Legendary rocker Jon Bon Jovi has revealed details about the illness holding him back from performing.

The Bon Jovi frontman rose to fame with his New Jersey band in the 1980s with hits like Livin’ on a Prayer and now at 62 has been battling to save the voice that made him famous.

Bon Jovi learnt his vocal chords were atrophying almost 10 years ago and then faced a bout of long COVID. His ordeal was documented in the band’s recent four-part documentary series on Disney+ called, Thank You, Goodnight: The Bon Jovi Story.

Also known as “aging voice” or “presbyphonia,” vocal atrophy is a voice condition characterized by thinning of the vocal fold muscles and tissues, according to the Atrium Health group. It can lead to a weak or quiet voice that takes a lot of effort or is fatiguing to use. People who have it suffer from pitch changes, hoarseness, or roughness in vocal quality.

Jon Bon Jovi attends the 2024 MusiCares Person of the Year honoring him in Los Angeles on February 02, 2024. The legendary rocker has revealed details about the illness holding him back from performing. Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic
“For years, I’ve known that everything depends on something that small,” the rocker told The Sun newspaper in the U.K. “It’s been horrible.”

Bon Jovi decided to have a risky surgery two years ago, which could have been a great success or ended his ability to sing forever.

Thankfully his operation went well but he has had to teach himself how to sing again.

“It hasn’t been a fun journey even to get to this point,” he said. “But I’ve diligently done my rehab and therapies. I’ve had to relearn how to do things. I got the high notes back a long time ago, but then we forgot to work on the low stuff.”

Talking about the problems he faced, the singer said: “So you’re thinking, ‘What the hell is wrong with B-flat to F? This is weird.’

“Suddenly, you’re worrying about all the low stuff that you never thought twice about — ever!”

He admitted to struggling a lot before seeing improvements, saying it has been a case of “breakdown” followed by “breakthrough,” before adding “but the breakdown is still a difficult period emotionally.”

The pressure to get back on stage came from never wanting to give a half-baked performance and letting down the band’s millions of fans.

“First you have to take your fist out of the wall, then you look back on what you did two months ago and realize there’s been progress,” he said. “I’m being careful because I don’t ever want to go out there and give less than 100 per cent.”