"That is my fear for him still today": Jon Bon Jovi gets candid about his concern for Jelly Roll

Jon Bon Jovi sees a little of his wild youth in Jelly Roll, and he's not shy in stepping into the mentor role by offering hard-won advice to the country-rap star from decades in the limelight.

During his appearance on the Dumb Blonde Podcast by Bunnie XO, Jelly Roll's wife, Jon Bon Jovi, dished on his friendship with the "Son of a Sinner" hitmaker. The '80s rock legend, who recently released the collaborative track "Living Proof" with the country singer, revealed that the younger artist reminds him of his youth.

Taking on a mentor-like role, Jon Bon Jovi added that he occasionally gives Jelly Roll crucial bits of lessons, drawn from his decades in the spotlight.

"When I first met Jelly Roll… one of the first things we did was I interviewed him for Interview Magazine, and in the magazine, I said to him, ‘Don't do too much. Don't go chasing every rainbow because you're gonna burn out and not even know you're burned out.' And in my youth, I was doing that."

The "Livin’ on a Prayer" crooner further shared that he fears Jelly Roll, who is already esteemed and an inspiration to many, does too much.

"That is my fear for him still today: Jelly, don't do too much. He's established. He's a big star. He's done it, he's proved it, and he's an inspiration for millions of people."

Jon Bon Jovi went on:

"You don't have to chase every feature. You don't have to do every show. Go and chill for two years. I have absolutely learned how to do that."

"It just wasn’t working right": Jon Bon Jovi opens up on vocal struggles, credits his wife for urging surgery

At one point in the interview, the Bon Jovi frontman also spoke out on his surgery for his atrophied vocal cords. He recounted that the vocal frays started in 2014 due to age on top of decades of overuse, although he was yet to be aware of his condition until 2022.

As 2015 swung by, that was when the state of his vocals seemed more palpable than earlier.

“It just wasn’t working right and I wasn’t quite sure…. I couldn’t really understand why."

It wasn't until 2022 that Jon Bon Jovi was finally prompted to get checked, and it was due to his wife, Dorothea Hurley.

“So by the time I get to 2022, now it’s COVID-19, and the world shuts down, I’m just saying, ‘OK. I can will this thing back, and it just got to a point where I came off stage in Nashville, and I said to Dorothea, ‘It was good.’ She said, ‘It wasn’t good.’”

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The "Always" singer went on to describe his spouse of 36 years:

“She’s the only one on the planet that I know is not gonna BS me. You’re either surrounded by ‘yes’ men, or people getting paid, or a fan that wants you to be good, and then you do your best. But, whose is the confessional box? It’s her."

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