Sometimes it's time, even for legends to hang it up.

Dude, it is crystal clear. He lip sync'd.

As a vocalist who can't sing anymore because my voice left me..I did the best thing i could for me and just stopped... best thing i ever did... unfortunately Jon doesn't have anyone around him thats truthful, or honest....

His back is to the crowd the whole time

with all due respect to Jon, as someone that has been going to concerts for 50 years I will never pay to see someone that I know beforehand will be lip-syncing. That does not work for me. I know some fans probably won't mind but not this guy. Especially with ticket prices being what they are.

No matter what band you’re in or who your singer is, if he or she is flat, or struggling pitch wise, every band member on stage can hear it and is quietly cringing each time. I feel for him and his band mates as they try to push though this period of their career.

Ritchie always sang as good as Jon and in the past Ritchie and the other band members would pick up the slack when Jon was not feeling well or had strained his voice from constant touring. Jon take a year off and call Ken Tamplin.

He never moves the microphone from his mouth and hides his mouth with his arms. Every time he turns his body he switches arms to hide the lip syncing.

I'll take option #3. Not spending my hard earned money on those ticket prices for this kind of a performance.

Magically he turns his back for the high note, hmm

Problem is - this is glam rock from the 80's - just like the heavy metal era they set the bar high in terms of physicality, youthful images, and challenging powerful vocal performances. It doesn't translate well with aging - but no one at the time ever thought about what this music was going to sound like live and what the stage presence would be like 30-40 years later. Wow ... not much to say ... this video tells it all ...

An extremely instructive piece of analysis. JBJ DOES use vocal backing, when he turned backwards with his back to the crowd he hits those vocals like he was singing in 1989. It is sad, but many frontmen do it now. Paul Stanley the fraud egomaniac is by far the worst, and I think he was one of THE most brilliant frontmen in rock, but he has endlessly denied what are now multiple factual evidence. Nikki Sixx has admitted Crue use vocals as does Mick Mars, Sixx just said fuck it you cannot fool punters in todays micro analysed industry. Def Leppard contrarily DO NOT use backing vocals, DL play live, 'Mutt' taught all members except Vivian when recording 'Pyromania/Hysteria' how to sing and play, an extremely hard thing to do. DL are one of the very few bands that if you pay $ you'll get 100% REAL hard rock. JBJ's voice is shot, his one of best mates for decades Joe Elliot's voice is raspier, but Joe still brings it.

He lip synced the last line before the solo in "Living on a Prayer", for quite a long time already (in the 2019 tour for sure), but I'm fine with that. Here it looks like it's entire song though, which is not that fine. Also it's weird that he switched back from in-ear monitors to on-stage ones. What I dislike the most though, is lack of opennes/transparency in what's happening. Entire internet complains about the voice condition, and there's no reaction on this from Jon's side, as if everything is ok. I'm pretty sure that if he switched from "being celebrity" mode to "being human" and said "I'm having voice problems, will still try to tour, not sure whether it's a right decision, let's see", people would be much more supportive.

Bono has the same issues. New Years Day and With or Without You are all dropped a near entire key now for U2 shows. These old 80s rock frontmen that have been touring for nearly 40 years now are finally getting old, and these songs of 80s rock are tough to sing, they're all in the D7- to A4 range and it's hard to do when your 60+years old.

Notably, that part at 4:10 was “sung” with his back to the audience.

Respect to them for still rocking. He sounds like a pensioner having a go on the karaoke at times. The timing is the worst, he's struggling to breathe and sings a lot of phrases late.

The prerecorded track was probably from 15 years ago when he could ACTUALLY sing. Sooner, or later the truth will eventually come out. Part of the reason he can’t sing, is because of the fact he NEVER took a break. Smoking didn’t help much either, but Father Time waits for NO ONE. Age catches up with everyone. Some know when to “Quit while there’re ahead”

Thank you for your wonderful way of analyzing Jon's singing performance. You are the best so far of doing this in a way for everyone to understand. I'm a huge fan of Jon and the original members of Bon Jovi and I always thought Jon would never compromise his fans with such crap performances and still have high price tickets. Something is wrong in his decisions and I'm disappointed in him. Never thought it would come to this.

We love u Jon. Take care of yourself and I'll be there for you.

Ian Gillan is almost 80 and still delivers at the Purple Shows. Saw them a few weeks ago in Hamburg, they played 95 Minutes ans Ian sounded absolutely fine.

