Jon Bon Jovi recalls eloping with his wife Dorothea in Las Vegas ahead of their 35th wedding anniversary: ‘We got it right the first time’

Jon Bon Jovi and his wife Dorothea Hurley will impressively celebrate their 35th wedding anniversary next Monday.

The 62-year-old Bon Jovi frontman recalled the moment he decided to elope with the 61-year-old JBJ Soul Foundation founder during a break on his band’s New Jersey Syndicate Tour in 1989.

‘We were in Los Angeles, California. The band was on the road on the New Jersey tour, and if you opened up the curtains of my hotel room, there’s a big billboard of the five of us [Bon Jovi band members] staring into my window,’ Jon said in his People cover story on Wednesday.

‘My girlfriend, who was my fiancée at the time, we had a night off and I said, “I need a higher high. I got an idea let’s go to Vegas now.” And she said, “Now?” I said, “Now.” And we went and didn’t tell anybody. The taxi cab driver was our witness. And in about a month from now, it’ll be my 35th anniversary so we got it right, you know, got it right the first time.’

The couple – who originally met in 1980 while attending Sayreville War Memorial High School – proceeded to tie the knot at the Graceland Wedding Chapel, but not everyone was happy about it.

‘It shocked a lot of people — shocked about everybody: the band, management, agents, lawyers, parents, you name it,’ Bon Jovi (born John Bongiovi) recalled.

‘It’s a shame because it should have been a beautiful moment, but after we did it, people were trying to take it away, until I stood up and went, “Wait a minute, why are we living our life for anyone else?” And 35 years later, we’re still married.’

The Legendary rocker – whose 1993 hit Bed of Roses is allegedly about his infidelities on the road – admitted to The Independent on Sunday: ‘It’s about never lying about having been a saint, but not being a fool enough to f*** up the home life, either.’

Jon and Dorothea’s 21-year-old son Jacob ‘Jake’ Bongiovi is currently pursuing an acting career just like his famous fiancée Millie Bobby Brown.

The Bon Jovis are also proud parents of 30-year-old daughter Stephanie Bongiovi, 29-year-old son Jesse Bongiovi, and 20-year-old son Romeo Bongiovi.

Since 2006, the inseparable married couple have run the JBJ Soul Foundation, which includes three JBJ Soul Kitchens for the hungry and 1,000 units of affordable and supportive housing for the needy in 12 states.

Fans can hear more about Jon’s legendary love story in Gotham Chopra’s four-part, all-access docuseries Thank You, Goodnight: The Bon Jovi Story, which premieres this Friday on Hulu.

The rock-doc will include Bon Jovi’s surgery to mend an atrophied vocal cord in 2022, which almost forced him into retirement.

‘The thing that gave me so much pleasure had been taken away,’ the Oscar-nominated songwriter told People.

‘Joy is something you got to work at, right? Happiness is what you make it. It’s not about seizing the day anymore. I think it’s about embracing the day. I don’t have to punch it in the face anymore, now I just give it a hug, and that’s a good place to be.’

On June 7, the Grammy-winning New Jersey rock band will release their 12-track 16th studio album Forever, which is about ‘love and loyalty and finding things that make you want to get up out of bed in the morning.’