Jon Bon Jovi teams up with *NSYNC star to open Nashville honky-tonk
*NSYNC’s Chris Kirkpatrick knew he wanted to be involved with Jon Bon Jovi’s new rooftop bar and restaurant – also known as JBJ's Nashville – when he saw a photo of him "cleaning a kitchen" in one of his Soul Kitchen nonprofit restaurants.
"It's freaking Bon Jovi," Kirkpatrick, 52, told FOX Business of investing in Jon Bon Jovi’s Live Music Rooftop Bar & Restaurant, which is now open.
Kirkpatrick, who has lived in Nashville, Tennessee, for the last eight years, explained that when he was younger, Bon Jovi was not hardcore enough for his musical tastes, but he recently decided he needed to be involved in "whatever" the "Livin’ on a Prayer" singer does after seeing him washing dishes.
"I was born in the early ‘70s. I grew up in the ‘80s. All those hair bands, that rock and roll, that was like my thing," the former boy bander told FOX Business in a wide-ranging interview that also covered his "Name Drop" podcast with former MTV star Brian McFayden.
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"And Bon Jovi was – the crazy thing about it was, I loved the Bon Jovi songs, and I was always like, ‘Man, but Bon Jovi, he just smiles too much,’ Like, I like my rock and roll like Motley Crue, Poison, Metallica. I like the bands that scowl and sing just crazy lyrics in your face and talk about all these chicks they've got back in the back and all that stuff."
He then saw a picture Bon Jovi’s wife posted of him doing dishes at Soul Kitchen, a pay-what-you-can restaurant the rocker first opened in 2009.
"There really was a thing where, Jon Bon Jovi or someone posted a picture of Jon Bon Jovi cleaning a kitchen from one of his places that he has in New York that he dedicates for, you know, underprivileged and people that need food, like his food kitchen," Kirkpatrick explained. "And he was back there cleaning the pots, like, wasn't getting paid, but that's just the care that he put into it."
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Kirkpatrick said when he saw that photo, "I was like, whatever this man does, I need to get involved in it. And so I got involved in this bar that he's opening in downtown Nashville. And I'm really excited about it, because now I feel like I have a part in not just Bon Jovi's life, but Nashville's life."
Bon Jovi opened his first nonprofit Soul Kitchen restaurant in 2011 and now has four locations in New Jersey.
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"I’m there every day we’re open," the 61-year-old told USA Today in 2020 after the photo posted by his wife went viral. "I’m the dishwasher, that’s what we do, that’s what (wife) Dorothea does. We're happy and proud to be able to have the opportunity to give back. We’ve done it for so long."
Bon Jovi was also on hand for the opening of JBJ's Nashville earlier this month, greeting guests and even playing a short set with the band that included "You Give Love a Bad Name" and "Legendary," according to Billboard.
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"We’re just gonna play you a couple, and then we’ll get to drinking," the 62-year-old said before they went on.