Jon Bon Jovi "wasn't emotionally ready" to meet the late Frank Sinatra.
The 62-year-old rocker hailed from New Jersey, the same state as the legendary 'My Way' crooner and he admitted he turned down "numerous chances" to meet the musical icon when Bon Jovi first found fame because the idea was so intimidating, which he regrets now.
He told The Guardian newspaper of snubbing Sinatra: “That is one of my few regrets in life.
“I had numerous chances but I wasn’t emotionally ready. I didn’t know enough about all the aspects of who he was and how so many of those aspects influenced things that I did in my life.”
Jon and his bandmates shot to fame with their 1986 album 'Slippery When Wet' and he admitted it was a confusing time.
He said: “It changed people around us more than it changed us. Suddenly people who we would usually ask for advice [like my parents] were now asking us for advice.”
And the 'Always' hitmaker regrets not "enjoying" the rock'n'roll lifestyle as much as the rest of the group.
He explained: "For me, when everything relies on me singing, I’m going to have to go to bed earlier than the others.
"I wish I had enjoyed the success more, but somebody has to be the quarterback of the team to keep the band together.”
Jon - who has children Stephanie, 30, Jesse, 29, Jake, 21, and 20-year-old Romeo with wife Dorothea Hurley - will always support his children but insisted they are not "trust-fund babies" and know they need to work for a living.
He said: “My kids observe my work ethic and that’s in their DNA now – they’re not trust-fund babies.
"You have to go to work. I will give them enough to make sure they have shoes on their feet but like Dorothea says: ‘Daddy has money, you don’t have anything.’”
