Lifestyle
How to get an inside look at gorgeous private gardens in and around L.A.
With all the recent rain, 2024 is shaping up to be a fabulous year for flowers, not just in the wild but also in private gardens around Southern California. Lucky for garden enviers, many of those gates will be opening wide this spring as part of the annual fundraising tradition known as garden tours.
They come in all shapes and sizes, from the Theodore Payne Foundation’s two-day opportunity to admire more than 30 native plant landscapes across Los Angeles to more intimate events that include just a few exquisite gardens, such as the Garden Conservancy’s Open Days tours in the San Fernando Valley and Pasadena.
These tours will fill weekends through May, so you’ll always find someplace to go, and the entry prices are usually modest — typically less than $40 per person, and sometimes even free, although in those cases, such as the annual open house at Prisk Elementary School’s Native Plant Garden, donations to these worthy causes are greatly appreciated.
Grab a friend, a water bottle and a hat, don good walking shoes and prepare to enjoy all the beauty that follows a good California downpour and the hard work of creative gardeners. If we’ve forgotten someone, please email jeanette.marantos@latimes.com to see if it’s an event we can include.
April 6
Mediterranean Garden Society of Southern California Garden Tour of a private garden in Mandeville Canyon in Brentwood, 10 a.m. to noon. Designers Marilee Kuhlmann, Tom Rau and Johanna Woollcott will be on hand to discuss the 2-acre project, which includes water harvesting, fire prevention, fruit trees, a vegetable garden, native and water-wise plants and a succulent garden. Tickets are $35 ($25 for members). mediterraneangardensociety.org/branches-us-cal-south.html
A Swallowtail butterfly rests on Apricot Mallow at Prisk Native Plant Garden in Long Beach.
(Dania Maxwell / Los Angeles Times)
April 7 and 14
The Prisk Native Plant Garden Open House features a free visit to the native plant garden usually closed to the public. From 1 to 4 p.m. both days at William F. Prisk Elementary School, 2375 Fanwood Ave. in Long Beach. The garden is behind the school, at East Los Arcos Street and Albury Avenue. facebook.com/prisknativegarden
An oasis of native plants grows at Raul Rojas and Thomas Zamora’s 1923 Highland Park bungalow, part of the Theodore Payne Foundation’s annual native plant garden tour.
(Dania Maxwell / Los Angeles Times)
April 13-14
The Theodore Payne Foundation Native Plant Garden Tour features 41 gardens around Los Angeles devoted to at least 50% native plants. Ticket holders get a map for self-guided tours to gardens on the Westside of L.A. on April 13 and the Eastside on April 14, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. both days. One ticket gets you into all the gardens on both days and provides an opportunity to see gardens for larger spaces as well as residences, including Kuruvungna Village Springs, Casa Apocalyptica, Garden Butterfly, Washington Elementary Native Habitat Garden and the Gottlieb Native Garden. Participants will receive a map in the mail once they purchase their tickets for $55 (children under 16 do not need tickets). nativeplantgardentour.org
The Frank Lloyd Wright Garden Symposium and L.A. Garden Tours by the Garden Conservancy involves a symposium from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. April 13 examining how Wright and other early 20th century architects responded to Southern California’s landscape and climate, followed April 14 with guided tours of Wright’s Hollyhock House and Garden in East Hollywood from 10 a.m. to noon and a tour of the Rudolph Schindler House & garden in West Hollywood from 10 a.m. to noon or 2 to 4 p.m. Garden tours are $30 each and reserved only to people who attend the symposium on April 13. Tickets for the symposium at the Wilshire Ebell Theatre are $175 ($150 for members, $50 for students). gardenconservancy.org
April 14
The Creative Arts Group Art of the Garden Tour includes self-guided tours of five gardens in Pasadena and Sierra Madre from 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tickets are $40, or $45 if purchased the day of the tour. The tour is the biggest annual fundraiser for the nonprofit group, which provides programs, exhibitions and classes in the arts for children and adults. Executive Director Gwen Robertson said the tour strives to include at least one “gobsmacker” estate along with more modest but still inspiring landscapes created by local designers. Photography, pets and children under 12 are not permitted on the tours. The Creative Arts Group Gallery will be open at 108 N. Baldwin Ave. in Sierra Madre for people who want to purchase tickets in person and view work by more than 25 local artists. creativeartsgroup.org
Water-wise desert gardens will be on display at the Morongo Basin Conservation Assn. Desert-Wise Landscape Tour.
