NEW YORK, March 12. /TASS/. Rock legend Jon Bon Jovi hopes that the songs of his band Bon Jovi will move people at the coming concert in Moscow on May 31, he said in an interview with a TASS correspondent ahead of the show.

The band will be returning to Moscow for the first time in 30 years. Bon Jovi’s management insisted on holding the show at the very stadium where the musicians performed in 1989 as part of the Moscow World Music Festival.

In an interview with TASS, Jon Bon Jovi said that his band will definitely perform such hits as Keep the Faith, Always, Have A Nice Day, Livin" On A Prayer at the show in Moscow. Now, however, he still does not know what the exact set of the concert will be.

"It is three months away. [I have] a rough idea of what the set will be," he said adding that the band is going to rehearse only several times before the show.

"Maybe six times between now and June. That’s all. I can’t get these guys in the same room! So I get them two days a month - in March, April and May," the singer said.

Memories of Moscow in 1989

Recalling the two days at the Moscow World Music Festival in August 1989, Bon Jovi noted that on the first night of the event, the German band Scorpions was better received by the Soviet audience than his band.

"The Scorpions were far better than we, they were received much better in my eyes than we were," Jon Bon Jovi said.

Thinking that his band’s songs were not as well-known in Russia like hits by the Scorpions, the American rocker had to find his own key to tune into the local audience. On the second night, he borrowed a military uniform from a Soviet soldier, put it on before the concert and started his performance moving to the stage right through the crowd at the stadium field, touching people, and communicating with them.

"I said to the band: 'Don’t’ worry about it, I’ll get to the stage. Just start playing', and it was unrehearsed, and this is what happened, I went up on the stage and [there was] a big roar from the crowd. We won the second night!" Bon Jovi recalls that memorable moment.

When asked how he is going to communicate with the Russian audience now, the singer vowed, "Nothing is going to be scripted" for any "cheap applause."

"Everything will be real and from the heart," he assured.

New album in progress

The band is now also working on their new album. The first recording session took place in a studio in Nashville, Tennessee, on March 9. Talking to TASS, Bon Jovi said that he has 23 new songs.

"It is just a collection of songs but I am very happy with what I have. So now, the question is putting them up and seeing what they are. Right now, they are on my phone. I sing them in the phone. That’s it, it’s just bad recordings on my phone," he said adding that "as soon as the band start playing" them it will become clear what songs have a chance to end up on the album. He noted that the new record "won’t be done" by June yet.

Induction into Rock n Roll Hall of Fame

In April 2018, the renowned musical group was inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

"They made us wait for and that is fine….I appreciate it more now than may be I would if it had come on the first year of eligibility," Jon Bon Jovi told TASS. An artist or a band can be nominated to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Hall for the first time 25 years after the release of the first commercial album.

Bon Jovi then and now

Founded in 1983 in New Jersey, the band was named for its vocalist Jon Bon Jovi.

In 1986, the rockers earned widespread success and global recognition with their third album "Slippery When Wet," which sold over 20 million copies.

The band’s original lineup that also performed at the Moscow Music Peace Festival in 1989 included Jon Bon Jovi on vocals, Richie Sambora on guitar, Alec John Such on bass, David Bryan on keyboard, Tico Torres on drums.

The current lineup is made up of only three original band members - Jon Bon Jovi, Tico Torres and David Bryan. Bassist Hugh McDonald has been with the band since the mid-90s, first as a session musician and in 2016, he became an official band member. Guitarist Phil X (or Phil Theophilos Xenidis) replaced Richie Sambora in 2013. The concert lineup also includes second guitarist John Shanks, percussionist and backing vocalist Everett Bradley.

"We’ve become a new, rejuvenated Bon Jovi. A refreshed line up that kills every night. We sound better than ever and we’re enjoying every minute," the agency quoted Jon Bon Jovi’s statement.

Bon Jovi’s discography includes 13 studio albums. The latest one - "This House Is Not For Sale" - was released in 2016. In 2018, the renowned musical group was inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.