If I sang like this at karaoke, y’all would rip the mic 🎤 outta my hands and tell me you’ve heard enough

I really appreciate your analysis with such respect and love rather than just straight up bashing his vocal performance like other channels did on recent tour. Your take was objective from an experienced musician who performed on stage. Thank you for this video!

Every time he sings he raises his arm to cover his mouth from the crowd and turns his back to the viewing eyes. There is no doubt he's lip syncing..

It's like he has become tone deaf. Maybe some other health issue going on I fear. Jon always had a great voice. This quick change has to be a worry.

Hugh McDonald and David Bryan are doing most of the vocal heavy lifting. Add in Phil X and Everett Bradley and you could probably remove JBJ entirely and not notice a huge difference vocally.

The 4th option is that singers beyond their prime stop touring. People remember you by your last performance not your best performance.

Its sad man, glad I got to see him and Richie before Richie left the band, this is not the Bonjovi I remember.

Only thing I can say, whatever has caused the sad vocal performances, tell the truth and stop the tour immediately before the fan base says, nope, not spending my money for that.

I saw Donna Summer live less than a year before she died from lung cancer. She sang live for almost 2 hours and it was not " enhanced " one bit. She started singing in church then musical theater in Europe and took care of her GIFT .

For everybody on here saying it’s no big deal Jon taking peoples’ money knowing he can’t sing anymore and is lip syncing, next time you buy something defective, they don’t fix your car, or you otherwise get ripped off just go ahead and shrug it off. At least you’ll know you’re not a hypocrite.

The key on this version of Livin On A Prayer has been lowered by a step and a half from original key….from G to E.

Yea he dosen't sound like that anymore, not that this is good. Tracks. I hate to see this in rock, and its happening alot. Support the bands that really play live. Put a stop to this milli vanilli shit.

It's obvious when he's singing, his chin goes down and his shoulders come up as he struggles, and fails, to hit those notes. Then when he's lip syncing, there's no struggle, he just sings.

It would be interesting to see if identically performed vocals appear at different shows.

In Australia we have a Rock Singer called Jimmy Barnes, he turned 66 in April 2022.We all joke about him screaming and screeching and yelling for the last 50 tears of his very successful career.The truth is that Jimmy has one of the best and greatest singing voices in the known Universe.His largest selling album is a covers album of Soul Classics.Jimmy has come very close to death on a couple of occasions from excessive, hard living.Luckily, he is still with us.His voice is in excellent condition today because he made some major lifestyle adjustments.He cut out the drinking and smoking and drugs ( boring ?)He sounds great!!He is a living Legend.We love and adore the scoundrel.'I have honey and hot water': Jimmy Barnes reveals ...and says therapy has made him a better singer after struggling with drug abuse and alcoholism. He is the legendary Australian rocker who has suffered a life scarred by drug addiction and alcoholism.27 May 2019 ""I had been told I would need to keep my distance from drinkers for a little while. That's what they told me at AA as well. If the people you hang around with drink or take drugs, change the people you hang around with or you will relapse so quickly you won't even see it coming" For those who deny the existence of miracles, how do you account for the fact that Jimmy Barnes is still with us? Still creating. Still forcing promoters to switch to bigger venues. Still showing singers a third of his age what work ethic is all about. If there was anyone who fitted the live fast, die young, leave a pretty corpse rock-n-roll cliché, it was the Working Class Man.

Interesting analysis. There's a lot of options other than plain lypsincing. If you check out Paul Mccartney's current tour he sounds better than the last years, which I found kind of hard to believe. I think for him they use a combination of live-autotune and various vocal effects (at some point I thought they doubled it with his younger voice). But difference is that Paul still gives it all in terms of air output, and Jon doesn't

Busted... He wasn't even good faking it. He knew & turned his back to his fans. Didn't think I could like him any less. This just put him in the negative. Also, his body language is all over the place. He either needs to get off drugs or needs to take them. Only Jon knows what's really going on. Don't think he'd allow others to know with his enormous ego. Thanks for sharing!

His vocals are shot, and his performance on stage reminded me of an Old Man staggering around not good time to retire.

Old age catches up on all of us. Ozzy has sounded rough for years, but I will still buy his tickets till the end

Why haven’t you mentioned the fact that John’s arm is used to obviously hide his mouth and mic totally from the audience in the Prayer clip?

