A new docuseries about one of the most popular rock bands of all time will feature one of the most popular frontmen of all time: Jon Bon Jovi. The singer has been recovering from surgery he underwent two years ago which has people speculating about whether Bon Jovi's health.
The musician has chronicled his recovery for everyone to see.
“Thank You, Goodnight: The Bon Jovi Story” premieres on Hulu on April 26 and follows the band as its members prepare to celebrate their 40th anniversary.
Throughout the four-part series, the band's namesake opens up about a health challenge he's been facing that threatens the future of the band.
How is the 62-year-old doing today? Read on for an update about his health.
Why was Jon Bon Jovi in the hospital?
Bon Jovi was hospitalized in 2022 when he underwent vocal cord surgery. In February 2024, he spoke publicly about the procedure at a panel for his band's new docuseries.
The singer said one of his vocal cords was “atrophying,” per People, He described one vocal cord as “thick as the thumb” and the other being “thick as a pinky.”
“So the strong one was pushing the weak one aside, and I wasn’t singing well,” he said. “My craft was being taken from me.” His voice and his music gave him the most pleasure, he told People in a 2024 cover story. But he was fighting to get it back.
“Joy is something you got to work at, right? Happiness is what you make it," Bon Jovi said. “It’s not about seizing the day anymore. I think it’s about embracing the day. I don’t have to punch it in the face anymore; now I just give it a hug, and that’s a good place to be.”
Per People, the surgical team gave Bon Jovi a “cutting-edge implant to build the cord back up.”
The musician addressed the situation in the docuseries and said he started noticing his voice “wasn't up to where I wanted it to be” in 2013 and he tried “so many different things to get back to what I liked 10 years ago.”
“At (age) 50, things change and at 60, it's like, 'Oh f---,’” he said.
In the third episode of the show, Bon Jovi recalls some tough love his wife gave him after a 2022 concert in Nashville.
“She had said, ‘It wasn't great and I've seen you be great,’” he recalled. “Of course then I heard (in my head), ‘It's time to retire.’ It hurt my heart.”
Bon Jovi explained how he went back to the doctor at this point.
“I did everything I could, holistically. I did everything I possibly could to get back to health — lasers, acupuncture, vitamins, collagen, exercise — I did it all,” he said.
At the doctor's office, Bon Jovi learned more about his vocal cord condition, which the doctor described as a part of the aging process.
“The vocal folds start to thin out a little bit and they don't close as well,” the doctor explained, adding that, with surgery, he could move the vocal folds closer together to give him a “full sound.”
If he didn't want to retire, surgery was his only option. Bon Jovi took advice from his Shania Twain whom he calls his “spirit sister” in People, and underwent the same vocal cord surgery she did in 2018.
Bon Jovi described the procedure as “a facelift for the vocal cords,” and chronicled his progress throughout the docuseries.
Two weeks post-procedure, he noted that “it's gonna take some time” to recover, adding that he sounded “worse” than he felt.
How is Jon Bon Jovi’s health?
It’s been almost two years since Bon Jovi underwent surgery.
Throughout the docuseries, the singer details his recovery process and describes regaining strength in his vocal cords slowly but surely.
At the end of the series, producers meeting up with Bon Jovi a year after his surgery. When they ask how he's recovering, he says, “I’m participating in the process and measuring the progress.”
The star then reiterated a point that he made throughout the series and noted that he will know when it's time to retire when he can no longer give it his all and notice progress with his voice.
“As I've said all along, if I can't do it at 102%, then I say, ‘Thank you and goodnight,’” he said.
While talking with Mix 104.1 Boston in March 2024, Bon Jovi revealed whether or not fans can expect a tour after the group releases a new album this summer.
“It is my desire to do a tour next year but I’m just still recovering from a major surgery,” he said. “Although I’m well on the road to recovery and was able to take my time and do a song a day when I made the record, my need, want, desire is to be able to do two-and-a-half hours a night, four nights a week for months on end. And so I’m working towards that goal.”
For now, Bon Jovi works vocal coaches and does vocal exercises daily, per People. “Every day is the recovery process,” Bon Jovi told the magazine.
“He’s hitting notes he hasn’t hit since he was a kid. We’re proud of him,” the band's drummer Tico Torres told People.
What are the symptoms of damaged vocal cords?
There are a number of vocal cord disorders, but Bon Jovi has spoken about his experience with vocal fold atrophy, otherwise known as presbylaryngis
Symptoms of the condition can include vocal fatigue, a higher pitched voice, reduced vocal volume, a “breathy” sound or increased speaking effort, per Johns Hopkins Medicine. “Voice changes due to vocal cord atrophy are common in people over the age of 60 years.”
How long does it take for vocal cords to heal? That depends on the treatment chosen to address the vocal cord damage.
Bon Jovi notes in the docuseries that his voice sounded “weak” in the weeks after surgery. Doctors told the musician he couldn’t sing for another three months after the surgery.
After some vocal cord surgeries, a patient might be sent home the same day, and are expected to recover within a week, according to the Cleveland Clinic. Other surgical procedures including implants and vocal cord repositioning, per the Mayo Clinic, might have a longer recovery time.
There are multiple ways to address vocal fold atrophy.
“Treatment for vocal fold atrophy has focused on voice therapy, surgical therapies aimed at vocal fold medialization (when a damaged vocal cord is pushed toward a functioning one) or a combination of both,” according to a study published in the National Library of Medicine.
Nearly two years after his surgery, Bon Jovi is still unsure about when he can go on tour. However, he has been singing over the past year and recorded a new album. In one scene of the docuseries, he noted that his voice was “really shot” but “bounced right back.”
“I've never worked so hard. You realize how easily it came to you and then it changes as you get older. You have to work so much harder,” he said.
How to watch “Thank You, Goodnight: The Bon Jovi Story” docuseries
The 2024 docuseries “Thank You, Goodnight: The Bon Jovi Story” will air on April 24, 2024. You can stream it on Hulu.com.