Jon Bon Jovi and Wife Dorothea Crash Howard’s Miami House Party
Rock icon talks road trips to nowhere and the greatest guitarist of all time
May 3, 2023
“I’ll Be There for You” singer Jon Bon Jovi lived up to his name Tuesday morning when he stopped by SiriusXM’s newly minted South Florida studio and welcomed his good friend Howard down to Miami. The legendary Bon Jovi frontman didn’t come alone, either—he was accompanied by his wife, Dorothea, as well as Howard’s wife, Beth.
“This is all because of me. I dragged them in,” Beth said with a laugh.
Considering it was Dorothea’s first time on the show, Howard wanted listeners to learn more about her and Jon’s long and loving relationship. The couple discussed everything from how they celebrated their 34th anniversary to whether or not they make love to Bon Jovi records.
“I usually try and put on the early outfits to go with the early songs,” Jon joked.
“I do make him dress up,” Dorothea laughed.
In truth, the former high school sweethearts met in history class. Dorothea said Jon was a rocker back then, too, but that’s not what attracted her to him.
“Was he the cutest guy in the high school?” Howard asked Dorothea.
“One hundred percent,” she said.
“I immediately fell in love,” Jon said, recalling he didn’t make a move right away but eventually wooed her by taking her to one of his gigs.
“I just remember being impressed that you could sing,” Dorothea said. “He was very good.”
“Did you guys know Bruce [Springsteen] back then?” Howard asked.
“Yup,” Jon replied. “The first time he jumped on stage with me I was [17] years old.”
Jon and Howard’s 3-Hour Joy Ride
Another topic covered was a three-hour car ride Jon once took with Howard which started out as a joy ride and quickly turned into an intervention.
“Jon called me up and said, ‘Listen, you gotta get out of this Howard zone you’re in,’” Howard said, explaining Jon’s primary goal was to get him out of his house. “He goes, ‘I love to do this. I get in my car, I put the radio on, and we drive.’ And I gotta say, we had a fucking good time.”
“We had a great time,” Jon agreed. “Three hours. Never a dead moment.”
Not only did Jon get Howard out of the house, but he apparently also gave Howard some sage financial advice before revealing the secret to writing hit songs. All in all, it was a successful road trip to nowhere.
“What shut-in will you drive next?” Howard wondered with a laugh, adding. “You should announce your new TV show — it’s called ‘Recluses in Cars Going Nowhere.’”
Jon Weighs in on Greatest Guitarist Debate
Howard couldn’t let the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer leave his Miami studio without talking music. Specifically, he wanted Jon to name the greatest rock guitarist of all time. While Jon thought Jimi Hendrix, Prince, Eddie Van Halen, Jimmy Page, and Dire Straits frontman Mark Knopfler were all legends, he said the best guitarist ever was recently deceased Yardbirds rocker Jeff Beck, who worked with him on the “Young Guns II” soundtrack and Jon’s smash single “Blaze of Glory.”
“I was in the room when he took a guitar out of a cardboard box with a rented amplifier and no pedals — and created that sound,” Jon recalled of their time in the studio. “Jeff Beck did things with his thumb that would blow your mind.”
Listen to Jon on Bon Jovi Radio SiriusXM channel 709.