@Metallex, great review mate.. Agreed, first and foremost JBJ needs a time-out to get healthy. If that equates to him being able to tour again, great, if not then like you said, JBJ has nothing left to prove… his footprint on rock&roll is timeless!! And more importantly JBJ should not destroy his brilliant legacy by touring with his vocals sounding so bad, nor lip-syncing!!!! What has me scratching my head is JBJ has practically had the duration of the pandemic to get his voice sounding better…. the band has done a few online performances here and there, but overall JBJ has not punished his voice (touring) from 2020 to date…. IMO this implies there is a medical condition at-play.. based his word pronunciation when singing, i say hearing problems.. His onstage presence has become VERY VERY placid… IMO to preserve his energy and limit vocal strain. I hope someone like Ken Tamplin can help JBJ restore his vocals to the point where a die-hard fan like me (since 1986) is willing to pay top-dollar to see them live.. Sambora back in the line-up replacing Jon Shanks wouldn’t hurt either!! Anyways, keep up the good work, you got my ‘sub’ 👍

Shenanigans afoot. Why is John singing at the rear amp line?

I’ve been searching for a vid of this, I’m surprised they haven’t removed yours!! All of them are gone due to copyright

Bon Jovi have been using backing track in the live shows since at least 1989, the only problem today is that for a good 10 years, Jon can no longer come close to those high notes, so the track is mixed higher in the mix than it use to be

After seeing this, I’ll never go back to one of his shows.

I saw Bon Jovi here in Sydney, Australia back in 1987 (The Slippery When Wet tour), and they were absolute RUBBISH (the following day one of Sydney’s major newspapers reported that concert goers complained of Bon Jovi’s poor sound quality). And to add further insult to injury, Bon Jovi were completely embarrassed by their support (Australian pub rock band, The Choirboys), The Choirboys were brilliant live.

It's a lyp sync. Clear as a day. I'm just an online fan. Never been to a show. But watched a lot of them and i can guess. First line missed. Jon moves too much and overall perfrorms too free and easy. Not to mention that he is moving differently. Not as 'trademark'-ish. That first verse with changing hands, so mic and mouth could remain covered - obvious. :x Also, probably, he didn't knew if there's gonna be a "yeah" after the first chorus.. I paused that performance couple of times while watching it. Just to drop the shame i felt for Jon. Because i'd never be able to go out on stage, in front of people who love you in all possible ways, while doing what you love to do best.. and to fool them.. Where is that Jon of 2013 Sofia when he came out and apologised for troubles singing? .. :( Overall I wasn't pissed about it (even if i was there i think). But i definitely got saddened after watching it. Mostly from a fact that our heroes are not immortal, and everything must have an end. And it's just heading towards it. :'-(

Dude he'll NEVER get his singing voice back its completely shot, 40 years of touring and hitting high notes as taken its toll..End of, Most rock singers have a life span with there vocals.

Yeah, he lip-synced a few tracks in Savannah. He stood at the microphone stand and had his hands cupped around the mic and his mouth making it look like he was huffing out of a brown paper bag. He did that the entire song when he faked it. Heads up, it seems Jon is getting all the comments wiped from videos if they are critical of his vocals.

He's done it for a few tours now

Also strange that he doesn’t take the mic away from his mouth.

Your musical knowledge is ABSOLUTELY 💯

Use to work for Bon Jovi in the early years, can't compromise the live show it's way to much money so he always hits the high notes especially from the sound board LOL He's older now his best days are way behind him.

Elton’s voice has aged a lot since 2014 or so, but this year he still sounds great during a lot of ballads like Border Song and Candle In The Wind. It’s only fast stuff like Saturday Nights Alright For Fighting that EJ sounds bad, but he still wails away on the piano. Bon Jovi is embarrassing himself here. Hang it up.

I am no expert but when I was recording a song in a studio one time it appeared the engineer could punch me in anywhere in the song. Isn't that how it is done here? When John is struggling they can just put in a track anywhere he is having a problem?

His backs to audience when hits high notes

As a huge Bon Jovi fan I have to say that anyone that knows Jon knows that he never holds his microphone like he did in this video. I also mentioned on facebook before that while I'm a huge fan of his and always wanted to go to one of his shows I personally think its too late. I wish the best for him but if he doesn't get any better then I wouldn't spend money to go see him sound like he's suffering

He should have done the whole concert lip synching, it was him and it was his music! Most people just want to see the band and have the experience.

Lots of comments about Jon is doing this for his fans. I’m certainly no one to confirm or deny. However, I believe Jon is also doing this for himself. No, not for the money, he’s got gobs. In very early interviews, he says he always wanted to be lead singer of a rock band. If you saw some of the interviews after quarantines were lifted and performers started booking shows and tours, they all said something similar. They missed the live audiences. The cheering, clapping, singing along, applause, instant feedback, the energy/electricity, the adoration. They thrive on all of those things. Great for the ego, especially after living like monks. The fans who don’t care the performances are not so great, good on them. Those that are financially strapped, but held off on bill paying to buy tickets to what may be their favorite band’s last tour, might feel great disappointment. Hopefully, whatever is going on with Jon’s health is addressed, so he continues to live a long life 🥂

How many steps is this de-tuned?