(Stacy Doolittle)
April 21
The Morongo Basin Conservation Assn. Desert-Wise Landscape Tour is scheduled from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. The event features six self-guided tours of water-wise Morongo Basin landscapes in Yucca Valley, Joshua Tree and Twentynine Palms, along with docent-guided visits to the Mojave Desert Land Trust. Tickets are $15 ($10 for members) and can be purchased online. The website also features videos of “desert-wise” landscapes from past tours. mbconservation.org
The Garden Conservancy Pasadena Open Days Tour invites you to explore three elaborate private gardens at historic homes — the Schumacher Garden Retreat and Bennett-DeBeixedon Garden in Pasadena and the Absacal Family Garden in Altadena. Tickets are $10 per garden and available online only. Children 12 and under enter free with an accompanying adult. gardenconservancy.org
Cottage roses like these are among some of the sights to be seen at a self-guided tour of pollinator gardens in Redlands.
(Bob Ellis)
April 27-28
The Redlands Horticultural and Improvement Society Garden Tour: Pollinators Paradise — Gardens in Bloom features six private pollinator gardens and the student garden at the Grove School in Redlands. The self-guided tours are available from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. both days. The society also is hosting a plant sale at 1352 Prospect Drive on Saturday only from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tour maps are provided with tickets, which are $15 (children 13 and younger enter free) and can be purchased with cash or check at the Grove School and some local retailers. redlandsgardenclub.org
Riverside Community Flower Show & Garden Tour: Garden Friends With Benefits, a celebration of native pollinators, with self-guided tours of six Riverside-area gardens that demonstrate how to attract pollinators. The tours run between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. both days, along with a free flower show from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Riverside Elks Lodge, 6166 Brockton Ave., with floral displays, crafts and garden art for sale. A wristband for admission to the garden tours is $10; children under 16 enter free. riversideflowershow.com
The 31st Floral Park Home & Garden Tour in North Santa Ana features tours of historic homes and gardens from the 1920s to the 1950s from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. both days. The tour also includes a vintage automobile display, food from local restaurants and shopping opportunities. Proceeds support community scholarships and nonprofit organizations. Tickets for the tour are $45 if purchased online by April 22, $50 on the day of the event. floralparkhometour.com
The backyard home garden of Michael Solverb and Khoi Pham, featured in this year’s San Fernando Valley Open Days garden tours.
(Yuri Hasegawa / For The Times)
April 28
The Garden Conservancy San Fernando Valley Open Days Tour will showcase three elaborate private gardens at historic homes — the Wrightwood Estates Hillside Garden and the Sustainable Storybook Garden in Studio City and Longridge in Sherman Oaks. Tickets are $10 per garden and available online only. Children 12 and under enter free with an accompanying adult. gardenconservancy.org
May 4-5
The Mary Lou Heard Memorial Garden Tour features self-guided tours of 38 gardens from Long Beach to San Clemente from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. both days. A list of the gardens and their addresses is on the Mary Lou Heard Foundation website, but plan ahead because some are open to visitors on only one of the days. The tour is free but donation jars will be set out at the gardens to support the Sheepfold, a crisis center for women and children in Orange that has long been the beneficiary of the foundation’s annual tours. heardsgardentour.com
May 4
Los Angeles Flower Farm Tour, a free self-guided tour of nine small flower farms in urban Los Angeles from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. A map will be sent to people who register online to visit Frogtown Flora, Allie Cat flowers, Golden Heron, Drive by Flora, Bloomtown Flower Co., Mamabotanica, Pia Flora Design, Flowerbox Studios and Rose Lane Farms. The farm owners will be selling fresh bouquets, U-pick flowers and other related items during the tour day, so visitors are encouraged to bring a bucket of water to keep their flowers fresh as they make their tour. partiful.com
The Laguna Beach Garden Club 19th Gate & Garden Tour begins at the Laguna Beach County Water District’s Bruce Scherer Waterwise and Fire-Safe Gardens at 306 3rd St. in Laguna Beach, with special buses shuttling ticket holders to tours of several area gardens. Mexican fare and artisanal margaritas will be available for purchase; also look for free homemade baked goods. Artists will be painting canvases in several gardens, and visitors wearing a “festive garden party hat” will be entered in the tour’s hat contest. Proceeds support school gardens, local scholarships and community projects, such as the new bee mural at the water district, painted by artist Matt Willey as part of his the Good of the Hive initiative to raise awareness about the importance of pollinators. Garden tours run from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m, with the last entry scheduled at 2 p.m. Children are not permitted. Timed-entry tickets purchased by April 28 are $60 or $80 for entry anytime between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., along with tickets for one food item and one drink. lagunabeachgardenclub.org
Nine home gardens will be on display in View Park and Ladera Heights as part of the Blooms With a View Spring Garden Tour.
