Bon Jovi 2020" set for an October release. The band decided not to just postpone their world tour, but to cancel it altogether and refund ticket purchases, because, as he said, "People need money in their pockets right now." Listen in, Jon is as warm and wonderful as ever, and has some important advice to all Americans. ~ Delilah
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
Love Someone to Welcome to love Someone with Delilah. The
person I get to talk to today on this podcast
is someone that I have loved for many, many, many
(00:23):
many years, um, almost as many as his wife has
has loved him. Have you ever heard of a rock
and roll star married and in love with the same
person for over thirty years. We're gonna be talking with
John bon Jovi after being forced to cancel their world
tour and delay a highly anticipated album. He has an
(00:48):
album out now, while it's going to be out. It's
going to be released October two, Jon bon Jovi, We're
gonna catch up with you your music right after I
share a word about the folks who make this podcast possible.
You know them as the friendly associates in the Orange Aprons.
I have my own Orange Apron. Thank you very much.
(01:10):
We're going to talk about the folks at the Home Depot.
This is the time of year we take care of
all those outdoor projects. Some of you might be procrastinating
a bit, some of you have completed the ten page
to do list, item by item. Either way, remember that
the Home Depot can help. Whether you choose to visit
(01:30):
their store and pick up all you need or shop
online and with their awesome new phone app, you have
access to more than a million products to help you
with your projects. You'd be amazed how handy that app
is in determining whether they have a replacement part of
the closest home depot or how many paint color options
can be sent your way to test on the side
(01:52):
of your home along with the paint brushes you need.
Talk about helpful. The home depot is. Whatever you're up
to this weekend, take us along, and by the way,
you will want to take us along when you hear
who I have got to share with you today. John
(02:12):
bon Jovi, welcome to Love Someone with de Lilah. Hello, Delilah,
Hi John, how are you very well? My love? How
are you? I was just looking on Wikipedia to see
how long you and Dorothea have been married. It's like
thirty one years, right. I love that. I love the
(02:35):
fact that when I flirt with you like and I
let you know that I really find you very charming.
You always bring it right back to your wife that
that has not been lost on me. Um because you
honor her, You honor her, you honor her, you honor
(02:57):
her and all that you do and I just I
respect you so much for that. You're very kind. You
have a new song out, and am I to understand
that she wrote something on a picture of you, and
that's that was the inspiration. You know. What happened is
read At the beginning of this COVID crisis, UM, there
(03:18):
were no longer volunteer opportunities at the Sole kitchen, so
I was back behind the sink washing dishes, and in
order to tell the Indie population and the people of
Red Bank that we were still open, she took a
photograph and he wanted to post it, and so she said, well,
what should the caption read? But what she was asking
(03:38):
me was how do we tell people were still open?
And I said, if you can't do what you do,
you do what you can. She posted that, and then
the next day I went, wait a minute, that's that's
a chorus. That's a wait a minute, wait a minute,
that's a whole philosophy. It really is. And so I
picked up the guitar and I wrote and wrote and
(03:58):
wrote and wrote versus over and over, and then uh,
I had a great song out of it. And then
you got your fans involved with it. I did, And
you know, because I had the song finished, and I
was very aware that we as a people were living
this song together. I said, I'm going to share the
(04:20):
chorus and the verse and asked people by and large
to tell me their story, give me four lines, and
I'll make it a verse and sing it back to them.
And so I got kindergarten classes in Palm Beach, Florida
to Russians who were sending me verses, you know, the
nurses and housewives and people from all over the country.
(04:42):
And I would just record them and put them back
online and sing them that. And as soon as I
had the opportunity to go in the studio at the band,
I took the version that I had written initially and
we went in and knocked out the record. Wow. Yeah,
that's cool. People from Russia. Kindergarten classes. Did they send
pictures because this all started with a picture, right, I
(05:04):
had some kids. Yeah, they sent in videos or or
they sent in photographs if you could play. Oftentimes they
would sing me their own verse in addition to the
one that I had posted. When I did a zoom
call with the kiddergarten class, there must have been twelve
(05:24):
of them on the call with their parents, and uh
and I called into the classroom. So yeah, every very
variation of this happened. Wow, how how how full? Did
that make your heart feel? You know, I felt the connection,
which was the magic, and it very stressful trying times
(05:48):
of late March early April, when everybody, being as confused
as we've all been, was compounded in the very beginning
of this, nobody knew what this was going to need too,
and so we as a people, you know, needed some
kind of comfort in knowing that we were all going
through it together. And what better than song to bring
(06:09):
us together. So, besides your sole kitchen, the community restaurant,
what are some of the things that you've been doing
or did at least in the first three or four months,
that you maybe never thought in a million years you
would find yourself doing because you've been playing and touring.
