Bon Jovi Celebrate Love in ‘Beautiful Drug’ Performance on ‘Ellen’

Bon Jovi were the latest musical guests on Ellen this week, performing the song “Beautiful Drug” from their new album 2020.

On a makeshift stage surrounded by carpeting and draped curtains, the band played a socially distanced rendition of the song, which celebrates the power of love through the darkest times. And like several of the songs on 2020, “Beautiful Drug” finds Jon Bon Jovi getting topical about the current American crisis: “Tear off your mask, no need to hide/There’s a prescription that no doctor can prescribe,” he sings. “Can’t walk on water, down on your knees/You enter numbers, step right up, the stuff is guaranteed.”

Last month, Bon Jovi previewed 2020 with the single “Do What You Can,” with an accompanying music video featuring Jon Bon Jovi walking around a deserted New York City during Covid-19 lockdown. Jon Bon Jovi later dueted with Sugarland singer Jennifer Nettles on the song.

“As I finished the mix and did the video [for the album version], I said, ‘Boy, this song would have such crossover potential.’ Jennifer was my first choice, and she said yes,” Jon Bon Jovi told Rolling Stone in an interview. The pair previously scored a Number One country hit in 2005 with “Who Says You Can’t Go Home.”