Still sour about his failed bid to buy the Buffalo Bills, Jon Bon Jovi says he’s never coming back to Buffalo.
In a new interview with GQ magazine, the 58-year-old rock star says he’s still frustrated by President Donald Trump’s efforts to turn the city against him in 2014 when the Bon Jovi singer tried to buy the NFL team. Trump was also interested in buying the Bills and reportedly hired Republican operative Michael Caputo to push rumors that Bon Jovi would move the team to Toronto, sparking calls to boycott his music at bars and radio stations throughout Western New York.
Bon Jovi repeatedly denied the rumors, saying he wanted to build a new stadium in Buffalo and build a winning team. In 2018, he told Howard Stern that he would’ve moved to Buffalo and music would’ve become “more of a hobby.”
Six years later, Terry and Kim Pegula are the owners of the Bills and Bon Jovi says he’ll never return to Buffalo.
“I won’t ever go back to the city of Buffalo,” he told GQ. “You will never see my face in Buffalo ever. I have knocked it off the map.”
This isn’t the first time he’s suggested he’s holding a grudge. In a recent interview on Barstool Sports Pizza Review with Dave Portnoy, he jabbed the city after Portnoy said the price range for the Bills' stadium naming rights are “way less” than $20-25 million.
“Oh sure, because it’s Buffalo,” Bon Jovi said, followed by a long laugh.
Bon Jovi has not performed in Buffalo since 2013. The band, known for hits like “Livin' On a Prayer,” “Wanted Dead or Alive” and “You Give Love a Bad Name,” has left WNY off its touring schedule since then.