Jon Bon Jovi: ‘I sit before you with grey hair and 63-year-old lines on my face but it’s OK, I don’t want to be something I’m not’’

Rock star Jon Bon Jovi isn’t slowing down at 63. In Dublin to promote his band’s tour next summer, he reflects on the working-class upbringing that’s been the bedrock of his success, his Irish influences and not being afraid to speak out against Trump

Jon Bon Jovi on his relationship with Ireland, surgery and his love for Irish audiences

“America’s on fire, ain’t it?” says Jon Bon Jovi. He looks like John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever, without many signs of his 63 years. His waistline is that of a 20-year-old and his hair is thick, even bouffant. He is a rock star who has sold over 150 million records but is not afraid to speak up.

And over the course of the 40 minutes I spent with him for this interview in his suite at the Westbury Hotel in Dublin, he spoke up. At one point, he addressed an imaginary Donald J Trump: “You knock down a wing of the f**king White House!”