Jon Bon Jovi vocal issues: What is going on and how can it be fixed?
Fans and critics haven’t exactly been singing the praises of Jon Bon Jovi’s vocals lately.
They were “shockingly poor” April 3 at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, according to Twincities.com. “Bon Jovi didn’t just miss a note here or there, he struggled throughout the two-plus hour show.”
“The belting never showed up,” said Rory Appleton on Indystar.com about the April 19 show at the Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. His “voice never fully shined.”
The recent Bon Jovi tour of the South and Midwest in April was fraught with scrutiny. The Sayreville native’s vocals have been examined, dissected and analyzed on social media, often with unfavorable results.
“He’s getting slammed — I feel bad for him,” said Tony Pallagrosi, music promoter and former member of Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes.
Pallagrosi used to sit in with Bon Jovi’s pre-Bon Jovi bands.
“People are posting videos that aren’t very flattering and they’re going off on him, and that’s (blanked) up as far as I’m concerned,” he said.
Bon Jovi hasn’t publicly acknowledged the negative reviews. Reps for the band declined to comment for this story.
“Bon Jovi should check in with a laryngologist and get his vocal folds looked at,” said Matt Edwards, associate professor of voice and voice pedagogy at the Shenandoah Conservatory in Virginia, vocal coach, and author of “So You Want to Sing Rock ’N’ Roll?” “There’s all kinds of things that can creep up and cause problems, many of which we have no control over.”
Here are four possible causes for Bon Jovi’s voice issues, according to various experts interviewed for this article.
Effects of COVID-19
Bon Jovi tested positive for COVID in October 2021. He couldn’t sing for two weeks because of it, he told Startribune.com on the onset of the just-concluded tour.
A COVID effect is “probably a very reasonable thing to consider in what’s going on with him,” Edwards said. “We know it can have a wide range of impacts in the way it affects the respiratory system. If your respiratory system changes, the way that you sing is going to change, especially if it reduces your lung capacity. We believe it can have impact on vocal folds in the way that they close, and it seems it can maybe possibly cause some nerve damage.”
There are multiple studies underway, including at the Shenandoah Conservatory, of the effects of COVID on singing and singers.
“COVID-19 has had a major impact on singers and other musicians worldwide,” states the COVID-19: Impact on the Musician and Returning to Singing; A Literature Review article from the National Library of Medicine. “It can affect the voice and can lead to paresis/paralysis of laryngeal nerves to long-term changes in respiratory function.”
Technical issues
Could Bon Jovi’s ear monitors be causing a problem?
Many musicians are using ear monitors these days instead of the traditional floor monitors to hear how they’re sounding on stage.
“It sort of gives you a vibration that you’re on key,” said Peter Mantas, the first manager of the band Bon Jovi, about the ear monitors. “He’s got to get rid of those and get back to the normal (monitors) so he can hear that he’s not in key. The ear monitors are messing him up now because he’s thinking he’s there but he’s not actually hearing what’s going on.”
The effect is called bone conduction hearing.
The Richie Sambora factor
Richie Sambora delivered the band’s classic guitar riffs for nearly 30 years, and he co-wrote the classic songs, too.
He was also pivotal to Bon Jovi’s vocals, Mantas said.
“He used to have Richie singing behind him,” Mantas said. “Richie used to do shadow vocals, it was right behind him and you’re not hearing that anymore. He’s out there by himself too much, especially the choruses where you got to sing hard.”
Sambora exited the band in 2013.
“It’s like the Lone Ranger without Tonto,” Mantas said.
Father Time is creeping up
Bon Jovi turned 60 on March 2.
“If you listened to him 10 years ago, everything seemed easier for him but he was in his 50s,” Edwards said. “Now he’s in his 60s and there are changes in the vocal folds, changes in the lungs, and people aren’t going to perform at the same level they used to when they were younger. That’s the reason we don’t see 60-year old NFL players or WNBA players. The body starts to lose peak performance.”
Yet, there is hope. High-profile artists like Adele and Neil Diamond battled voice issues to come back on stage.
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“Athletes in football, soccer, anything else, they all have an entire team working with them to help them maintain their performance and singers need that same support,” Edwards said.
Unlike athletes, singers are often derided when they have a vocal injury. Bon Jovi has faced that in recent weeks.
“Artists need support,” Edwards said. “If you loved the artist when they were doing great things and all of sudden they’re having problems and you drop your support for them, that’s not fair. If Lebron James is hurt, we support him. You send athletes good wishes and hope they get back on their feet. For some reason when singers get injured, there tends to be a shaming and a herd mentality of calling them out instead of, ‘Oh, that sucks, hope this person gets better.’ ”
Pallagrosi thinks that will happen.
“I’m sure he’ll work it out, whatever it is,” he said. “The guy’s a monster.”
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Chris Jordan, a Jersey Shore native, covers entertainment and features for the USA Today Network New Jersey. Contact him at @chrisfhjordan; [email protected]
This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Jon Bon Jovi's voice issues: What is going on?
