Staff Writer
The lead singer of hit rock band Bon Jovi has spoken out against Justin Bieber following his late appearance at recent concerts at the London O2 arena in March and in Dubai earlier this month.
The 51-year-old singer who has been in the business for over three decades and is known as “one of the hardest-working men in music” hit out at the young Canadian in an interview with the Evening Standard yesterday, 20 May. He warned that if Bieber continued in this vein, he risks alienating his fans.
There was much outrage from fans and parents back in March when it was reported that Bieber was two hours late for the O2 gig. Bieber apologised and blamed the late entrance on “technical issues”, though he claimed he was only 40 minutes late for his show, not the two hours reported in the media. Bon Jovi stated that, unfortunately, this kind of thing has always happened. “Every generation has guys that do that, none of that is new.
“They run the risk of disrespecting their audience members who have worked hard to pay for their ticket, to give you permission to take two or three hours of their lives – or in that kid’s case, 80 minutes of their lives.”
Bon Jovi continues his warning to Bieber over his indifferent attitude to his fans and what it will lead to. “Do it once, you can be forgiven. Do it enough times and shame on you. They won’t have you back. Then it just becomes a cliché. It’s really not cool – you’re an a**hole. Go to f***kin’ work!”.
Bon Jovi are currently in Austria on their “Because We Can” world tour. They head to the UK early next month, culminating the UK leg by headlining the Barclaycard British Summer Time festival on 5 July. However, they are without their legendary guitarist, Richie Sambora, who pulled out of the tour in April.
There has been no further word on Sambora’s absence due to “personal reasons”, though during the interview Bon Jovi hinted that the reason may be similar to his 2011 tour absence when he entered rehab for alcohol abuse.
Bon Jovi skirted around the issue, only addressing the situation by saying, “It’s getting more and more difficult every day to not just sit here and say something… all I can say is this – it’s for personal reasons. He’s been through it before, fortunately for us the same guy who filled in last time was available this time.” He explained that the band had to look to the future, “life goes on… You have a choice – you either figure it out, go and grow, not only survive but thrive. Or, you say, ‘I hate my brother and I’m gonna quit the band’.”
What that might mean for the future of Sambora with Bon Jovi is unclear, but hopefully he chooses the former option.
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