(Felicia Smith)
May 5
Blooms With a View Spring Garden Tour, sponsored by Inspired Garden Artistry, celebrates its 11th biennial tour and vendor fair at nine home gardens in View Park and Ladera Heights from noon to 5 p.m. The fair will be at the southern entrance of Ladera Park, 4750 W. 62nd St., in the View Park-Windsor Hills neighborhood of South L.A. The tour includes a waterfall, a rose garden, fruit trees, a Zen garden and an outdoor art studio with a 37-foot mosaic storybook wall. Tickets can be purchased online until April 15 for $30; $35 if purchased after April 15 or on the day of the event at the park. inspiredgardenartistry.com
The 2024 Livingston Memorial Visiting Nurse Assn. & Hospice Camarillo Garden Tour features art exhibits and demonstrations, live music, refreshments and a garden-themed boutique in addition to tours of five Camarillo gardens from noon to 4 p.m. Artists from the Pastel Society of the Gold Coast will give demonstrations at each garden. Tickets are $30 online. Proceeds benefit the association’s hospice program in Camarillo. lmvna.org
May 11
West Floral Park and Jack Fisher Park Neighborhoods Open Garden Day features at least eight tours in two tree-lined neighborhoods of vintage homes in North Santa Ana, along with live music, art displays, garden talks and demonstrations, a classic car display, free bottled water at the gardens, coffee and doughnuts available for purchase in the morning and vendors selling food and garden products from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. (Tours are 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. with a shuttle service between the two loops of tours to minimize wait times.) Ticket sales begin March 19 online for $20, or $25 if purchased the day of the event, at West Santa Clara and North Westwood avenues in Santa Ana. opengardenday.com
May 16
The 27th Newport Harbor Home & Garden Tour features tours at seven locally designed homes and gardens near Newport Harbor High School between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m., along with a morning reception at 9 a.m., luncheon between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. and online specialty boutique of home decor and accessories between 10:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. The event is a fundraiser for the Newport Harbor Educational Foundation to support academic programs and faculty at Newport Harbor High School. Tickets can be purchased online for $110 ($125 after April 26, if still available). newportharborhometour.com
One of many gardens you can check out on the San Clemente Garden Club 2024 Garden Tour.
(Kim Neal)
May 18
San Clemente Garden Club 2024 Garden Tour features self-guided tours and live entertainment at five San Clemente-area gardens from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tickets can be purchased online before the event for $35 ($30 each if purchasing four or more). Day-of tickets are $45 and must be purchased in person, at a location that will be announced on the website on May 17. Proceeds support the San Clemente Garden Club College Scholarship and Junior Gardeners programs as well as conservation organization and civic beautification projects in San Clemente. sanclementegardenclub.com
The Tustin Area Historical Society 25th Old Town Tustin Home and Garden Tour includes tours of the community’s vintage homes and gardens from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., along with maypole dancing, artists painting, live music, horse-drawn trolleys and vendors selling garden-related merchandise. Tickets can be purchased online or at the Tustin Area Museum in Tustin for $40 in advance, $45 on the day of the event. tustinhistory.com
See inside three private gardens not typically open to the public at Virginia Robinson Gardens.
(Josh Johnston)
Virginia Robinson Gardens 35th Spring Rhapsody Garden Tour includes three of the historic estate’s private gardens not normally open to the public, along with tours of the house decked out in floral arrangements, live music, a catered luncheon on the great lawn, a silent auction and an on-site marketplace, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. in Beverly Hills. Purchase tickets online for $350, as well as valet parking for $50. robinsongardens.org
May 19
The Rossmoor Woman’s Club 19th Garden Tour features self-guided tours of five private gardens in the Rossmoor-Los Alamitos area of Orange County, just north of Seal Beach, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The event also includes tours of two elementary school gardens cultivated by students and their mentors from the Orange County Master Gardeners program. Tickets are $20 and can be purchased online in April or, on the day of the tour, at the club’s outdoor marketplace, featuring music, food, craft and plant sales in Arbor Village, 10651 Los Alamitos Blvd. in Los Alamitos. Net proceeds from the tours support local charities and college scholarships for Los Alamitos High School students. rossmoorwomansclub.org
Joanna Smith was sentenced today for defacing the case of Edgar Degas’ Little Dancer sculpture in 2023.
