Rock icon Jon Bon Jovi and his band Bon Jovi made their highly awaited return to the stage on Tuesday, July 7, but it didn’t come without a minor mishap.
During the finale of the rocker’s setlist, at Madison Square Garden in New York, he nearly took a tumble after what appeared to be him stubbing his toe on a staircase leading up to the stage platform, where the rest of his band were playing.
The moment captured in a fan video and posted to Instagram shows Bon Jovi dressed casually in a pair of skinny jeans and a long-sleeved shirt and belting out the words to the encore of his setlist, his 1988 smash, “Bad Medicine.” The track peaked at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and belongs on the glam metal band’s New Jersey album.
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At first, he appears to walk down the stairs to get closer to the audience during the chorus of the song. Energizing the crowd with his enthusiasm, Bon Jovi waves one hand back and forth and incorporates a few jumps and shimmies into his performance before heading back toward the stairs.
That’s when the singer, 64, loses his footing, nearly taking a nose-dive. Luckily, though, he proved his prowess and caught himself just in time to shake-off the near-mishap and continued to make up a few off-the-cuff dance moves before finishing off the beloved tune.
“Just a little stumble then straight back into it,” the caption reads over the video. “Like a true rock star.”
“The consummate pro!👏👏👏” One person commented below the post, while another follower wrote, “Awesome to see him back where he belongs❤️.”
“My heart dropped when I saw that Tuesday. 😮” A third person captioned, sharing their concern.
Bon Jovi’s Madison Square Garden concert as part of the band’s Forever Tour marked their first large-scale performance since 2022 and the first of nine sold-out shows. The band’s return to the stage also serves as Bon Jovi’s comeback performance since undergoing vocal cord surgery.
According to Ultimate Classic Rock, Bon Jovi’s 21-song setlist included several fan-favorites, including “Who Says You Can’t Go Home,” “You Give Love a Bad Name,” “It’s My Life,” and “Livin’ on a Prayer,” as well as newer songs like 2020‘s “Beautiful Drug.”
Related: Legendary Musician From Iconic Rock Band Steps Away From Tour, Reveals ‘Pretty Serious Mental Health Crash’
