Rockstar Jon Bon Jovi recognizes how his ego affected his marriage to Dorothea Hurley in the past, but has learned over the 35 years of their union to get it under control.
“I’m always going to be the narcissist lead singer in the house, but there’s no platinum records hanging in my house,” the “Livin’ On a Prayer” singer told host Lewis Howes on “The School of Greatness” podcast Monday.
Bon Jovi said he prioritizes — aside from having “admiration and mutual respect” for Hurley — to be a “good listener and know it’s not all about” him.
“It’s about we. It’s about both of us, it’s about all of us,” he explained. “It’s about the family dynamic.”
Bon Jovi, 62, and Hurley, 61, have been married since 1989. They share four kids: Stephanie, 30, Jesse, 29, Jake, 21, and Romeo, 20.
Howes, 41, wondered how the couple navigated their relationship when the band Bon Jovi was at the peak of their fame.
“When you’re coming off stage in front of 80,000 people and you’re ‘the man,’ and you’re selling out the biggest tour in history back to back … and then you go home and someone’s upset at you … how do you get over your ego of being Jon Bon Jovi?” the “Mask of Masculinity” author asked.
“It might take a minute to walk it off when you’re on the road for a long time, especially in those younger years when we would be on the road for so long that you could carry the lifestyle home,” Bon Jovi admitted, “but I haven’t even seen that guy in a long time, so it’s of no interest to me to even see that guy.”
The “I’ll Be There for You” singer shared how he and Hurley took steps to ensure their marriage stayed on the right course despite temptations.
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He explained that at one point, they lived in Malibu, Calif., for four or five years surrounded by “beautiful people,” the New Jersey native told his wife, “We gotta sell this house” and “get the hell out here.”
“This is not conducive to a great relationship and a great life and a great career … I was just, like, ‘I don’t want to be a part of this scene,” Bon Jovi said. “This is not who we are. It’s not who I am. I don’t give a f–k.'”
The “It’s My Life” singer added, “That shallow s–t will ruin you, and I know grown men who still are playing that game, and it’s just sad and shallow.”
However, Bon Jovi once alluded to infidelity in his 1992 song “Bed of Roses,” singing, “Now as you close your eyes know I’ll be thinking about you / While my mistress she calls me / To stand in her spotlight again
/Tonight, I won’t be alone.”
In recent interviews while on his press tour for his documentary, “Thank You Goodnight: The Bon Jovi Story,” Bon Jovi has also admitted he hadn’t been “a saint” and “got away with murder” in his marriage.
Hurley skipped the doc’s screening recently, sparking speculation that she may have been upset over some of her husband’s remarks, but his rep told Page Six exclusively Saturday that she was just absent because she contracted COVID-19.
Despite telling “Good Morning America” last week that “every day is a challenge” with his wife, Bon Jovi told Howes that he still wakes up “excited” to see her “every single day.”
The “Always” singer explained what he loves about her the most, “That she absolutely knows that she loves me with all of her heart.
“There’s no question, there’s no doubt, there’s not even a glimmer of doubt … that this is it. There is no — that’s it. Yeah, I got this one right.”
