Rock star reportedly says he will be bringing a large crowd with him this summer.
By AMY SPIROJon Bon Jovi performing live at an album promo show in London (photo credit: DAVID BERGMAN)
When Jon Bon Jovi returns to Israel this summer to perform in Tel Aviv, he’ll be bringing along quite a crowd of people.In an interview with Yediot Aharonot published on Friday, the rock star said he will be arriving in July with his family and a slate of friends: “We’re coming en masse,” he was quoted as saying. “The governor of New Jersey, Phil Murphy, is coming, and maybe even a news broadcaster you probably know, as well as the owners of the Dallas Cowboys.”A spokesman for Murphy declined to confirm or deny the governor’s travel plans this summer. But the rock star and the politician have a long and well-documented friendship. Bon Jovi, a New Jersey native, performed at fundraisers for Murphy while he was running for governor, and last year Murphy declared April 14 “Bon Jovi Day” in New Jersey.Murphy visited Israel in November, stopping at the Western Wall and Yad Vashem, and meeting with both Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian business leaders.The Dallas Cowboys football team is owned by Jerry Jones, who is also a longtime friend of Bon Jovi. As for the news broadcaster, Bon Jovi did not elaborate. The musician is close friends with radio host Howard Stern, who is Jewish and a regular defender of Israel. Bon Jovi asked Stern to induct the band into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame last year. But the rock star is also good friends with NBC news host Savannah Guthrie, as well as disgraced news anchor Matt Lauer.Bon Jovi was last in Israel in 2015, when his band performed for 50,000 adoring fans in Tel Aviv. In December, he announced that he’ll be returning this summer, for a single show on July 25. The date will mark the end of the band’s international “This House is Not for Sale” tour.“Israel really has a special audience. The 2015 show was hugely memorable to us,” Bon Jovi told Israeli reporters last year. “The fans were absolutely incredible and amazing. There was an electric energy in the air.”