Singers have a tough job, even on their best days. I salute all of you who sing!

He turns his back on the crowd when he is tracking. This guy has sang a million shows for real so he gets a pass.

I've always been a massive fan since I was about 7 years old and I feel privileged to have seen them 5 times between '95 and ‘05 when they were at the peak of their powers however Jon's voice had dramatically changed in the last decade prior to this and became far more nasel. Having seen a number of videos in last few months highlighting some really terrible performances it's clear that something is very wrong. It's actually painful to witness. I always vowed that I would never go and see Bon Jovi again after Richie left but if I were to go I'd far rather he lip synched at this point. Jon will be more aware than anyone that he isn’t delivering but I am surprised that he's not publicly addressed it!

Turn up your volume on your video. I had to crank up my audio in order to hear this video (and compress the audio so that your vocal outbursts aren't twice as loud as the talking.) About Bon Jovi, what do you guys expect? Jon was singing an adolecent style of music (rock) in which people regularly scream, high energy vocals. Singing that style of music, is commonly rough on singer's vocal aparatus. (This ain't Tony Bennett) This is especially true for singers who have not been trained. You want to listen to an adolecent music, with a singer, singing in an adolecent style, this is what you get, sometimes: a singer with a voice that has been damaged. Don't blame Bon Jovi. You're the consumer of this style of music. All in all this video was good. The analysis was good, and it was interesting (especially to those of us who sing, write and perform.) Good job. (PS: I would suspect that a major component in Bon Jovi's problem is not being able to hear his own voice, while performing.)

I saw them in Raleigh a few months ago and was not impressed. It felt more like an adult contemporary concert than a rock concert. In fact, we couldn't even hear the vocals on Living on a Prayer because the entire arena was singing so loud.

I feel it’s a combination of things. Jon’s vocal decline was noticeable through the 2013 Because We Can tour - I think Jon over did it on this tour, probably compensating for Richie’s absence, which I think also had a massive mental toll on Jon. When they came back in 2017 with THINFS and subsequently toured, Jon was a shadow of himself vocally, with the occasional moment of greatness - I think a lot of it is psychological, maybe combined with factors others have mentioned (smoking, years of singing at the peak of his range). Jon lost confidence, God Bless This Mess gives a good summary of Jon’s feelings and I think this has manifested in his vocals. He’s said in a couple of interviews that he needed ‘putting back together, like Humpty Dumpty after Richie left’. The people Jon lists in his thank yous from the Rock N Roll HOF speech also backs this, he mentions two therapists and a vocal coach (not by their profession, just by name and you can Google them to see that they’re “therapists and vocal coaches to the stars”) I understand from rumors and a few pictures that Jon had vocal surgery at some point last year, he hasn’t sung in over 12 months. Time will tell what his vocal future holds.

Funny fact. It is said (rumoured ?) since the "These days"-tour 1995/96, background vocals for this song were lip synced, because in reailty only David Bryan could pull the background vocals off more or less night after night

If Jon bon Jovi had the lip sync in 22 there was a damn good reason that man has been forming all these years and entertaining the world if something is going on with the man we need to appreciate all that he's done and given to us over the years and if he lip syncs who really cares it's his own music and he's on stage if it's for a purpose for his health be respectful the man has been singing for decades and sometimes you don't have to sing he can just stand there for some of us he's a giving and kind man I hope his vocals are okay I know he was said to have had covid not sure if that's a fact or not I've been listening to him pretty much all my life he's 2 years younger than I am and he started as a young kid so I started right there with him

You see Jon doing the cues, its time Jon. Richie can hit the notes better. Don't get me wrong, 1 of my all time favorite singers/bands. Eventually its time. 40 plus years of hitting those notes, brother move on to helping people like you are but more. Your influence will generate more. Thank you.

If he did, he did. He had been having voice issues throughout the tour. It’s time to take a break - no albums, no tours for three to five years. Voice should be really rested

So what is actually happened here 10:50 - we try to compare sound taken from different videos and sources. I dunno know weather JBJ lip-syncing or not (probably he does), but sometimes bands sounds really different depending on where you sit. The only way to catch lip-syncing is to compare soundtracks from several shows and check if they match. Just my 5 cents)

Looks like Phil X will be going back to hawking guitars online. Phil X is defiantly real and kicks ass on guitar.