National Gallery of Art
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National Gallery of Art
Joanna Smith was sentenced today for defacing the case of Edgar Degas’ Little Dancer sculpture in 2023.
National Gallery of Art
A climate activist found guilty of one count of causing injury to a National Gallery of Art exhibit last year for defacing the case around a sculpture by Edgar Degas at the Washington, D.C., museum was sentenced in federal court on Friday.
Joanna Smith, 54, of Brooklyn, N.Y., got 60 days of prison time out of a possible maximum sentence of five years for smearing red and black paint on the case surrounding Degas’ Little Dancer, Aged Fourteen on Apr. 27, 2023. The 1881 artwork is on permanent display at the museum.
In addition to the prison term, Judge Amy Berman Jackson ordered Smith to serve 24 months of supervised release and 150 hours of community service, of which 10 hours must involve cleaning graffiti. Smith must pay restitution for the damage to the Degas exhibit and is also barred from entering the District of Columbia and all museums and monuments for two years. (The plaintiff did not incur a monetary fine otherwise, though the maximum sentence could have included anything up to a $250,000 penalty.)
Smith undertook the action with North Carolina-based climate activist Tim Martin. They are members of the climate activism group Declare Emergency.
According to a statement from the D.C. United States Attorney’s Office, Smith and Martin specifically targeted the artwork.
“Smith and the co-conspirator passed through security undetected with paint secreted inside water bottles,” the statement said. “The duo approached the exhibit, removed the bottles from their bags, and began smearing paint on the case and base.”
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The statement said the National Gallery had to remove the sculpture from public display for 10 days, and that gallery officials said it cost over $4,000 to repair the damage.
“On April 27, 2023, the protective sanctuary for this beloved girl [Degas’ “Little Dancer”] was battered. She is one of the most vulnerable and fragile works in our entire collection. I cannot overemphasize how the violent treatment of her protection barrier, repeated slamming, and vibrations, have forever jeopardized her stability,” said Kaywin Feldman, director of the National Gallery of Art, in a statement to NPR. “With increased frequency, institutions – overwhelmingly non-profit museums for the public benefit – have suffered collateral damage at the hands of agendas that have nothing to do with museums or the art attacked. The real damage that these acts of vandalism pose must be taken seriously to deter future incidents that continue to threaten our cultural heritage and historic memory.”
“The ‘Little Dancer’ is a depiction of a vulnerable, 14-year-old girl who worked at the Paris Opera. Degas’ depiction of her is beautiful and has been viewed by millions, but the ‘Little Dancer’ seemingly disappeared after she posed for Degas,” said a statement on Declare Emergency’s Instagram page explaining the action at the museum last year. “Like the ‘Little Dancer,’ millions of little girls and boys won’t have a future because our leaders didn’t act decades ago when they should have and continue to drag their feet to stop the fossil fueled climate catastrophe that is engulfing us all.”
Smith and Martin were taken into custody following an indictment. They were charged with conspiracy to commit an offense against the United States and injury to a National Gallery of Art exhibit.
Smith pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson in Washington D.C., last December.
Martin’s jury trial case is scheduled for Aug. 26.
A cause célèbre
Popularly known as “The Degas Two,” Smith and Martin have become a cause célèbre in climate activism circles.
Colleagues from other climate groups have spoken out publicly about the case.
Last June, around 20 members of Extinction Rebellion NYC and Rise and Resist protested the charges against Martin and Smith at the Metropolitan Museum in New York.
Extinction Rebellion climate activist Lydia Woolley interrupted a Broadway performance last month, yelling, “Don’t forget about Joanna Smith. Don’t forget about Tim Martin. Don’t forget about the truth tellers. This play doesn’t end when you leave the theater.”
And more than 1,000 people signed a petition ahead of the sentence hearing urging judge Amy Berman Jackson to show leniency on Smith.
“Smith and Martin placed their hands in water-soluble paint and left their handprints on equipment supporting the Degas sculpture ‘Little Dancer,’ which portrays a child. They willingly allowed themselves to be arrested for this symbolic act of civil disobedience, which caused no harm to any person and did not result in the destruction or damage of any property,” the letter to Jackson accompanying the petition states. “The right to protest in the U.S. and the history of symbolic, nonviolent civil disobedience actions are well-documented. However, these charges and this case appear to disregard past precedents and respond to these recent acts in an excessively severe manner.”
