• Jon Bon Jovi, 63, said he would've quit performing if he couldn't recover his voice post-surgery. • "I have other things in my life. It's what I do. It's not who I am," he said. • The rock star had major surgery in 2022 to repair his damaged vocal cords.

Jon Bon Jovi, 63, says he would've stopped performing if he hadn't recovered from his vocal injury.

"I don't do it for the applause. I'm not that applause junkie. I do it for the joy and I do it for the art," Bon Jovi told Today in an interview on Thursday. "The rest of it is great because I'm good at it. But if you couldn't do it from a place of joy, what's the motivation?"

As much as he is passionate about music, it isn't his whole identity, he said: "I have other things in my life. It's what I do. It's not who I am."

The rock

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