The first album went gold in Japan. That was huge! Then I came home sixty grand in debt because I had borrowed money for keyboards. That’s when I learned the word “recoupable,” which is worse than “fuck.” In my house, my kids can say “fuck.” If they say “recoupable,” I wash their mouths out with soap.
I always said Jon was born with a horseshoe jammed in his ass and I’m holding on to it tight. Every once in a while I get a little shit on me.
Thank you, Jon, Tico, and Richie, for making my life very special. Our lives have been an adventure few people get to experience. It always has been, is, and will be an honor, pleasure, and privilege to play alongside each of you, until I can’t play any longer. —David
“We’re completely past the point of ever saying, ‘Fuck you—I’m walking away from this.’ Now it’s so much fun to walk onstage. But there’s the reality check, knowing that the older you get and the longer this timeline goes, there’s the chance you’ll be doing it less and less.”
“When It's My Life came out, there was another push. It just touched everybody. Kids from 7 to 70 related to it.”
“I didn't really want to have a band name. I didn't want to name our upcoming album either if I could help it.”
“He is partially right and partially wrong, but mainly, he is totally wrong.”
“We’re too old to leave each other. It’s the perfect sexless marriage.”
“Live, no jive.”
“There’s no pause button, no take two. That’s the challenge and the honor of playing live, and I love both of those.”
“Being the performer in Bon Jovi helps me when I go into my musical world, because I can look at an actor and not just plunk down a melody. I can sing it to him. And I can sing it with intent to show how I want my songs to be performed, not just imagined.”
“On a record you can play the piano part, then the synth part, an organ part, then go and sing. Live, you have to play all of it. So I’m playing with two hands, and I have one foot pedaling with my right hand and my left foot either pedaling or hitting the Leslie switch while I play with that left hand, and I’m singing at the same time. You’re definitely in heavy concentration mode. I love it.”
“I love collecting the old stuff. It’s really fun and I have a great collection of keyboards.”
“I love the intro to ‘Livin’ On A Prayer’. Once I start that, the whole place knows what it is. I just fade up and everybody starts to go mental, which is great.”
“I’m a white Jewish kid from Edison [N.J.], and I know racism and hatred.”
“I went to Temple Emanu-El, and my rabbi, Rabbi Landsberg, was a huge influence on me. When I was 7 and went to kindergarten, there he was, a young rabbi who didn’t wear a yarmulke and rode a motorcycle. He used to say, ‘Every man and woman walks down the road of life.’ He definitely made me the person I am.”
“I belong to a different synagogue now but I always come back for Rosh Hashanah and blow the shofar.”
“I saw the show recently with my wife and family, and I found myself tearing up when I heard Montego Glover sing “Colored Woman.” I looked over at my daughter, who is 18, and realized that I wrote that song when she was seven. The fact that it is still just as relevant now as it was 11 years ago is amazing to me. When my daughter saw me tearing up, she said, ‘Dad, it’s so sad’ that the Memphis is closing. I said, ‘No, it’s the end of a marathon, and when a runner hits that tape after going 26 miles, those are tears of joy.’”
I called him [Depietro] up and said, “Joe, David Bryan from Bon Jovi.” He was like, “Okay.” “Listen, I hear every one of your songs in my head.” “Okay. Do you hear other things in your head?” I go, “Yeah, but we can talk about that later.” He said, “Okay, pick a song and take it from there.” I said, “I’m also a lyricist. Can I do mess around with the lyrics?” “Yeah, just have fun with it.”
I’m sitting back enjoying it and going, “Holy fuck, I actually did this?”
“I can sit there and get as much enjoyment with a piano in a room alone and make myself cry and feel all the emotions on the planet and love it.”
