Jon Bon Jovi is now in promo mode for the new documentary, Thank You, Good Night: The Bon Jovi Story, that takes a look at the history of his iconic rock band and its journey from New Jersey clubs to global stardom.
While reminiscing about the band’s rise to becoming bonafide rockstars on Jimmy Kimmel Live! on Wednesday, April 10, the longtime frontman dished about the 1980s and partying with Michael Jackson, which inevitably turned the conversation on to the King Of Pop’s pet chimp, Bubbles.
It turns out the rocker and his band were in Tokyo, Japan around the same time the Thriller superstar, and he and his friend and bandmate Richie Sambora actually got to hang out with the then prized baby chimpanzee.
‘Everybody wanted to meet Michael Jackson. So, [former guitarist] Richie [Sambora] and I had the opportunity to go up to his room, and we walked into his hotel room — which was all done up in mirrors so he could dance — and they actually took a wall out between these rooms,’ Bon Jovi (born John Francis Bongiovi Jr.), 62, told Kimmel.
Sounding a bit stumped that the hotel would remove a section of a wall out just for MJ, the Livin’ On A Prayer star confirmed, ‘They absolutely did [remove the wall] because he was there for quite a while.’
Jon Bon Jovi, 62, revealed how he first met Michael Jackson and got to party with his pet chimp Bubbles when they happened to be staying at the same hotel in Tokyo, Japan in the 1980s during an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live! on Wednesday
The rocker said he met the King Of Pop in his hotel room, and then asked him to come to their room with the band and their girlfriends, but Bubbles showed up to the party without MJ; the King of Pop is seen with Bubbles in Osaka, Japan in 1987
Bon Jovi continued to explain how when he and Sambora walked into the hotel room, Jackson’s manager greeted them and introduced him to the Jackson 5 icon, who was all decked out in a double-bullet belt over his shoulders.
At one point during their conversation Bon Jovi told Jackson about how they’ve been wearing disguises to be able to go unrecognized in the public while on tour in during their wildly successful Slippery When Wet Tour.
He said Jackson ‘played along’ as if he had never wore a disguise, which in reality was something he did all the time in the 1980s.
‘So now we think we’re friends and we say, “Come on down to our floor and hang out. We’ve got the whole band here, our girlfriends and all are here,”‘ he explains.
While Michael Jackson, himself, didn’t partake in the party, he was kind enough to send a representative down to their room.
‘Unfortunately he didn’t come, but he sends Bubbles the chimp as his representative,’ Bon Jovi recalled while smiling and nearly laughing. ‘That was big. Bubbles comes down and wreaks havoc. Bubbles parties like a rock star.’
Somewhat baffled, Kimmel asks, ‘Wait, how did Bubbles arrive? So bubbles was in your room loose?’ for which Bon Jovi confirmed, ‘Oh yea.’
He explained how Bubbles was ‘jumping on the bed’ and ‘putting on a show.’
The Bon Jovi rocker made the revelation about his meeting with the King Of Pop during an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live! on Wednesday, April 10
The singer-songwriter was with friend and former guitarist Richie Sambora when they met Jackson in his room, which was during Bon Jovi’s lSlippery When Wet Tour (1986-1987)
At one point during their conversation Bon Jovi told Jackson about how they’ve been wearing disguises to be able to go unrecognized in the public while on tour in during their wildly successful Slippery When Wet Tour, for which MJ ‘played along’ as if he had never wore a disguise during his career
The Livin’ On A Prayer star invited Jackson to their room to party with the band and their girlfriends, but he maintains MJ sent ‘Bubbles the chimp as his representative. That was big. Bubbles comes down and wreaks havoc. Bubbles parties like a rock star’
The Bad Medicine singer-songwriter went on to share about how Bubbles ‘showed up’ and that he ‘hung hard’.’
According to Bon Jovi, Bubbles was in their room partying for quite a while. In fact, it got to the point where hotel management threatened to throw the band out of the hotel.
Disgusted by hotel management’s threat to kick them out, the Perth Amboy, New Jersey native put Kimmel at ease by excitedly reiterating, ‘We partied with Bubbles.’
Somewhat baffled, Kimmel asks, ‘Wait, how did Bubbles arrive? So bubbles was in your room loose?’ for which Bon Jovi confirmed, ‘Oh yea’
The Livin’ On A Prayer star explained how Bubbles was ‘jumping on the bed’ and ‘putting on a show’ to the point where hotel management threatened to kick them out
Thank You, Goodnight, The Story Of Bon Jovi is set to premiere on Hulu on April 26
The upcoming four-part docuseries about Bon Jovi features behind-the-scenes insights into the band’s formation on to its rise to fame and the many years that followed.
There’s never-before-seen photos and unreleased demos of a number of songs fans just may recognize.
The docuseries will also include interviews with past and current members of the bands as well as Bruce Springsteen, John Shanks, Obie O’Brien, Everett Bradley, Doc McGee, Dorothea Bongiovi, Matt Bongiovi, Paul Korsilius and Dean Grillo.
Thank You, Goodnight: The Story Of Bon Jovi is set to premiere on Hulu on April 26.