After being married for three decades, he has happily accepted the label of the long-married rock star, something which had initially broken many hearts.
Editor's note: This article was originally published on November 15, 2021. It has since been updated.
When he got married after eloping to Las Vegas with his high-school sweetheart in 1989, at the height of his success, his fans were not happy. In fact, America was angry, but that did not change his mind. After three decades together with the woman who is his shoulder to lean on, he has accepted that he's the "poster boy for a long-married rock star."
"I’ll accept the mantle because I’m so happy," said rock star Jon Bon Jovi, husband of Dorothea Hurley and father of four. When asked what he feels when he's one of the few rock stars with resolute marriages when some of his peers are divorcing their third or fourth wife, he told People magazine, "I got it right the first time."
"She’s the glue,” he said of Dorothea, according to TODAY. “I’m the crazy visionary with all kinds of things flying, and the seams are all splitting. She’s the one following me with the glue and the thread and needle, keeping it all together," he adds.
Even his mother wasn't happy about the surprise wedding. "She was not impressed," he said of his mother. But, that was more than three decades ago. He remembers that time just as fondly, with a smile on his wife. “America wasn’t happy on that Monday when they found out about the wedding and a lot of people tried to ruin a beautiful thing. They tried to cheat us out of that moment,” he recalled.
However, the couple has been married for decades now and Jon's love for his wife only grows every year. “She is the rock of my family, my career, my being. I am grateful for someone in my life like that who I can love and trust," he told the newspaper. She is the quintessential strong woman behind a successful man, whose stabilizing influence has made him reach greater heights. She is also one of the heads behind bringing his vision to life. She spearheaded the Soul Kitchen concept, which provides hot food to the needy, that has allowed both of them to get actively involved in philanthropy. “My wife does all the work and I get all the credit,” he joked to People.
As for Dorothea, she never tried to take the focus away from him. “I usually stand on the side (during his concerts) and watch,” Dorothea recently told People magazine. “The songs all sound great, but then you hear them live!” While there have been many female fans and groupies who throw themselves at him, she shrugs it all off unfazed and is grateful that they come because of their love of music. They have worked out the perfect balance to make their marriage work after all. They keep “Bon Jovi the rock star” separate from “Jon the husband and father." It has helped him stay connected to his humble working-class New Jersey roots and at home, with kids, he is just a dad. “I don’t know who that guy is,” he said of his onstage persona.
“I don’t have a mistress on the side or another family across town,” he told Men’s Health in 2010. “You’re never going to read that story about me. I have no regard for that whole lifestyle."
They acknowledge that what they have is pretty special but they have no words of wisdom to share. The only insight, Dorothea shared was, "Somehow it works. I think because we grow at the same rate. We grew equally and not in opposite directions.”
References:
https://www.today.com/popculture/jon-bon-jovi-wife-reveal-why-their-27-year-marriage-t104728
https://www.menshealth.com/fitness/a19556608/jon-bon-jovi-is-more-complicated-than-you-think/
https://people.com/music/jon-bon-jovi-wife-dorothea-marriage-secrets/
Source: Getty Images | Photo by Fernando Leon / Stringer
