Jon Bon Jovi and his wife Dorothea Hurley celebrated their 33rd wedding anniversary in 2022. The high-school sweethearts tied the knot on April 29th, 1989, while the band Bon Jovi was at the peak of its success.
The two met in high school while Hurley was dating one of Bon Jovi’s friends, but the two shared a history class. “It started with just trying to look over her shoulder at test answers, to making small talk,” Bon Jovi said about the beginning of their relationship. Eventually, they started dating after Bon Jovi’s friend left school to join the Navy.
The relationship wasn’t always smooth sailing. While Bon Jovi pursued his music career, the couple split four years into the relationship. However, eventually, “I went to her mom’s house…[and said], You’ve got to come with me. I wanna be back together,” Bon Jovi told VH1. “And she fell for it.”
Bon Jovi went on to release blockbuster albums, including 1986’s Slippery When Wet and 1988’s New Jersey. Despite the band’s overwhelming success, Bon Jovi felt something was still missing in his life. “I had the No. 1 album, the No. 1 single, and I opened up the window of the hotel, and there was us on the billboard out my window: Literally, right there, celebrating the No. 1 this and that,” he continued. “And I thought: ‘Wow, this is a high. What do I do to get higher?’”
Shortly after, during a one-day break on the New Jersey tour, the then 27-year-old Bon Jovi flew to Las Vegas with Hurley and secretly married her. This decision didn’t go over well with the people in his life who were concerned about what his female fanbase would think.
“We did it for us and didn’t give a damn,” Bon Jovi told VH1. “I got a lot of heat from it, between the band, my parents, Doc [McGhee, Bon Jovi’s manager]. Everybody was pissed off. It took me a couple of days before I realized that I don’t give a shit what anybody thinks.”
Despite the concerns, Bon Jovi’s music career and relationship with Hurley continued to flourish. The band released several more hits, and the couple welcomed four children into the world.
In an interview with TODAY, the couple explained how their marriage has withstood touring and the pressures of Hollywood. “Somehow, it works,” Dorthea said. “I think because we grow at the same rate. We grew equally and not in opposite directions.”
Bon Jovi credits his successful marriage to Dorthea. “She’s the glue,” he said. “I’m the crazy visionary with all kinds of things flying, and the seams are all splitting. She’s the one following me with the glue and the thread and needle, keeping it all together.”