Increasing penalties
Penalties against climate protest have been increasing over the past couple of years — and not just in the U.S.
Last year, for instance, two protesters from the climate activism group Just Stop Oil each received sentences of more than two-and-a-half years for scaling a bridge over the River Thames in southeast England, causing a public nuisance. (Both men ended up serving partial sentences — Morgan was released last December and Decker, this past February.)
And just this week, British physician Sarah Benn, who spent more than a month in jail after a series of climate protests, was suspended by a medical tribunal for misconduct.
In Germany, police launched raids against climate activists with the Letzte Generation (Last Generation) group last year. According to an article in The Washington Post from May 2023, seven suspects “were accused of organizing a fundraising campaign to finance criminal activities, advertising them on their website and collecting at least $1.5 million in donations so far.”
Broader implications
Some climate change activism experts are considering how the ratcheting up of penalties against protesters will impact the movement more broadly.
“It is putting people off for sure,” said James Özden, the founder of Social Change Lab, a nonprofit that researches climate activism and other social movements. “I think it’s meaningful that only a small number of people who are willing and able to take these kinds of risks are taking these kinds of actions.”
But Özden also said the severity of governmental pushback could potentially galvanize activists towards taking even more risks.
“Even though the sentences increase, so does people’s desire to actually do something about climate change and make a change and try help wherever they can. So I expect people will keep taking these actions because they don’t see a viable alternative,” he said.
Martin of “The Degas Two” said the inability of many people to grasp the severity of the climate change crisis is the biggest hurdle obstructing the momentum of the climate movement.
“Until the climate and social justice emergencies become more of a clear and present danger to Americans, we won’t have nearly the number of supporters we ought to have who are willing to risk arrest,” Martin said.
Jennifer Vanasco edited this story.
Sonja Christopher — the first person ever voted off the show “Survivor” — has died … this according to a current contestant on the show.
Liz Wilcox — who stars in season 46 of “Survivor,” which is underway right now — announced the sad news on X Friday … saying she met Sonja over Christmas and shared a photo of the two talking on FaceTime on her account.
She writes, “Today, the legend herself Sonja Christopher of Season One passed away. I had the pleasure of meeting her on Christmas. She had so much spunk + love for Survivor and what the show brought to her life. I hope you’re singing + playing your heart out somewhere beautiful, Sonja.”
On behalf of the family, Liz says people shouldn’t send flowers … but, instead donations to Mt. Diablo Unitarian Universalist Church in Walnut Creek, CA, the Cancer Support Community in SF, or the Sjogren’s Foundation. She did not provide a cause of death.
Sonja competed on “Survivor: Borneo” in 2000 and, despite getting along well with her teammates, got ousted after several missteps led to her team losing that first week. She received the boot because of it, making her the first person ever to be voted off the island.
In a sense, her appearance on the series was historic … and many still remember her.
Christopher’s known for playing her ukulele on the show — and, she seemed to remember her time fondly on “Survivor” despite her early exit … telling EW in 2020 the whole experience gave her a platform to raise money for causes she believed in.
Sonja was 87.
RIP
Jon Bon Jovi at the Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Conn., in 2013.
David Bergman/Hulu
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Jon Bon Jovi at the Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Conn., in 2013.
David Bergman/Hulu
Hulu’s docuseries Thank You, Goodnight: The Bon Jovi Story, spends a lot of time building up the Bon Jovi legend — exploring the band’s almost unbelievable 40-plus-year run from playing hardscrabble rock clubs in New Jersey to earning platinum albums and entry into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
But what moved me most in the four-part series was something more revealing: its close look at the struggle by lead singer Jon Bon Jovi to overcome vocal problems which nearly led him to quit the band.
Footage of the singer croaking through vocal exercises, undergoing laser treatments, enduring acupuncture and finally turning to surgery is sprinkled throughout the series, which toggles back and forth between his problems in 2022 and a chronological story of the band’s triumphs and tragedies from its earliest days.
Refusing to be Fat Elvis
Jon Bon Jovi was interviewed for Thank You, Goodnight.
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Jon Bon Jovi was interviewed for Thank You, Goodnight.
