Jon Bon Jovi: Cover of 'socially conscious' album '2020' was inspired by John F. Kennedy

The picture of Jon Bon Jovi, alone with sunglasses and a pensive look, fist on his chin, was inspired by a 1962 image of JFK, Bon Jovi said Monday on the band's website.

“The inspiration for the cover of ‘Bon Jovi 2020’ is a photo of John F. Kennedy, taken by Michael Ochs in August of 1962,” the front man said. “It pictures the president reflecting both literally and figuratively upon a crowd in California. I saw this photo and wondered what the president was thinking. Since there are so many socially conscious songs on the record and my admiration of the photo of JFK, I asked photographer Clay McBride to capture it as the cover of ‘Bon Jovi 2020.’”

McBride is a New York City-based photographer whose credits include portraits of LeBron James, Allen Iverson, Norah Jones and Kid Rock.
 

“2020,” Bon Jovi’s follow up to 2016's “This House Is Not for Sale,” will have more “socially conscious” themes, the singer has said, including gun control, veterans’ issues, politics, the meaning of family and more. 

“It encompasses life, love, and loss,” he said in a statement.  

"2020," out May 15, is the first Bon Jovi album to feature Jon Bon Jovi without band members since their eponymous 1984 debut.

Singles “Unbroken” and “Limitless” have already been released. “Unbroken” will be re-recorded with members of a British military veterans’ choir and Prince Harry on Feb. 28 at the famed Abbey Road Studios in London. Proceeds from the single will support the Invictus Games, an international sporting event for sick and injured veterans that was founded by the prince.

The band has announced an 18-date U.S. Bon Jovi 2020 Tour starting June 10 in Tacoma, Washington, and will end with shows July 27 and 28 at Madison Square Garden.

The album is available for pre-order. Visit bonjovi.com for more information.

The presidency of Kennedy is often referred to as a modern “Camelot.”

The track list: 

1. Beautiful Drug

2. Unbroken

3. Limitless

4. Luv Can

5. Brothers In Arms

6. Story Of Love

7. Lower The Flag

8. Let It Rain

9. Shine

10. Blood In The Water

Bon Jovi announces new album, 'Bon Jovi 2020,' and summer tour with Bryan Adams