In 2013, Bon Jovi performed one of his biggest hits, “Wanted Dead Or Alive” live in Stuttgart, Germany after spotting an 11-year-old boy in the audience holding up a banner which read, “Jon, do you dare to rock with me to ‘Wanted’ on stage?” The kid was pulled up on stage of the Cannstatter Wasen Festival for a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to sing with his favourite band, in a video that’s since amassed over 2.45 million views on YouTube.
The blonde kid, Marco, rocks up in a leather jacket, black band shirt, faded jeans, and an American flag bandana wrapped around his neck. Some banter unravels between Jon Bon Jovi (who was aged 51 at the time) and Marco, Jon asking the boy, “Do you know who I am?” Marco stayed awkwardly silent, leaving Bon Jovi to take the floor admitting, “I’m not Justin Bieber, y’know. I’m not even Justin Timberlake,” despite Jon out-selling the latter by about 32 million record sales.
Jon finally introduces his shy young fan as “Jon Bon Marco” before kicking off the iconic intro riff of his song of choice on a gloss black acoustic guitar. A hilarious moment ensues where Marco tries to grab the mic only for Jon to stave him off for a few bars each time. But when the kid is finally handed the mic by Jon, his voice turns out to be exceptional, especially when backed by the entirety of Bon Jovi’s enthusiastic crowd.
Straight from the get-go, Marco shows off his amazing vocal skills, cowboy vibrato, and pitch control as the audience screams the words back to him, giving the 11-year-old his very first taste of being a festival-headlining rock star.
Jon and the Bon Jovi band seem genuinely thrilled to invite Marco on stage and make the boy’s dreams come true. When Marco nearly sings right over the guitar solo, Jon peacefully leads him over to watch Phil X take on his legendary solo, who plays it wearing the biggest smile Music Man readers are likely to see today!
As one viewer pointed out, “Jon is not only a legendary rock n’ roll star, but the most humble and nicest soul ever” for giving Marco a memory that will last for the rest of his life, as well as the Bon Jovi band, who can’t stop gleaming through the whole set, stunned by Marco’s skills. Another viewer wholesomely added, “Bon Jovi understands that it ain’t about selling out and playing the bare minimum, not interacting with your fans and the people who are the reason you get paid crazy amounts of cash. It proves that the guy is a class act with a heart of gold.”
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