,type=downsize)
Jon Bon Jovi and his wife, Dorothea Bongiovi, have a beautiful love story.
In this week’s People magazine cover story, the rock star and his high school sweetheart decided to open up about their 40-year bond, how they keep their 31-year marriage strong, and what it was like raising their four children together.
When asked about their secret to such a long, successful relationship, the answer is simple.
″Mutual respect,″ says Bon Jovi. ″Having grown up together and grown together. And we really like each other. We want to hang out.″
Dorothea goes on to add, ″I always said I was good at spotting potential too. I have a gift.“
All of these years later, the pair are both 58-years-old, and they’ve managed to grow even closer because of their “not-so rock-and-roll” marriage and close-knit family life with their four kids, daughter Stephanie, 27, and sons Jesse, 25, Jacob, 18, and Romeo, 16.
Their union being such a success might be surprising to some who see all the hit singles, world tours and countless adoring fans. Still, Jon remained grounded, and he did so thanks to his solid bond with Dorothea, whom he refers to as his rock, ″without a doubt.″
″We work hard at it, but we enjoy each other and we never fell for the trappings of what celebrity can do,″ says the musician. ″We’ve witnessed that happen over the years to people that were close to us and people that we knew from afar. It’s just what I do, it’s not who I am. I write songs. I happen to be very good at performing them. That’s it.”
Dorothea went on to talk about their work with the Soul Foundation, which they launched in 2006. ″It‘s a partnership,″ she explained. ″When we see injustice or people suffering, you want to help. We’re very blessed, and we have the ability to do that.″
Now that life is moving a lot more slowly and they have such a strong union to work with, Jon is going to shift his focus back to rockstar life--with Dorothea by his side, of course.
″I‘m happiest,” he says, ″if I like what I do for a living, I’m doing right by my family and I’m making the world just a little bit better.”
Bon Jovi’s new album, 2020, drops Friday, Oct. 2. This marks the rockstar’s first release since his project, This House Is Not for Sale, back in 2016. He released the first single for the project, “Do What You Can” featuring Jennifer Nettles, along with a music video for the track last week.