Jon Bon Jovi reflects on never taking rock stardom for granted, says he works 'even harder and smarter'

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Jon Bon Jovi took a moment to look back at his four-decade-long career while speaking during a Q&A session at the screening of his band's documentary 'Thank You Goodnight: The Bon Jovi Story'.

During the event in Santa Monica on Wednesday, April 10, the singer shed light on his mindset of not maintaining a stereotypical image of a rock star throughout his career.

Jon Bon Jovi says he was never 'any of the cliches of rock stardom'

Explaining how he recognized that each performance was an opportunity to prove himself anew, Bon Jovi said, "I had to wake up the next day and do it again."

“I was never any of the cliches of rock stardom because I was very cognizant of having to do it again tomorrow," he added.

“But that's the fragility of something as big as your thumbnail. And I never took any of this for granted, never," he stated.

Speaking about his latest album, he said, "Like I said, it's my 18th album and we worked as hard or harder on this album as I did on Slippery When Wet, in fact, harder because we're not as naive as we were in 1986 when we just went, and guess what?"

"We just wrote… Now you're working even harder and smarter,” Bon Jovi said.

“But I do think sometimes about the athlete who eventually has to come to terms with a next chapter in their life, and I won't ever have to face that next chapter,” he asserted.

Jon Bon Jovi reflects on the challenges of meeting their fans' evolving expectations

Admitting that maintaining the legacy of an iconic band has been difficult over the years, he reflected on the challenges of keeping up their fans' expectations.

“It's not easy. It's difficult. The old adage with me in the heyday is, and the singer went home, that was the end of every story and the singer went home," he said, according to People.

"We all go on the social media and we see pictures from our pasts or we see our heroes in our past, and then you want to touch that moment again. But that's history,” he explained.

Discussing how the landscape of the music industry has changed through social media, Bon Jovi said, "Then you just have to be the best version of you now."

"And it's impossible to go back to 1995 and be that kid again. I challenge him, but I can't pretend to be that. You can't do that," he stated.

"And I think the question is do we because of social media, get caught up in that we need to be younger, faster, sleeker, or are we going to be cool with being comfortable with who we are now? Just the best version of us now," Bon Jovi said of the evolving expectations.