Jon Bon Jovi Hints That His Rock Star Lifestyle May Have Sometimes Conflicted With His Marriage

Jon Bon Jovi’s upcoming Hulu docuseries, Thank You, Goodnight: The Bon Jovi Story, is shedding light on the 40th anniversary of the rock group and his enduring marriage to his high school sweetheart, Dorothea Hurley. Rock star and marriage aren’t two things that can usually coexist together peacefully, especially during the hair band era, but the 61-year-old musician revealed how he and Hurley navigated the pitfalls of fame in their own imperfect way.

The couple, who married in 1989 at the Graceland Wedding Chapel in Las Vegas, are total endgame, but they also weathered some rocky times. Bon Jovi shared with The Independent that the secret to their marital success was “a mutual admiration society and being lucky enough to have grown up together.” While acknowledging the pitfalls of touring life, he gracefully handled the inquiry of how they kept their marriage together with so much temptation out there on the road.

“These are all the wonderful clichés of rock stardom,” Bon Jovi divulged. “It’s about never lying about having been a saint, but not being a fool enough to f**k up the home life, either.” The music superstar didn’t go any further into his explanation about any possible infidelities, but fans know that the group’s 1993 single, “Bed of Roses,” offered plenty of insight into what happened in his marriage with Hurley:

“Now as you close your eyes
Know I’ll be thinking about you
While my mistress she calls me
To stand in her spotlight again
Tonight I won’t be alone
But you know that don’t mean I’m not lonely
I’ve got nothing to prove
For it’s you that I’d die to defend”

“Bed of Roses”

Those lyrics gave fans plenty of clues that Bon Jovi and Hurly went through their challenges over the years. He wasn’t perfect, but he knew that she was the one he always wanted in the end — the life they built together was what he cherished the most. 

It’s a story he’s stood by even going back to 2007 when he admitted he had enjoyed the “shallow pool” of fame over the years. “I’ve been in one of the biggest rock bands in the world for 25 years, and I’m not a saint, and I have not been a saint,” he told Best Life magazine, via People. “I don’t look at this week’s hot starlet and think about trading in or trading up. I don’t have a mistress on the side or another family across town. You’re never going to read that story about me. I have no regard for that whole lifestyle.”

Before you go, click here to see the longest celebrity marriages.