By David Hochman/US magazine, August 1995

IF YOU HAD THE 1980'S TO DO OVER AGAIN, WHAT WOULD YOU DO DIFFERENTLY?
Everybody's going to have their baby pictures to regret. For me, looking at the 80's is looking back at pictures from the disco era. I think maybe I should have stuck to a pair of Levi's jeans and not been the king of long hair. But that's how things worked out. You survive it and move on.

HOW DID IT COME ABOUT THAT YOU'RE PLAYING WITH THE STONES IN PARIS?
I wrote Mick a note and said "Mick, I want to open for you." Honest to God I said: "I'd carry your luggage any day of the week, you're the coolest. Let me open for you."

AND? AND?
And he said yes. It was that simple. It's a dream come true. I can't wait.

HAVE YOU SPENT A LOT OF QUALITY PARTY TIME HERE IN AMSTERDAM?
Yeah. I've seen it all, most of the hotels and motels and bars. You remember a town by the bars, the movies, the restaurants. Actually, we were here on the last tour, and we were set straight by Boyz II Men. We were all down in the American Hotel bar drinking a beer called Duval. Jimmy Page was with us, Living Color were there. The Stone Temple Pilots were there. All of us were completely hammered and complaining about rock & roll. But Boyz II Men were down in the gym at three in the morning - singing, rehearsing! I went down and watched. I just was amazed. I said "If only I could get my guys out of the bars and the whorehouses, I'd tell them that you guys are rehearsing." I mean. they're down there working it out at three in the morning! But God bless them, look at how successful they are.

IT MUST BE A DIFFERENT EXPERIENCE THIS TIME AROUND WITH FAMILY ON BOARD.
They're the only thing that makes it worthwhile. I wouldn't be here if they weren't out here. The only reason I'm on time is because Jesse woke me up and said "Wah!" All right, all right! I looked at the clock and said "Holy shit, it's one o'clock."

ARE YOU DOING 3 A.M. FEEDINGS?
No, actually he sleeps. He's sleeping like a trouper right through the night.

DO YOU CHANGE DIAPERS?
I haven't changed his diaper once, and he's 3.5 months old.

DO YOU KNOW HOW TO?
Yes.

JESSE JAMES LOIS BONGIOVI IS AN INTERESTING NAME.
I thought I was destined to have girls drive me crazy for the rest of my life. My whole life is surrounded by women. They completely manipulate my every move. My manager, my publicist, my wife and my daughter, my mother, you name it. Then it was Jesse James to the rescue!

DO YOU THINK YOU'RE A GOOD FATHER?
I think so. My kids are really cool. Stephanie is just a trip. It's her birthday next week, and I called up a dear friend of hers to come to her birthday party - Barney's making an appearance. Now she's like "Barney's coming, Barney's coming!"

BARNEY'S PROBABLY A BIGGER STAR IN HER LIFE THAN YOU ARE!
Actually, Stephanie came to her first show last night. I set her on the front of the stage, and it was packed, 60,000 seat stadium. It was funny because all she could say afterwards was "Daddy. Sing. Microphone. Lights. People clappy." She didn't know what to do, so she just started clapping her head off.

WHAT'S ONE THING YOU'VE DONE THAT YOU WON'T TELL YOUR KIDS ABOUT?
Well, you know, I've lived all the excesses of this business for a lot of years. But I won't NOT tell them about it. I mean, I've done it all, shit. It certainly hasn't been an easy time, you know.

YOU ONCE SAID YOU FELT LIKE A "PLAY TOY" FOR OLDER WOMEN.
When I was very young, I truly was.

TELL ME ABOUT THAT.
I was a little gigolo when I was 17. And I had older women picking me up when I was 15. So, I've been around the block a time or two, you know.

HOW OLD WERE YOU THE FIRST TIME?
When I first got laid? Eighth grade. Age 14 probably.

DO YOU EVER TALK TO HER NOW?
No. I wouldn't know her if she were in a rest room.

WAS IT A GOOD EXPERIENCE?
No, it was terrible. But you learn. It was pretty wild, you know. Because you're so young, you don't even realize what's happening. Could you imagine if you had the knowledge that you have right now and could go back to high school? You'd be manipulating everybody and fucking with the teacher. [Laughing] If I only knew then...

WHAT WAS THE LOWEST POINT? IT SEEMS LIKE IT'S BEEN A PRETTY GOOD RIDE FOR YOU.
There was a time after the '80's, after recording Young Guns, when there was a real crash. We needed to rethink everything because all the innocence was being sucked out. What I wanted to do as a kid had all gotten taken away. And it took a while to come to terms with that. I thought about not doing it anymore or doing it by myself. Because Young Guns was so successful, I certainly didn't need the guys in the band. I had a no. 1 record. I was sitting at the Oscars, which was pretty good. But I didn't want that. I wasn't mad at the band. It was just that we didn't know what was the matter. And it was the machine it had become. So I kept the band and got rid of the machine.

