Reporter: Jon, what's been the secret sauce for these last 40 years?

Love what you do.

Don't pander to anyone.

And something I'm trying to get back to, which is finding joy.

♪♪ ♪♪ He sort of embodies rock and roll, you know?

He sort of took the roots of rock and roll and stayed relevant.

So I think that's really great.

♪ A candle in the wind ♪ Bon Jovi songs have just -- They're just there.

They've always been there.

And I think we can almost be at risk of taking these things for granted.

Every reason to celebrate him.

We've got Long Island and Jersey in the house.

Jon, he's that guy.

I can only pray for longevity like he has, you feel me?

And also keep it clean, keep it cool, and rock out, you know?

You can't go to a Bon Jovi concert and not feel completely great at the end of it.

Just kind of radiates off of him.

You know, it's genuine, man.

But I think just being genuine and true to yourself and true to your art and your craft.

He was good friends with my dad, so my father always had wonderful things to say about him, and he's just a phenomenal songwriter of a generation.

♪ I ain't gonna do what I don't want to ♪ When I first met Jon, he was working at my studio, at The Power Station.

I used to watch he and Richie Sambora write songs together.

What you wind up giving back to the people is a gift that pays you back 1,000 times over.

Even though Jon is being celebrated tonight, the greatest thing that Jon is doing tonight is showing up for MusiCares.

Torres: He's got a great heart, and to be able to use your stardom to be able to help other people, that's what we're all here for, too.

You know, let's face it, when we play, we just want to make people happy.

Bon Jovi: 40 years, about to release our 18th album.

To be able to see all these great artists who are going to be performing our songs tonight.

It's beyond words.

♪ Take my hand, we'll make it, I swear ♪ ♪ Oh-oh, livin' on a prayer ♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