Bon Jovi’s party tricks

Jon Bon Jovi is no longer a rock ’n’ roll wild man, said Hilary Rose in The Times (U.K.). In the 1980s, the singer was famous for his debauchery—the title of Bon Jovi’s breakthrough album, Slippery When Wet, was inspired by the strip clubs the group frequented while making the record. But when the rocker turned 50 earlier this year, partying was the last thing on his mind. “My life is a party,” he says. “The last thing I needed was another f---ing party, so I did the opposite. It was me, my wife and kids, around the table, with a cake.” Bon Jovi might have embraced clean living, but he still looks back on his hell-raising past with fondness. He recalls the night in 1987 when he and his bandmates found themselves in the same Tokyo hotel as Michael Jackson. “[Jackson] was lonely and friendly and we’re like, ‘Man! We’re having a blast downstairs! We’re eating, we’re drinking, we got girls. Come on down!’” Jackson never did. Instead he sent his pet chimp Bubbles down to entertain them. The ape proved to be a useful patsy when one band member accidentally soaked the room-service butler with a bucket of ice water and the hotel manager threatened to throw them out. The band pointed at the chimp. “We said it was Bubbles that did it,” Bon Jovi says.

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