You were planning a world tour and the release of
(06:31):
the album, which had both been delayed. The album fortunately
was you know, it'll come out in October. But not
only do what you can, but I wrote a song
called American Reckoning in light of what happened in the
Black Lives Matter movement and the George Floyd murder. So Um,
I have two new songs. And then I had to
cancel the tour because I had decided that people needed
(06:55):
to have their money to pay the rent in the
credit card bills. So instead of delaying the tour like
many or have done, I canceled and made sure everybody
got their money back. Um. And then what I founded
I would have never thought in a million years, was
we had to open a food bank, not a food pantry.
The differences of the bank gives the food to the pantries.
(07:17):
So we're currently giving food to seven pantries who are
in turn feeding I've guesstimate fifteen to twenty thousand people
a month that me and my foundation are pains. So
I'm out there sleeping boxes three times a week. Uh,
you know, in this big space, five thousand square foot
(07:40):
space that we have on eastern Long Island, so that
the food pantries have food in these trying times. And
we've been doing it for four months now. John, When
I say you are a rock star, I can say
that literally, such a rock star. We're going to pause
for a brief moment so we can give acknowledgement to
some of the big business that helps to support this
(08:02):
podcast with me today is my friend John bon Jovi.
I'm so very proud of all the good work that
you've done. John. Do you see this current food crisis
getting any better? Yeah, it is leveling out some. The
need is definitely there, and who knows what the fall
(08:23):
season is going to bring. But our our intent was
to do it as a pilot program for four months,
and now we've decided that we've got to continue at
least until the end of the year, so we'll finance
that and do it and uh, and it's it's great,
it's really great. We're doing it. We're we're really affecting
(08:43):
change out here in Long Island. But that's something that
I never dreamt that i'd have to be doing. So
you're giving me chill bumps here, go back to the numbers.
How many people now in the Greater New York area
and New Jersey are are being fed by the pantries?
My god, it's got to be in the hundreds of thousands.
But we did the JBJ Soul Foundation took a food bank. Uh,
(09:08):
and we we created a food bank and so we get,
you know, tractor trailers full of food to come to us.
You buy, you are buying tractor trailers full of lettuce
and tomatoes and potatoes. Groceries. Yeah, great grocery and you're
then distributing them through the pantry seven did you say?
(09:30):
Seven different pantries getting and then they give it to
the people. So you know, by our estimate, it's it's um.
It's a lot. It's a lot, you know. And uh,
and the need was was dramatic out here. And this
is in Eastern Long Island. We're in UM at our
summer home, and so we're we're in Eastern Long Island. Wow.
(09:52):
So besides the three full kitchens, now we've got a
food bank. It's like you're you're giving birth to more
than just or four kids. You're giving birth to well,
to hope, to hope, but to UM an infrastructure that
is blessing and saving lives. Well, it's it's hard to
(10:13):
live when you're hungry, bet you, it's hard. I know
how charitable you are too, And we've talked about all
that before. But you know, we don't need a scientist
to find the cure. It's groceries for goodness sake, you know,
it takes money and sweat, and so that's what we
knew how to do. I'm so proud of you. It's fun.
I like doing it. I know I can tell from
(10:34):
the videos I've seen and the pictures that you are
so connected to the people and to this and to
love and to hope that that it's just it's like
emanating out of you. It's resonating out of you, like
like the music comes out of you. It's like a
(10:55):
a beacon, a lighthouse on a hill. Uh. I thank you.
There's no ulterior motive. It's just to do good. And
we did good. We continue to and then the gift
for me, I got a great song out of it. Well,
that's a gift for for us. I've got a great song.
(11:16):
You know. I've watched the video and I love that
you put the lyrics up there in the video because
within like you know, twenty seconds, you're singing along to it. Good. Well,
isn't that the magic of song? That we did make
a proper video that's just being polished right now, and
it's wonderful and uh and so I got some big
(11:37):
surprises to go with the song for the video, but
you know, it's all good. I just like to get
it out there and share it because I can't bring
it to people's town, so we're gonna make sure it
gets played on the radio. I'll make sure that. So
when's the drop date for the whole album? Because you've
got the two songs that we're listening to, but there's
(11:58):
more right, Yes, am finished on October two. October two
is now the release date of the record, So it's
it's all ready to go. Very topical record. Everything is
about something that you know, there's just too many topics
that we were all living in the last year. So
(12:18):
it's not a boy girl record. It's um, it's a life.
