TRIXTER's STEVE BROWN Believes He Can Help JON BON JOVI Get In Vocal Shape For 2026 Tour: 'I Don't Think The Right People Are Working With Him'

Jon Bon Jovi's vocals three months out from BON JOVI's return have been described as having "a long way to go" by a friend who has issued a public appeal for the superstar to accept his help.

Steve Brown tells Hot Metal he first offered the now-64-year-old his assistance at the 50th-birthday party of actress Gwyneth Paltrow, dragging him away from Steven Spielberg and Jerry Seinfeld to deliver the pep talk.

The TRIXTER guitarist/vocalist, who also fronts a BON JOVI tribute band called ALWAYS JOVI, recently reached out to his longtime friend again, concerned at the possibility of fans on both sides of the Atlantic being let down at a run of dates beginning in July, warning "you cannot go out there and be bad … I don't think the right people are working with him".

"The last time we hung out was in 2022, right after he had that really rough tour and he has his first bout of vocal surgery," Brown tells Hot Metal. "And I saw him at a gig, I played Gwyneth Paltrow's 50th-birthday party with the '80s band that I was in and Jon was there and I saw him after the show and I grabbed him and I said 'Jonny!' and he was, like, 'Steve!'. I grabbed him and I pulled him away from Jerry Seinfeld and Steven Spielberg … that's a whole another interview in itself. I pulled him away and I said, 'I love you, bro, and I want you to know I heard the tour and you've got some serious problems.' I said, 'I had surgery around 10 years ago, I've been through the wringer. I've become … I'm not a doctor but I know every trick.' He looked at me and he said, 'I really appreciate that, I'll reach out to you if I need ya.'"

Steve continued: "I haven't heard from him but after the last couple of months, over the last year, I've been reaching out to people in his camp, his brother, tour managers, everybody and trying to get to him. And finally I got his cell (phone) and his e-mail and I sent him an e-mail and I called him and texted him and I said, 'Hey, man, I'm here.' I told him I jammed with [BON JOVI keyboardist] Dave Bryan in December right before I launched ALWAYS JOVI. We played three songs together down in Nashville. I told Dave the same thing, man. Because Dave … we all want Jon to succeed but you cannot go out there and be bad. There's no hiding it anymore and we saw that last thing that came out, that Tony Robbins special [which was recorded in September 2025 and featured a BON JOVI performance], and I'm not going to slag on anybody but [he's] got a long way to go."

Brown added: "If this gets to him, know it's all with love. I told Dave Bryan that. I said, 'Dude, I fuckin' love Jon, I love you guys. I want you to succeed.'"

Speculating on what is causing Jon to still struggle with his vocal performance, Steve said: "I believe it's kind of like what happens to an athlete when you lose your technique. If you're a golfer … Tiger Woods had to relearn how to play golf again. I think that's where it's at with Jon right now.

"I hear they're [BON JOVI] rehearsing [for the upcoming 2026 tour], and, dude, no one wants to see him succeed as much as I do," Brown continued. "And I think we all do because we all know what he's been through and I don't want to see … even my enemies, dude. I don't want to see anyone go through that. And I especially don't want to see fans pay $500 for a ticket and walk out of there and be disappointed. It's like the boxer who's been in the ring too long. But I honestly believe — I think there is hope, and sadly, I don't think that the right people are working with him, and I hope I'm wrong. I swear to God. I hope we're both talking about this, but, Jon and everybody who's listening in that camp, I'm here, man."

Steve concluded: "No one wants to see Bon Jovi succeed as much as I do. You know, this goes back 40 years, 40-plus years. Jon was the first guy that got behind us. Let's see what happens. I hope I'm wrong and you're wrong and Jon goes out and blows everybody away."

Video excerpts from Hot Metal's interview with Brown can be seen below.

Last fall BON JOVI announced a series of 2026 concerts, including a nine-night stand at New York City's Madison Square Garden. The dates will kick off with the Madison Square Garden residency, taking place in July. After those shows, BON JOVI will head across the pond for concerts in Edinburgh, Scotland's Murrayfield Stadium on August 28; Dublin, Ireland's Croke Park on August 30; and London, U.K.'s Wembley Stadium on September 4, September 6 and September 9.

The BON JOVI band now features BON JOVI originals David Bryan and Tico Torres alongside Jon, plus longtime bassist Hugh McDonald, co-producer and co-songwriter John Shanks, multi-instrumentalist Everett Bradley and lead guitarist Phil X, who joined the band on a 2013 tour.

Brown's BON JOVI tribute band ALWAYS JOVI is scheduled to make its live debut on April 18 at BMI Event Center in Versailles, Ohio.

Earlier this month, Steve told Mark Strigl about ALWAYS JOVI: "It's a tribute like no other.

"I think a lot of people know, over my career, I've always done numerous things outside of TRIXTER. Sadly, being in a band like TRIXTER, I wish I made a couple hundred thousand dollars a year off of it, but I don't," he explained. "That's the reality. P.J. [Farley, TRIXTER bassist] and I, and a lot of musicians, we all have to do multiple things, and I've played in different tribute bands over the last 20 years to make ends meet.

"And so what had happened was, back [when I was doing] the DEF LEPPARD [fill-in guitarist] gig, Phil [Collen, DEF LEPPARD guitarist] and Joe [Elliott, DEF LEPPARD singer] would always make reference to how much I sounded like Jon [Bon Jovi, BON JOVI frontman] and even like a combination of Jon and Richie [Sambora, original BON JOVI guitarist], because they were such a huge influence on me. But I have this crazy ability to where my voice sounds just like Jon at his prime.

