Jon Bon Jovi talks Hurricane Sandy prior to NBC benefit concert

Jon Bon Jovi will be making an appearance at the NBC benefit "Hurricane Sandy: Coming Together" later today to help raise money for the victims of Hurricane Sandy, but he first made a stop by "Today" to discuss some of the ways the storm hit home -- literally.

Apparently the rocker was in London when NBC called him and asked about participating in the benefit concert. He hopped on a plane and headed to New York, but made a pit stop in New Jersey to check out the areas he grew up in.

"It was hard to see your hometown devastated like this," he says. "My grammar school turned into a shelter, people's homes gone and them saying to me, 'We are homeless, we never intended to be homeless.' These are hard-working, blue-collar people."

He continues, "As Americans, we all come together in these times of need and all feel we're all New Yorkers in these times of need. ... People come together in this time."

In addition to Bon Jovi, it was announced yesterday that Bruce Springsteen, Christina Aguilera, Billy Joel, Sting and Jimmy Fallon were all announced as performers. Today, Tina Fey, Mary J. Blige, Kevin Bacon, James Gandolfini, Al Roker and Jon Stewart were all added to that list.

The NBC telethon will air tonight (Nov. 2) on NBC, Bravo, CNBC, G4, MSNBC, E!, Style, Syfy and USA, as well as on NBC.com. It will run from 8 p.m. ET to 9 p.m. ET, and will be tape-delayed on the west coast.