Jon Bon Jovi has been playing for thirty years with his own band, and had to slowly but surely work his way up from playing small clubs to playing sold-out theatres around the world, all while remaining generally down to earth and humble. Justin Bieber was plucked from Youtube when he was a tween, has released only three LPs, and is now acting like someone who actually worked to earn his career. So of course, friggin’ Bon Jovi has taken it upon himself to step in and remind Bieber that he’s only been doing this for five minutes and, if he doesn’t check his attitude soon, could very easily find himself back to playing Youtube covers. Page Six reports…
“Every generation has guys that do that, none of that is new,” Bon Jovi told the London Evening Standard. “They run the risk of disrespecting their audience members who have worked hard to pay for their ticket, to give you the permission to take two or three hours of their lives — or in that kid’s case, 80 minutes of their lives,” the frontman said. “Do it once, you can be forgiven. Do it enough times and shame on you. They won’t have you back,” Bon Jovi continued. “Then it just becomes a cliché. It’s really not cool — you’re an a–hole. Go to [bleepin’] work!” Bieber was scheduled to take the stage at London’s O2 Arena at 8:30 p.m. but finally appeared around 10:20 p.m. He later issued a lengthy apology on his Twitter account, blaming “some technical issues.”
While I may not always see eye-to-eye with Beliebers, I do at least believe that if they’re willing to pay hundreds to see Justin perform live, they deserve an actual show that starts on time. Seriously, if tomorrow, Justin decided to behave like a professional adult and stop pulling the crap he’s getting away with, I’d never write another cross word about him ever again. Seriously, there’s a reason we never go after artists like Bon Jovi or Adele: As long as you don’t act like an asshole, there’s nothing anyone can say about you.