At a pre-Grammy gala on Friday, musicians such as Paul McCartney danced to a lively mix of New Jersey pride, while Bruce Springsteen performed a fiery duet with Jon Bon Jovi in celebration of the latter artist.
With their energetic performances of Bruce Springsteen’s “The Promised Land” and Jon Bon Jovi’s “Who Says You Can’t Go Home,” the two rock legends had the audience up dancing.
An annual pre-Grammy tradition, MusiCares is the charitable arm of the Recording Academy that raises money to assist musicians in need. Every year, it hosts a star-studded gala in Los Angeles.
Past honorees include Dolly Parton and Joni Mitchell as well as Springsteen and McCartney.
In accepting the award, Bon Jovi heralded his friend The Boss, including to acknowledge the death of Springsteen’s mother earlier this week.
“He wanted to be here tonight for me, and I’m forever grateful to you,” Bon Jovi, 61, told Springsteen.
The event, which was full of riffs on short shorts and huge hair—a look essential to Bon Jovi’s popularity in his heady hair band days—was hosted by comedian and actor Jim Gaffigan.
Gaffigan even wore a teased wig and denim cutoffs at one point, telling the crowd, “It’s not fair to Jon or me that most people regard us as pieces of asses. Many more dimensions exist.”
Sporting a sparkling blazer and cowboy hat, nineties rocker Melissa Etheridge harnessed her powerful vocals for a performance of the bluesy “Blaze of Glory” in honor of the artist she told journalists on the red carpet she has “loved for years.”
“Just seeing him and the band, you know for decades, just making music and keeping relevant, keeping singing the songs we love, and just, you know, being cool.”