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Through it all, a question hangs: Will Bon Jovi ever recover enough vocal strength to lead a 40th anniversary tour?
“If I can’t be the very best I can be, I’m out,” he tells the cameras, still looking a bit boyish despite his voluminous gray hair at age 62. “I’m not here to drag down the legacy, I’m not here for the ‘Where are they now?’ tour … I’m not ever gonna be the Fat Elvis … That ain’t happening.”
Filmmaker Gotham Chopra — who has also directed docuseries about his father, spiritualist Deepak Chopra, and star quarterback Tom Brady — digs deeply into the band’s history, aided by boatloads of pictures, video footage and early recordings provided by the group.
Former Bon Jovi guitarist Richie Sambora in Thank You, Goodnight
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Former Bon Jovi guitarist Richie Sambora in Thank You, Goodnight
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Chopra gets folks from the group’s tight inner circle to speak up, including former manager Doc McGhee and guitarist Richie Sambora, who quit the band in 2013. (“Are we telling the truth, or are we going to lie, what are we going to do?” Sambora cracks to his offscreen interviewer. “Let’s figure it out.”)
But anyone expecting gossipy dish will walk away disappointed. Even major scandals in the band’s history are handled with care, including the firing of founding bassist Alec John Such in 1994 (and the admission that his replacement, Hugh McDonald, already had been secretly playing bass parts on their albums for years), drummer Tico Torres’ stint in addiction treatment and Sambora’s decision to quit midway through a tour in 2013, with no notice to bandmates he had performed alongside for 30 years.
Sambora’s explanation: When issues with substance use and family problems led him to miss recording sessions, Bon Jovi got producer John Shanks to play more guitar on their 2013 record What About Now. And Sambora was hurt.
“[Bon Jovi] had the whole thing kinda planned out,” Sambora says, “which basically was telling me, um, ‘I can do it without you.’”
Building a band on rock anthems
Jon Bon Jovi with guitarist Phil X.
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Jon Bon Jovi with guitarist Phil X.
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The docuseries shows how young New Jersey native John Bongiovi turned a job as a gofer at legendary recording studio The Power Station – owned by a cousin — into a recording of his first hit in the early 1980s, Runaway. His song eventually caught the ear of another little-known artist from New Jersey called Bruce Springsteen.
“The first demo I got of Jon’s was a good song,” says Springsteen, a longtime friend of Bon Jovi. “I mean, Jon’s great talent is these big, powerful pop rock choruses that just demand to be sung by, you know, 20,000 people in an arena.”
Thank You, Goodnight shows the band really took off by honing those rock anthems with songwriter Desmond Child, while simultaneously developing videos that showcased their status as a fun, rollicking live band. Hits like You Give Love a Bad Name, Livin’ on a Prayer and Wanted: Dead or Alive made them MTV darlings and rock superstars.
Through it all, the singer and bandleader is shown as the group’s visionary and spark plug, open about how strategically he pushed the band to write hit songs and positioned them for commercial success.
“It wasn’t as though I woke up one morning and was the best singer in the school, or on the block, or in my house,” he tells the camera, laughing. “I just had a desire and a work ethic that was always the driving force.”
I saw that dynamic up close in the mid-1990s when I worked as a music critic in New Jersey, spending time with Jon Bon Jovi and the band. Back then, his mother ran the group’s fan club and was always trying to convince the local rock critic to write about her superstar son – I was fascinated by how the band shrugged off criticisms of being uncool and survived changing musical trends, led by a frontman who worked hard to stay grounded.
Bon Jovi was always gracious and willing to talk; he even introduced me to then-New Jersey Gov. Christine Todd Whitman at one of his legendary Christmas charity concerts. (And in a crazy coincidence, the band’s backup singer Everett Bradley is an old friend from college.)
I think the docuseries captures Bon Jovi’s skill at leading the group through challenges musical and otherwise — from metal’s slow fade off the pop charts to the rise of grunge rock — something the singer rarely gets credit for achieving.
Still, much of Thank You, Goodnight feels like an extended celebration of the band and its charismatic frontman, leavened by his earnest effort to regain control of his voice. If you’re not a Bon Jovi fan, four episodes of this story may feel like a bit much (I’d recommend at least watching the first and last episodes.)
More than anything, the docuseries feels like an extended argument for something Bon Jovi has struggled to achieve, even amid million selling records and top-grossing concert tours – respect as a legendary rock band.
The audio and digital versions of this story were edited by Jennifer Vanasco.
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