New Jersey native Jon Bon Jovi was recently interviewed by A.D. Amorosi of Philly.com about his band’s Thursday showcase at the Wells Fargo Center — a gig meant to celebrate radio station WMMR’s 50th anniversary. During their chat, a portion of which can be enjoyed below, Bon Jovi makes it crystal clear that neither he nor his band ever lost the hunger they started with.

“You never want to not be hungry,” he says. For Bon Jovi, having a Number 1 album of blunt, provocative rock at a time when the music press claims rock is dead isn’t so much a matter of vindication for him — “That sounds too angry,” he says, “no vindication whatsoever.” Rather, his goal is to “make an album that pleases us, and that marks a certain moment in our career. My hope is that every artist can say that. There is no ‘I told you so.’ There’s none of that. We write songs that makes us proud. If I had to do otherwise — a co-branded song with a pop artist or a hip-hop artist — to get on the radio … that’s not for me. That’s not the message I want to project on the art I want to create.”

Thinking back to those beginnings, Bon Jovi laughs while saying that new bands are no longer restricted by the radio or record store formats of yore (“The opportunity for anything from anywhere to be played is there”), while enthusing about the relationship between himself and the radio station that  aided in making “Runaway” a hit.

“WMMR is a throwback to when radio truly mattered,” says Bon Jovi. “For example, Pierre Robert still wants to engage and educate his audience, and share in the moment of new music, whether it’s a band from South Philly or a singer-songwriter from South Jersey. I can’t say enough about how supportive he and that station have been to us. You have to figure, there’s a good portion of the planet that believes I’m from Philly, probably because of all the Philly relationships that I was blessed — am still blessed — to have in my life. The Philly Soul Foundation is still located on Market Street — I was in town for a meeting not long ago — and though it is not official, our intention is to open our next Soul Kitchen in your town. Be it the band, the football team, or the foundation, we’re still very Philly.”

Read the complete interview by visiting The Inquirer.

Remaining dates on Bon Jovi's current North American tour are listed below.

May
2 - Allentown, PA - PPL Center
3 - Philadelphia, PA - Wells Fargo Center
5 - Uncasville, CT - Mohegan Sun Arena
7 - Ottawa, ON - Canadian Tire Centre
9 - New York, NY - Madison Square Garden
10 - New York, NY - Madison Square Garden
12 - Toronto, ON - Air Canada Centre
14 - Washington, DC - Capital One Arena
17 - Montreal, QC - Bell Centre
18 - Montreal, QC - Bell Centre