The University of Notre Dame has partnered with rock legends, Bon Jovi, to produce a special edition vinyl of the band’s new album Forever (out on June 7th on Island Records). Notre Dame is the only collegiate property partnering with Bon Jovi for their album release which will feature Fighting Irish-inspired design elements. A limited number of albums will be available on release date, June 7th, exclusively at the Hammes Notre Dame Bookstore. See store for details.
Forever is a celebratory album that takes stock of the past and likes what it sees, while keeping one eye on the future. But it’s also a defiant record, the most compelling evidence yet that Bon Jovi — inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2018, with more than 130 million records sold and dozens of unassailable radio hits to his credit — has nothing left to prove. Forever features twelve new songs, including the hit lead single, “Legendary.”
This special edition 2 LP vinyl release features twelve of those tracks on double disc colored vinyl and is limited to 2500 copies worldwide. This special edition is priced at $37.99.
The Notre Dame special edition album package will include:
- Notre Dame gold and blue splattered vinyl records.
- Exclusive poster of the band members with a Notre Dame color presentation.
- The Notre Dame Monogram featured on the included poster.
- The Notre Dame Monogram on all four record labels.
- A co-branded Notre Dame sticker on the front cover of the album wrapper.
“I have been a longtime fan of Notre Dame and have many incredible memories on campus supporting the Fighting Irish with our family,” Jon Bon Jovi said.
“This was a great opportunity to create an exclusive limited edition Notre Dame themed version of our new album and I am excited to share it with you.”
Bon Jovi, Forever
Jon Bon Jovi’s story is one of longevity. Forty years since the release of his namesake band’s debut album, Bon Jovi is not only still standing, but thriving. He’s stared down the toughest decade of his career — one beset by a global pandemic and his own harrowing vocal injury — to emerge with a timeless new album, Forever, and a life-affirming discovery: Jon Bon Jovi is happy again.
“For the first time in 10 years, I have joy,” Jon says. “I had lost touch with it for a number of reasons, and I’d set out to find it while writing and making this record. At the completion of the project, I realized I was at peace. I really found joy.”
Produced by Jon with John Shanks, Forever is a celebratory album that takes stock of the past and likes what it sees, while keeping one eye on the future. But it’s also a defiant record, the most compelling evidence yet that Bon Jovi — inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2018, with more than 130 million records sold and dozens of unassailable radio hits to his credit — has nothing left to prove.
“Forever is an opportunity to show that you can look back with one foot firmly entrenched in the future. And that only comes with age, wisdom, and experience,” Jon says.
It also helps to have people you can count on by your side. While Bon Jovi’s last album, the socially conscious 2020, was written almost entirely by Jon alone — “I was the narrator. It was what I saw happening when I turned on my television,” he says — Forever is a fully collaborative effort, underscoring the bond between Jon and his band of brothers: drummer Tico Torres, keyboardist David Bryan, bassist Hugh McDonald, guitarist Phil X, percussionist Everett Bradley, and guitarist John Shanks.
“It is absolutely an inclusive record,” he says. “If 2020 was ‘me,’ this album is ‘we.’”
Lead single “Legendary,” which Jon debuted live at the gala honoring him as the 2024 MusiCares Person of the Year, speaks to that union. The song is a rousing testament to the enduring relationships with his family, both those at home and in the band. “Got what I want/cause I got what I need,” he sings over Torres’ thumping beat, “Got a fistful of friends that’ll stand up for me.”
“I’ve come to realize in this chapter of my life that what matters is that handful of people that truly stood by your side. It’s not just my band, but my wife, my kids, my longtime engineer and friend…,” Jon says. “Out of all this pain and suffering that I’ve been through in the last decade, I’ve wrapped my arms around all of these moments and learned that what matters is what you’ve got. And what I’ve got has been pretty good.”
Jon doesn’t mince words when talking about the vocal problems that plagued him beginning in 2015. He says matter-of-factly that he was singing out of tune but, for the life of him, couldn’t figure out what was wrong. Finally, a doctor diagnosed an atrophying of one of his vocal cords and the singer underwent major surgery to have a permanent implant affixed to the damaged cord.
But the outcome wasn’t a sure bet. To get back to singing at the level he demands, Jon committed to a rigorous daily schedule of vocal exercises. “It’s been 21 months of recovery so far. There’s no miracle, but there’s steady progress,” he says. “Recording Forever in the studio in Nashville, I could take my time. And when we rehearse as a band, we make great strides. But I don’t know the end game.”
To listen to Forever, though, is to hear an artist confidently in the zone. He throws himself headlong into the daring opus “Seeds,” a mesmerizing composition about perseverance brought to life with rich strings and sharp metaphor. In “I Wrote You a Song” — one of those lyrical lightning bolts that came to Jon while he slept — he delivers one of the album’s vocal highlights over Bryan’s stark piano. And with “Walls of Jericho,” he adds the most epic arena anthem to the Bon Jovi catalog since “Bad Medicine.”
A pair of tracks on the album directly chronicle the band’s history, which is also honestly retold in the four-part Hulu documentary Thank You, Goodnight: The Bon Jovi Story. “We Made It Look Easy” charts Bon Jovi’s hard-won evolution from New Jersey bar band to stadium headliners, while “Living Proof” evokes the group’s storied past through a signature sound: a TalkBox guitar intro reminiscent of “Livin’ on a Prayer.”
The chorus of “Living Proof” drives home one of Forever’s overarching themes: “This family tree got nothing left to prove now,” Jon sings. “Me and you/We’re the living proof.”
When Jon, a 2009 inductee into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, wrote those lines, he says they encapsulated everything he was feeling more than 40 years into a rock legacy: “I thought, ‘that pretty much sums it up for me.’”
But having nothing left to prove doesn’t mean not challenging oneself. Forever contains some of the most soul-baring songs Jon’s ever written. “Kiss the Bride” he wrote especially for his daughter and is destined to be heard at every wedding from here to eternity. “My First Guitar” is the tale of the cheap but cherished Univox he played as a teenager, sold to a neighbor, and was recently reunited with. And “Hollow Man,” which caps the album, is about submitting himself freely and openly to the muse.
“That’s me with my hands and eyes towards the sky, saying, ‘I’m an empty vessel. Fill me up,’” Jon says. “I am the hollow man.”
In a telling moment, he punctuates one line of the song — “Anyway, I got you to smile…” — with a warm chuckle.
It’s the sound of a man, no longer hollow, having fun again. He’s successfully navigated obstacles, both universal and personal, and is able to smile about it all.
“Over the course of my life, I’ve had love and loss all happen more than once,” Jon says. “With this album, I’m telling you the truth.”
The joy is back, and Bon Jovi is here. Forever.