It's roll up your sleeves and get busy record. It
really is. You know, It's like the world around us
has been very different and I was able to pay
attention and write about it. So I know you don't
have a crystal ball, None of us do, and we
have no idea what the next three months or six
(12:40):
months is going to hold. But what are you feeling
in your gut? Like I know the whole messages, do
what you can, but what are you feeling in your
heart that right now people should hang on to? In truth,
I wish that without getting myself in trouble, is that Americans,
(13:01):
because that's what we all are and as one our
common thread, as we are all within these borders and
call our South Americans. Have to think about generations that
came before us, who came together in trying times to
succeed to defeat an enemy. Think back to World War
Two when moms were on the production lines fighting a war.
(13:23):
If we can come together and we can defeat this
by social distancing and or wearing something like a paper mask,
why can't we just respect each other enough just to
do that, you know, just just know that it's not political,
it's not political. Do the right thing for a couple
(13:45):
of months so that we can all go back to
what we think is normal. You know. And people are
saying it's politicized. Let's not make it politicized. Let's think
about generations past and how they sacrifice so that we
could have a better place that we called home. Amen.
I couldn't have said it better myself. I I just
(14:05):
boils down to respect. It's really simple. I swear to God.
It's not red or blue. It's just let's try it.
And even if you don't agree with it, doesn't mean
that it's wrong. So try it, you know, your mother
made you try food you didn't like when you're a kid,
and then you went out. I wasn't so bad. I
may not want to eat it the rest of my life,
but I did it for your mom. To do it
(14:26):
for your country. What's so hard, you know, make a
sacrifice once in a while. It's good. Well, thank you
for taking some time. I know you're busy, busy, busy.
Give my love to your family and to the band,
and thank you for your music. John, and and just
be blessed, be well, and be blessed. I am and
I thank you and I love you for this. I
(14:48):
really appreciate all the help. Alright, tax you soon. Alright.
Bon Jovi is set to be released this October. You
can pre order the album online. Their new single that
pretty much sums up with John and his band members
are all about, is available for download right now. Do
what you can, do what you can and inspiring anthem.
(15:11):
Don't be looking at the stuff that's been taken away,
but instead focus on what we can do, do what
needs to be done. That's how we do it. That's
how we're going to enjoy every day by focusing on
what we can do to make the world a better place.
Thank you for being with me. I love someone with
(15:33):
the Lilah joined me next time for another fun conversation
and thank you Mr John bon Jovi
Love Someone to Welcome to love Someone with Delilah. The
person I get to talk to today on this podcast
is someone that I have loved for many, many, many
(00:23):
many years, um, almost as many as his wife has
has loved him. Have you ever heard of a rock
and roll star married and in love with the same
person for over thirty years. We're gonna be talking with
John bon Jovi after being forced to cancel their world
tour and delay a highly anticipated album. He has an
(00:48):
album out now, while it's going to be out. It's
going to be released October two, Jon bon Jovi, We're
gonna catch up with you your music right after I
share a word about the folks who make this podcast possible.
You know them as the friendly associates in the Orange Aprons.
I have my own Orange Apron. Thank you very much.
(01:10):
We're going to talk about the folks at the Home Depot.
This is the time of year we take care of
all those outdoor projects. Some of you might be procrastinating
a bit, some of you have completed the ten page
to do list, item by item. Either way, remember that
the Home Depot can help. Whether you choose to visit
(01:30):
their store and pick up all you need or shop
online and with their awesome new phone app, you have
access to more than a million products to help you
with your projects. You'd be amazed how handy that app
is in determining whether they have a replacement part of
the closest home depot or how many paint color options
can be sent your way to test on the side
(01:52):
of your home along with the paint brushes you need.
Talk about helpful. The home depot is. Whatever you're up
to this weekend, take us along, and by the way,
you will want to take us along when you hear
who I have got to share with you today. John
(02:12):
bon Jovi, welcome to Love Someone with de Lilah. Hello, Delilah,
Hi John, how are you very well? My love? How
are you? I was just looking on Wikipedia to see
how long you and Dorothea have been married. It's like
thirty one years, right. I love that. I love the
(02:35):
fact that when I flirt with you like and I
let you know that I really find you very charming.
You always bring it right back to your wife that
that has not been lost on me. Um because you
honor her, You honor her, you honor her, you honor
(02:57):
her and all that you do and I just I
respect you so much for that. You're very kind. You
have a new song out, and am I to understand
that she wrote something on a picture of you, and
that's that was the inspiration. You know. What happened is
read At the beginning of this COVID crisis, UM, there
(03:18):
were no longer volunteer opportunities at the Sole kitchen, so
I was back behind the sink washing dishes, and in
order to tell the Indie population and the people of
Red Bank that we were still open, she took a
photograph and he wanted to post it, and so she said, well,
what should the caption read? But what she was asking
(03:38):
me was how do we tell people were still open?