The Best singer at the 9/11/1989 bon jovi concert was SEBASTIAN BACH! Jon was out of tune the whole concert but I gave him a pass because of the amount of shows he did. The other time I seen him unfortunately he was the same. The other members of the band were the backbone of the band. They covered for him.

One more album with all the original 5 members and a final farewell world tour!!! Call it a career!

3rd option. "Take a break"!! Then if your voice comes back tour again, if not call it quits.

He needs Ritchie. Ritchie is the real talent in Bon Jovi. Now the whole world can see the truth.

@ Mettallex maybe you should start an online movement to motivate JbJ to get healed and come back as a whole. You know he could not sing even in his shower when Richie left ??? 🤔 He never really got over it.

Obviously miming.Not looking at the fans,and hiding mouth.

he keeps flapping the arm that is between him and the audience to hide his mouth and seems to be facing the band for the big prerecorded moments

Jon is so talented & he should take time off & get better. Ppl would be happier if he did. Think of your health Jon. It's more imp

I'm amazed. If he's going to lip-synch, why just parts of songs? Because by doing that, he's kind of making it more obvious than if he did it the whole time. But more importantly than that, why did he not just cancel the whole tour, and say look, it's disappointing for all of us, but I'd rather you kept your money and your disappointment and I kept my voice. He could have blamed it on COVID. x

He's cheating the paying fans with his lip syncing, there should be a law against it. It's deception.

Many singers who are knocking on a bit need "a bit of help". See Roger Waters. But so what? You're there for the show, for the occasion. The tech is there to be used.

Half the audience doesn’t even notice lost in nostalgia he never learned how to sing properly he’s living on a prayer

Jon is giving singing a bad name.

When he lip syncs, even his vocal tracks sound like shit. I’d love to see more reactions from the crowd. I bet there’s a lot of this face 🥴

Plus Tico is not playing near as hard as usual and is playing very stiff like he's very uncomfortable disturbed is what I see and can't wait to get off the stage.

Hey….you’re just being honest and there’s nothing wrong with that at all my friend because anyone watching this can see you have mad respect for Jon B just like the rest of us. I care because as a musician I understand singers have their on and off nights but just like you said “c’mon Jon you have nothing left to prove” This was a great analogy that many of us JBJ fans agree with. Ty

NOBODY holds the mic in their face like that - all the time. He's hiding his face/mouth from the crowd... Using his right arm as a shield to hid his face/mouth.

Did he learn that trick from Paul Stanley of kiss

Like Don Dokken too. Many years of smoking, hard living, and generally poor self-care. AND, so many of these '80's guys sang way out of their range without proper training and care for their voices. Jon used to be a 2-pack-a-day smoker. Do that for 30 years and tell me it doesn't make a difference.

I have been to numerous BJ concerts. This was odd, even on the first night. I found it disappointing, as a life long fan.

I'm glad I saw Bon Jovi a few times in their heyday because I wouldn't pay to watch what I'm seeing now.

He’s finished! His voice is completely gone but fans still love his music so he will play as long as fans still want to listen to him on tour.

The band then and now is awesome and bon Jovi whether he sounds good or bad we don't care we love this man not only for his songs but for the man he is what he has become. He gives of himself for the less fortunate and provide for does in need. He loves and interact with his fans. You don't judge a man by his age or what he can't do anymore that does not define him what define him is the joy he gave and continue to give millions of fans from his songs, his good deeds and his very presence. Lip sync or not his fans don't care just to be able to see ,hear or meet a legend like him is enough. So critic's stop beating up on this man's character as a singer. You can't say you love this band yet you are criticizing him. And we love Richie and would love to see them back together but it's okay that they have separate things going on. So leave them in peace. His voice then or now will always be a heavenly sound and I am glad I can still hear it. God bless bon Jovi his band and his fans and his family.

I want all these lip synch “singers” to have their Milli Vanilli moment- where the track malfunctions. You’re charging FULL PRICE for a reduced product.

He needs to pull the pin. It’s not fair to charge the prices they do for tickets and not hear the old jbj. Sucks he lost his voice but it’s been like 12 years now he’s had issues

Who is the guy sitting in judgement , would just like to understand

I suspect Jon's got some serious hearing damage and can't hear himself sing. Or he's blind drunk, though I think the former is more likely.

As many times as I’ve seen Jon, he rarely takes the mic off the stand.