"So, last year my good friend Greg Smith from TOKYO MOTOR FIST and THE WIZARDS OF WINTER, he's in a great JOURNEY tribute band with Robby Hoffman, EXTREME's manager, called VOYAGE. And they were changing their singer, and I was sort of on the road with Greg, hearing all the ins and outs and listening to different singers. And it kind of got in my head, 'Cause the BON JOVI thing was always on my mind that I'm gonna do this. And I was, like, 'You know what, man? I gotta do this.' Especially when I started hearing some of the numbers about how much money some of these tribute bands are making. My other buds are in a great band called MAGICAL MYSTERY DOORS, and my friend Tommy Zamp's in GET THE LED OUT, which is the number one [LED] ZEPPELIN tribute band.

"So I put this band together," Steve continued. "And it's a unique lineup. We have [my bandmate from] THE WIZARDS OF WINTER, Fred [Gorhau] on guitar, Kevin Humphris on bass. Joey Cassata, who you know now is the new TWISTED SISTER drummer. He's on drums, and he's gonna be doing some of the shows. We have a guy, Frankie D'Esposito from HOLY MOTHER, is gonna be the fill-in drummer for Joey while he's out on the road. Chris McCoy, who played with TOKYO MOTOR FIST, on keyboards. And then the X factor of the band is our female singer, Devon Marie, who was in a bunch of things with me, my country live tribute. And people ask me, like, 'Why do you have a girl in the band?' Well, one of BON JOVI's biggest hits over the last 20 years was 'Who Says You Can't Go Home' [one version of which was a duet with Jennifer Nettles of the American duo SUGARLAND]. So, again, we're able to do songs and it adds a different element, of course, a different visual element."

Regarding what separates ALWAYS JOVI from the other BON JOVI tribute acts, Steve said: "I looked at all the BON JOVI bands around the world and around the country. Some of my friends are in SLIPPERY WHEN WET —great guys. They do more of the lookalike thing, if you will, the wigs — I don't know if there are wigs involved — but the costumes. That's not what my thing is. My thing is very much rooted in the GET THE LED OUT. There's a guy, Marc Martel, the ONE VISION OF QUEEN guy. He does a QUEEN show where the music is the star of the show. It's not about costumes. Yeah, we dress up in rock stuff. We put on a great show. I have a whole video wall and this incredible content that me and my partner Nick — he's in the band THAT ARENA ROCK SHOW — he's my partner and co-manager in this band, and he's been such an incredible help. But we've put together this incredible production."

As for his motivation in paying tribute to BON JOVI, Steve said: "Most importantly, for me, BON JOVI has always been one of my biggest influences and inspirations. So to do this at a level to where it's pitch perfect, album perfect, and we're incorporating some of the live show elements, man, 'cause, again, one of the most important shows I ever saw as a kid was BON JOVI, 1985 at the Meadowlands Arena [in New Jersey], when they opened up for RATT. And it was my first time seeing them. And when I saw them, and it was also the night they got their gold records, so, of course, Jersey pride. We were, like, 'Yeah,' the hometown boys getting their gold records.' And I remember seeing them and just going, 'This is the coolest band. This is the new VAN HALEN,' because they looked amazing. They sounded so cool. They were having fun. Wow. Smiling. Jon was arguably, at that point, the best-looking, coolest frontman that I had seen since David Lee Roth. But the X factor for me in that show was seeing Richie Sambora. And that was the night that I saw him as a guitarist-performer, but most importantly as a lead singer-guitar player who, he could sing better than Jon. And I think most people know that, most real fans and stuff. I mean, Richie's voice is ungodly. And he was so great. And that was the night I said, 'Man, I need to stop worrying about playing all these guitar solos and focus more on singing.' And that's what I did… Again, it's one of those things to where all I wanna do is honor the music and my friends."

Detailing his personal connection to BON JOVI, Steve said: "Jon Bon Jovi, I don't know if you know, he was the first guy back in 1986 to get behind TRIXTER. We gave him our first demo tape before 'Slippery When Wet' blew up. He called us and he was a mentor, especially for me, because I would send him songs as we were going on. And he would always call me up and say, 'No, you need to do this. You need to do that.' And Jon introduced us to the SKID ROW guys. Jon was a huge, huge help. And coincidentally, the night we found out our record went gold, we were on tour with the SCORPIONS in L.A., and the day we found out, man — I grabbed Jon; he was backstage with us. And I said, 'Dude, we just found out our record went gold.' And he goes, 'I always knew you guys were gonna do it.' And I said, 'Guess what? We're gonna get our gold records at the Meadowlands just like you.' And I said, 'You better be there for us, man.' He didn't make it.'"

Referencing the fact that BON JOVI is scheduled to return to the road in July for the band's first shows since Jon Bon Jovi's 2022 vocal cord surgery, Steve said: "We're all pulling for Jon. I gotta say I've reached out to him numerous times to try to help him with his voice, 'cause I don't know if you know, but I had vocal surgery about 15 years ago on my voice. And I'm kind of an expert at vocal sort of performing and keeping your voice together. And I've reached out to him. I texted him and e-mailed him and reached out to a bunch of people in his camp because I would love to be able to help him. And I jammed with Dave Bryan [BON JOVI keyboardist] in December, down in Nashville, and I told Dave the same thing. I said, 'Man, I love Jon. I love you guys.' No one wants to see Jon go out there and crush it like the old days more than me. I think we all do. 'Cause seeing what he's been through over the last 10 years or so with his voice, it's really, really rough. And I'm pulling for him. I'm hoping that these shows go well over the summer. And Jon, if you're listening, brother, you got the text and the e-mail. Call me back, man. I'm always here to help. I love you, man. And I want your voice to come back."