And I said, if you can't do what you do,
you do what you can. She posted that, and then
the next day I went, wait a minute, that's that's
a chorus. That's a wait a minute, wait a minute,
that's a whole philosophy. It really is. And so I
picked up the guitar and I wrote and wrote and
(03:58):
wrote and wrote versus over and over, and then uh,
I had a great song out of it. And then
you got your fans involved with it. I did, And
you know, because I had the song finished, and I
was very aware that we as a people were living
this song together. I said, I'm going to share the
(04:20):
chorus and the verse and asked people by and large
to tell me their story, give me four lines, and
I'll make it a verse and sing it back to them.
And so I got kindergarten classes in Palm Beach, Florida
to Russians who were sending me verses, you know, the
nurses and housewives and people from all over the country.
(04:42):
And I would just record them and put them back
online and sing them that. And as soon as I
had the opportunity to go in the studio at the band,
I took the version that I had written initially and
we went in and knocked out the record. Wow. Yeah,
that's cool. People from Russia. Kindergarten classes. Did they send
pictures because this all started with a picture, right, I
(05:04):
had some kids. Yeah, they sent in videos or or
they sent in photographs if you could play. Oftentimes they
would sing me their own verse in addition to the
one that I had posted. When I did a zoom
call with the kiddergarten class, there must have been twelve
(05:24):
of them on the call with their parents, and uh
and I called into the classroom. So yeah, every very
variation of this happened. Wow, how how how full? Did
that make your heart feel? You know, I felt the connection,
which was the magic, and it very stressful trying times
(05:48):
of late March early April, when everybody, being as confused
as we've all been, was compounded in the very beginning
of this, nobody knew what this was going to need too,
and so we as a people, you know, needed some
kind of comfort in knowing that we were all going
through it together. And what better than song to bring
(06:09):
us together. So, besides your sole kitchen, the community restaurant,
what are some of the things that you've been doing
or did at least in the first three or four months,
that you maybe never thought in a million years you
would find yourself doing because you've been playing and touring.
You were planning a world tour and the release of
(06:31):
the album, which had both been delayed. The album fortunately
was you know, it'll come out in October. But not
only do what you can, but I wrote a song
called American Reckoning in light of what happened in the
Black Lives Matter movement and the George Floyd murder. So Um,
I have two new songs. And then I had to
cancel the tour because I had decided that people needed
(06:55):
to have their money to pay the rent in the
credit card bills. So instead of delaying the tour like
many or have done, I canceled and made sure everybody
got their money back. Um. And then what I founded
I would have never thought in a million years, was
we had to open a food bank, not a food pantry.
The differences of the bank gives the food to the pantries.
(07:17):
So we're currently giving food to seven pantries who are
in turn feeding I've guesstimate fifteen to twenty thousand people
a month that me and my foundation are pains. So
I'm out there sleeping boxes three times a week. Uh,
you know, in this big space, five thousand square foot
(07:40):
space that we have on eastern Long Island, so that
the food pantries have food in these trying times. And
we've been doing it for four months now. John, When
I say you are a rock star, I can say
that literally, such a rock star. We're going to pause
for a brief moment so we can give acknowledgement to
some of the big business that helps to support this
(08:02):
podcast with me today is my friend John bon Jovi.
I'm so very proud of all the good work that
you've done. John. Do you see this current food crisis
getting any better? Yeah, it is leveling out some. The
need is definitely there, and who knows what the fall
(08:23):
season is going to bring. But our our intent was
to do it as a pilot program for four months,
and now we've decided that we've got to continue at
least until the end of the year, so we'll finance
that and do it and uh, and it's it's great,
it's really great. We're doing it. We're we're really affecting
(08:43):
change out here in Long Island. But that's something that
I never dreamt that i'd have to be doing. So
you're giving me chill bumps here, go back to the numbers.
How many people now in the Greater New York area
and New Jersey are are being fed by the pantries?
My god, it's got to be in the hundreds of thousands.
But we did the JBJ Soul Foundation took a food bank. Uh,
(09:08):
and we we created a food bank and so we get,
you know, tractor trailers full of food to come to us.
You buy, you are buying tractor trailers full of lettuce
and tomatoes and potatoes. Groceries. Yeah, great grocery and you're
then distributing them through the pantry seven did you say?
