Name: What Hulu's Bon Jovi Documentary Left Out Of The True Story
Uploaded: 2024-04-27T03:48:43.000Z
Duration: 3 min 33 s
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A five hour documentary shouldn't  leave anything out, right? Well,  

despite being four episodes long,  Hulu's new Bon Jovi doc doesn't go  

as deep as it should. Here's what  else they could have included.

First off, there's a lack of  outside perspective. Sure,  

we know Bruce Springsteen was interviewed a bit.

"That was the first thing I knew  about Jon. He was a hardworking guy,  

As was Desmond Child, the songwriter who, despite  never being an official member of the band, helped  

write some of their biggest hits — such as "You  Give Love A Bad Name" and "Livin' On a Prayer".

Bon Jovi's wife, Dorothea,  also makes a brief appearance.

"I knew that he was going to be something,  

ya know? You could just see the  potential and the drive he had."

But that's basically it. While it could  be argued that no one could tell the story  

of Bon Jovi better than the band members  themselves — or those close to them — it  

would have been cool to see some other  faces from the music business explore  

the band's impact on the scene through  a more objective lens. For instance,  

including a bit of criticism from those who  were competing for fans at the same time — such  

as members of the grunge scene in the early '90s  — would have added some depth to the band's story.

And what about the fans? Given that  they've sold around 130 million albums,  

there's a pretty considerable percentage of the  world population who might have some interesting  

and insightful things to say about the band  and the impact they've had on their lives.

This goes double for female fans, because the  honest truth is that they've allowed Bon Jovi  

to stay relevant throughout their forty  year run. And that's not an exaggeration.

In 2016, Forbes spoke with biographer Bryan  Reesman about the lasting popularity of Bon  

Jovi — and Reesman said that without their female  fans, they wouldn't have lasted. He explained:

"The reason I think they broke big in the '80s  is they were a band that was safe enough for  

girls to go to [...] It was a little raunchy,  but it was safe enough that a lot of girls  

wanted to go to the shows. It was a look and a  sound, it was sexy without being too sexual."

Hearing from some of their longtime female  fans — be it everyday people or other female  

musicians — would have been a brilliant  thing to see reflected in their story.

Lastly, there's the angle they took with  longtime guitarist Richie Sambora — who  

suddenly left the band in 2013. Bon Jovi  described his abrupt departure to People:

"We were all shocked. It was a show  that night…and he just didn't show  

up. And then the next night, and then the  next night…We had 120 people on the road,  

80 other shows to do. So the train kept going."

Needless to say, there were a ton of rumors  that circulated for a while. However, all was  

eventually made clear a few months later when  Sambora issued a statement saying that touring  

had simply gotten to be too much, and that he'd  suddenly realized how much of his daughter's life  

he was missing out on. In the years since, he's  emphasized that he's happy with his decision.

"I'm really glad I did it. So, I mean, you,  know, it's certainly worked out for our family."

Bon Jovi has always stressed  that there's no ill will there,  

and that he understands where  he's coming from. He told People:

"Just to be clear, there was nothing but love.  

There was never a fight. [...] He  had to deal with his other issues."

The fact that Sambora was on stage  with them for their 2018 induction  

into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame seems  to back this up — as does the fact that  

he and Sambora got together to watch about  three-quarters of the documentary together.

According to those in Sambora's camp, it's  because he felt as though the documentary  

had been edited in a way that left out  his truth. The anonymous source said:

"Richie left ... because he was sick and tired  of what he was seeing. He didn't like the way  

he was being cast. He disagrees with how they  framed his departure from the band and to him,  

the currency of happiness is more  important than the currency of money."

While there's rarely a case where everyone  is happy with the way they're portrayed in  

a documentary, giving Sambora more of  a say in the finished product might  

have resulted in a more well-rounded and  honest exploration of the band's legacy.