WHO HELPED YOU GET THROUGH THOSE DAYS?
Well, it's very rare that I take someone's advice. But Brian May and Elton John were in our dressing room at Wembley Arena one night, and I was running off the stage, trying to go to a party or something, and Brian more or less grabbed me and said "Take your time. Take this in and enjoy this." At the time Queen wasn't touring anymore and Freddie was ill. And all Brian wanted to do was play for people again.

DID HIS ADVICE HIT HOME?
I realized that America was no more than major cities where you go from airport to the arena to the Four Seasons. It was just a drive all day, pull off at night wherever. Motels, anything more than 25 bucks a night was too good for us. [Nine people made the trips: "Five bikes, four girls" Jon laughs.] And whenever it got dark, that's where we would sleep. Instead of seeing Mount Rushmore out the window of your own private plane and telling the pilot to circle it again, I could really see it the right way.

WHAT DID IT TEACH YOU ABOUT THE WHOLE ROCK STAR LIFE?
I've never been one to play at this stardom thing to begin with, so I was never really in it. I never was the kind of guy that had the bodyguards or who went out jogging with 12 people. Because people want to know who's in the middle of the 12 people. I've always just gone out running. One of the great fallacies is, you become a prisoner of rock & roll.

HOW DO YOU KEEP YOURSELF SANE OUT HERE ON THE ROAD THESE DAYS?
I've had the same band for 12 years, I've had the same friends my whole life, I've been with my wife for 15 years. I'm a fan of music, so I still have my heroes that I get to play with. My guitar handler has been working with us since I was 16. You bring pieces of home with you.

WHAT'S YOUR WIFE LIKE? IS SHE STILL THE SAME WOMAN YOU KNEW BACK IN THE DAY?
I read in an article somewhere that in relationships, when you get beyond the initial sexual attraction, you realize that you sort of want to be like the other person. And I thought, Yeah, I'd like to be my wife. She's incredible focused and intelligent, and she's cooler than anybody I know. She's very, very, together. Probably a lot of that has to do with her martial arts background [Dorothea is a black belt in karate].

DOES SHE EVER USE IT ON YOU?
Not so far. But at the heart of martial is a focus. I'm one who sometimes says things before he thinks, and she thinks before she says things. That's a talent, and I learn from her all the time.

SO, JON, IT'S POURING OUTSIDE. YOU'RE ABOUT TO PLAY AN OUTDOOR CONCERT. HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THIS?
People think it's a drag. This is the best. One simple reason: Anyone can sing in the shower. Welcome to my fucking shower! This is the best singing weather in the world, humid and wet. They're going to have to pull me off the stage tonight. You think Michael Jackson's weird? I'm in the shower the whole time. I need humidity man, I am Aqua man.

WHAT'S THE STRANGEST PLACE YOU'RE EVER PLAYED?
I've been to some pretty funky places but I'd have to say it was Kuala Lumpur. They took our tour poster and erased our earrings, our long hair, and they made up a quote from me.

WHAT? THAT THE GOVERNMENT IS GREAT?
No, it was about drugs. Drugs down there are called da-da, and they had me saying "Hey, da-da is unhip." I didn't even know what da-da was, but it was right there on the concert poster. Very strange.

LET'S TALK ABOUT MOVIES. YOU'VE REALLY GOT THE ACTING BUG, HUH?
I don't want to quit my day job.

WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE IN THE SATISFACTION LEVEL?
It's being artistic without having the responsibilities or writing and directing it or taking 15 guys on the road. With this, I just show up, do my job and walk away. No questions. I did one play in high school. A little bitty part of Mame. But I had no aspirations to be an actor. It's intriguing hobby, I mean, when I look at real actors like DeNiro and Pacino and young guys like Sean Penn and Val Kilmer, those guys are masters at what they do. I'm just intrigued by the process.

ANY MOVIES IN PARTICULAR YOU'D LIKE TO DO?
Interview with the Vampire II. That would be great. It would be easier if my name was Johnny Jones. But now that people have seen Moonlight and Valentino, the offers are starting to come.

SO DO YOU FEEL LIKE EVERYTHING IS REALLY COMING TOGETHER FOR YOU?
Between '86 and '90, I never unpacked a suitcase. That killed me. Everybody thought I was happening, but when I look at pictures from that time, I look beat up, with black circles under my eyes and everything. Now there's a new picture: getting on the plane with my family and coming here. I'm going to remember these days. In the past, I would have blocked them out - I'd get uptight, I'd worry about everything. But I'm here to enjoy the ride this time. I told the guys that I'll stay out as long as there's not something better to do that night. As long as every day is fun, fun, fun, I'm there.