(09:30):
Seven different pantries getting and then they give it to
the people. So you know, by our estimate, it's it's um.
It's a lot. It's a lot, you know. And uh,
and the need was was dramatic out here. And this
is in Eastern Long Island. We're in UM at our
summer home, and so we're we're in Eastern Long Island. Wow.
(09:52):
So besides the three full kitchens, now we've got a
food bank. It's like you're you're giving birth to more
than just or four kids. You're giving birth to well,
to hope, to hope, but to UM an infrastructure that
is blessing and saving lives. Well, it's it's hard to
(10:13):
live when you're hungry, bet you, it's hard. I know
how charitable you are too, And we've talked about all
that before. But you know, we don't need a scientist
to find the cure. It's groceries for goodness sake, you know,
it takes money and sweat, and so that's what we
knew how to do. I'm so proud of you. It's fun.
I like doing it. I know I can tell from
(10:34):
the videos I've seen and the pictures that you are
so connected to the people and to this and to
love and to hope that that it's just it's like
emanating out of you. It's resonating out of you, like
like the music comes out of you. It's like a
(10:55):
a beacon, a lighthouse on a hill. Uh. I thank you.
There's no ulterior motive. It's just to do good. And
we did good. We continue to and then the gift
for me, I got a great song out of it. Well,
that's a gift for for us. I've got a great song.
(11:16):
You know. I've watched the video and I love that
you put the lyrics up there in the video because
within like you know, twenty seconds, you're singing along to it. Good. Well,
isn't that the magic of song? That we did make
a proper video that's just being polished right now, and
it's wonderful and uh and so I got some big
(11:37):
surprises to go with the song for the video, but
you know, it's all good. I just like to get
it out there and share it because I can't bring
it to people's town, so we're gonna make sure it
gets played on the radio. I'll make sure that. So
when's the drop date for the whole album? Because you've
got the two songs that we're listening to, but there's
(11:58):
more right, Yes, am finished on October two. October two
is now the release date of the record, So it's
it's all ready to go. Very topical record. Everything is
about something that you know, there's just too many topics
that we were all living in the last year. So
(12:18):
it's not a boy girl record. It's um, it's a life.
It's roll up your sleeves and get busy record. It
really is. You know, It's like the world around us
has been very different and I was able to pay
attention and write about it. So I know you don't
have a crystal ball, None of us do, and we
have no idea what the next three months or six
(12:40):
months is going to hold. But what are you feeling
in your gut? Like I know the whole messages, do
what you can, but what are you feeling in your
heart that right now people should hang on to? In truth,
I wish that without getting myself in trouble, is that Americans,
(13:01):
because that's what we all are and as one our
common thread, as we are all within these borders and
call our South Americans. Have to think about generations that
came before us, who came together in trying times to
succeed to defeat an enemy. Think back to World War
Two when moms were on the production lines fighting a war.
(13:23):
If we can come together and we can defeat this
by social distancing and or wearing something like a paper mask,
why can't we just respect each other enough just to
do that, you know, just just know that it's not political,
it's not political. Do the right thing for a couple
(13:45):
of months so that we can all go back to
what we think is normal. You know. And people are
saying it's politicized. Let's not make it politicized. Let's think
about generations past and how they sacrifice so that we
could have a better place that we called home. Amen.
I couldn't have said it better myself. I I just
(14:05):
boils down to respect. It's really simple. I swear to God.
It's not red or blue. It's just let's try it.
And even if you don't agree with it, doesn't mean
that it's wrong. So try it, you know, your mother
made you try food you didn't like when you're a kid,
and then you went out. I wasn't so bad. I
may not want to eat it the rest of my life,
but I did it for your mom. To do it
(14:26):
for your country. What's so hard, you know, make a
sacrifice once in a while. It's good. Well, thank you
for taking some time. I know you're busy, busy, busy.
Give my love to your family and to the band,
and thank you for your music. John, and and just
be blessed, be well, and be blessed. I am and
I thank you and I love you for this. I
(14:48):
really appreciate all the help. Alright, tax you soon. Alright.
Bon Jovi is set to be released this October. You
can pre order the album online. Their new single that
pretty much sums up with John and his band members
are all about, is available for download right now. Do
what you can, do what you can and inspiring anthem.
(15:11):
Don't be looking at the stuff that's been taken away,
but instead focus on what we can do, do what
needs to be done. That's how we do it. That's
how we're going to enjoy every day by focusing on
what we can do to make the world a better place.
Thank you for being with me. I love someone with
(15:33):
the Lilah joined me next time for another fun conversation
and thank you Mr John bon Jovi
Host
Delilah
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