Jon Bon Jovi Says Eloping with Wife Dorothea ‘Shocked Everybody’ but ’35 Years Later We’re Still Married’

The Bon Jovi rocker looks back on his life and legacy in the new Hulu docuseries ‘Thank You, Goodnight: The Bon Jovi Story,’ streaming Friday, April 26

Jon Bon Jovi is looking back on eloping with wife Dorothea Bongiovi ahead of their wedding anniversary.

The Bon Jovi frontman, 62, and high school sweetheart Dorothea, 61, tied the knot in April 1989, five years after he first skyrocketed to fame with the band’s debut single “Runaway.”

Despite soaring success of their smash Slippery When Wet and New Jersey, Bon Jovi recalls making a split-second decision to tie the knot while they were “enjoying a moment” when he was on tour at the time.

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Jon Bon Jovi and wife Dorothea in 1990.RON GALELLA/RON GALELLA COLLECTION VIA GETTY

“We were in Los Angeles, California, the band was on the road on the New Jersey tour, and if you opened up the curtains of my hotel room, there’s a big billboard of the five of us [Bon Jovi band members] staring into my window,” Bon Jovi recalls. “My girlfriend, who was my fiancée at the time, we had a night off, and I said, ‘I need a higher high — I got an idea. Let’s go to Vegas now.’ And she said, ‘Now?’ I said, ‘Now.’”

Jon Bon Jovi and wife Dorothea on their 1989 wedding day in Las Vegas.JON BON JOVI/INSTAGRAM

And so, the young couple headed to Sin City, where “the taxi driver was our witness” as they said “I do,” he recalls.

Once the news went public, “it shocked a lot of people — shocked about everybody: the band, management, agents, lawyers, parents, you name it,’” Bon Jovi recalls. “It’s a shame because it should have been a beautiful moment, but after we did it, people were trying to take it away, until I stood up and went, ‘Wait a minute, why are we living our life for anyone else?’ And 35 years later, we’re still married.”

Looking back, “we got it right the first time,“ says the Grammy winner, who recounts their love story in his new Hulu docuseries, Thank You, Goodnight: The Bon Jovi Story (streaming Friday, April 26).

Jon Bon Jovi and wife Dorothea in Paris in January 1996.DAVE BENETT/GETTY

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Jon Bon Jovi and wife Dorothea in New York City in October 2016. DIMITRIOS KAMBOURIS/GETTY

The pair have enjoyed plenty of happy memories together over the years, including raising four children together: daughter Stephanie, 30, and sons Jesse, 29, Jake, 21, and Romeo, 20. And in 2006, they together launched the JBJ Soul Foundation, a nonprofit that creates affordable housing and provides meals to those in need.

Dorothea has also supported Bon Jovi through difficult times, including recent vocal cord issues that almost stole his voice. He underwent vocal cord surgery to alleviate loose vocal folds that were affecting his performance and almost forced him into retirement.

Jon Bon Jovi and wife Dorothea in New York City in November 2021. THEO WARGO/GETTY

“The thing that gave me so much pleasure had been taken away,” Bon Jovi says. “Joy is something you got to work at, right? Happiness is what you make it. It’s not about seizing the day anymore. I think it’s about embracing the day. I don’t have to punch it in the face anymore, now I just give it a hug, and that’s a good place to be.”

Jon Bon Jovi on the May 6, 2024 cover of PEOPLE.JAKE CHESSUM

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That spirit is at the heart of Bon Jovi’s upcoming 16th studio album, Forever, he says: “What really matters in a life? It’s love and loyalty and finding things that make you want to get up out of bed in the morning.”

For more on Jon Bon Jovi, pick up the new issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands everywhere Friday.