Jon Bon Jovi Addresses Vocal Issues and Touring Future

Jon Bon Jovi addressed his recent vocal issues and mused on the touring future of Bon Jovi at this week's Pollstar Live! conference, where he received the Milestone award for his band's 40th anniversary.

"It's become public knowledge now, but I've had major reconstructive surgery in my vocal cords, and I never had anything like this, ever," the frontman said during his keynote Q&A. "So it's been a difficult road, but I found a doctor in Philadelphia who did something called a medialization, because one of my cords was literally atrophied.

"Sometimes people get nodules; that's pretty commonplace," Bon Jovi continued. "Sometimes deviated septums and things that they've done take [their] toll on the cords. The only thing that's ever been up my nose has been my finger. So it was very difficult this last decade to have to contend with something that was out of my control."

What Is Vocal Cord Medialization?

Jefferson Health describes medialization as "a procedure in which the paralyzed vocal fold (vocal cord) is pushed to the middle so that the functioning vocal fold can close properly to regain normal vocal function and swallowing ability." Bon Jovi said he needed the procedure because his "strong [vocal cord] was literally taking what was left of the weak one. So they put a plastic implant in, and for the last two years now, I've been in this rehab, getting it back together. But I'm getting very close. Friday night [at the MusiCares award ceremony] was my first live performance in two years. New record's done. So now I just want to get back to two and a half hours a night, four nights a week, before I'm gonna go out there on the road for real. But I'm confident in my doctor."

Will Bon Jovi Tour Again?

Jon Bon Jovi's vocals were the subject of criticism and speculation on the band's 2022 tour, and an upcoming Hulu docuseries titled Thank You, Goodnight: The Bon Jovi Story cast further doubt on the band's future. The singer addressed these issues at Pollstar Live! but could not say definitively whether Bon Jovi would tour again.

"My health has been first and foremost a topic of discussion, but I'm well on the road to recovery there," he said. "If I can't be great, I'm out. And I think that the documentary that we're about to put out addresses all of that. It's called Thank You, Goodnight for a reason, and we'll determine what happens there. But we do have this incredible four-part doc to celebrate the 40th. We have a brand-new record that I'm very excited about. And the hope is that I get to go out and celebrate it this time, because I'm so excited by it. But if I can't do it at a level to which I've grown accustomed, then there's no harm in that."