It’s now or never…
There have been rumors swirling for quite awhile now that ’80s rocker Jon Bon Jovi would be the next artist to announce a bar opening up in downtown Nashville.
Back in 2022, it was reported that Bon Jovi had partnered with Big Plan Holdings, which purchased an empty lot at 405 Broadway in November of 2020, to open up his own bar amid the strip of “honky tonks” (I use that term loosely these days) on Broadway.
And now, it’s official.
Bon Jovi and Big Plan Hospitality announced JBJ’s Nashville, the tallest and second-largest bar on Broadway, would be opening in the spring of 2024.
The 37,00-square foot bar, which is being built in a formerly-vacant alley between Nudie’s Honky Tonk and Merchant’s Restaurant, will be unique in that the L-shaped bar will feature entrances on both Broadway and the adjacent 4th Avenue, and will also feature two 5th-story rooftop decks.
In announcing the bar, Bon Jovi expressed his excitement at establishing a presence in Nashville:
“We’re looking forward to having a place in Nashville that we call home. When Big Plan Holdings and the team of Josh and Tara Joseph asked us if we were interested, it wasn’t because we were just another rock band, it was because we are a band with deep roots in Nashville.
We have had wonderful times in Nashville recording several albums and working with some of the finest people in all the music business. I can’t wait to toast all of Broadway and get to know our neighbors!”
And Bon Jovi already has a presence in Nashville on a daily basis: Walk up and down Broadway and you’re pretty much guaranteed to hear their music coming out of many of the “honky tonks” that play more ’80s rock than they do country music. “Living On a Prayer” has become not just a frequently-played song, but the unofficial theme song for Broadway as it gets packed in with tourists looking to black out on their bachelorette party.
So, I guess it makes sense that Bon Jovi would have a bar there.
Of course the list of artists with their own bars and venues on Broadway continues to grow. From Alan Jackson to John Rich, Kid Rock, Miranda Lambert, Blake Shelton, Florida Georgia Line, Dierks Bentley, Luke Bryan and Jason Aldean, it seems like artists are rushing to get their name in front of a bar on Nashville’s most famous strip.
Garth Brooks and Hank Williams Jr. (whose bar is also owned by BPH) recently added their names to the list of artist-owned bars. And Eric Church, Luke Combs and Morgan Wallen are all opening their own bars in Nashville in 2024 as well.
It’s a crowded (and some would say oversaturated) market on Broadway with artist-themed bars, a market that’s become increasingly difficult to stand out in.
But Bon Jovi promises a bar “dedicated to a rock & roll revolution along with carrying forward the roots of country music from Nashville’s storied history.”
So I guess we’ll just have to see if the bar is able to set itself apart from the ever-growing list of artist bars in Nashville these days.
