John 5 Reacts to Bon Jovi’s Recent Vocal Performances, Shares Opinion on Fan-Filmed Footage of Live Shows

A few weeks ago, fan-filmed footage of Bon Jovi started circulating online, with countless rock fans addressing Jon Bon Jovi’s subpar vocal performances. The fans seem to be divided on the matter, with one portion critiquing the singer for continuing to perform despite his obvious vocal problems, while some have shared support and shrugged it off as nothing more but a current issue. You can be the judge of that by checking out some of the recent performances below.

Bear in mind that some of the videos have been removed from YouTube due to videos having “content from UMPG Publishing, who has blocked it on copyright grounds.” We’ll keep an eye on the issue if anything changes.

Of course, it was only a matter of time until some of the other rock musicians would address the issue. In a recent interview over at KNAC, guitarist John 5 reflected on Jon Bon Jovi’s performances. The talk first started with John 5 addressing stage fright and performance anxiety (transcript via Ultimate Guitar):

“I think, I really think that the only reason anyone has stage fright, or they’re nervous about a play, or a movie, or a test at school, is because you’re not prepared. But if you’re prepared it should be no problem. It’s just like if someone was about to – I don’t know, like, anything – you can get up and do your routine. You’ve done that routine every day. You’re not nervous about that. It’s what you do.”

“But anything unknown, that you’re not sure of, people get a little nervous about. But no, I make sure I’m always prepared and very rehearsed. And I have pretty strict rehearsal regimes, you know, it’s very draconian. It’s very, like – this is what we’re going to do. And just because everybody has phones nowadays, you got to be on your game.”

After the interviewer brought up Jon Bon Jovi’s recent phone-filmed footage, John 5 responded:

“See, that’s my perfect point – everybody’s gonna fall. And that was probably cell phone footage – which I, I really enjoy, I know that sounds crazy. But I like when people record the show because I want to see it. And we’re so rehearsed, I’m like, I promote it. I’m like, ‘Hey, if you guys want to record the show, totally record it.’

“But there’s some people that are really against it, but I support it. Because, you know, some people can’t get to the shows. Some people aren’t feeling well, or some people don’t have the money. It’s like, ‘Okay, record it. So I really like when people record it, but, you know, I’ve seen Bon Jovi and man, can he sing. Man, can he hit those notes – but, you know, that’s a bummer. We don’t even know – maybe he wasn’t feeling well. Maybe he had a cold, who knows? I don’t know, I’ve heard them, and boy, can he sing.”

John 5 is currently on an extensive North American tour which kicked off on April 19 and winds up on July 15. There are some additional dates scheduled for December. From the second half of July and all the way until early October, John 5 will be playing for Rob Zombie. More info is available at this location.

Photo: Wikimedia Commons (Tyrel Snowden), YouTube screenshot