Bon Jovi Biography
Few bands embodied the era of pop-metal like Bon Jovi. By
merging Def
Leppard's loud but tuneful metal with Bruce
Springsteen's working-class sensibilities, the New Jersey-based quintet
developed an ingratiatingly melodic and professional variation of hard rock --
one that appealed as much to teenagers as to housewives. Bon Jovi skillfully
employed professional songwriters to give their songs, especially their power
ballads, an appropriately commercial sheen, inaugurating a trend that dominated
mainstream hard rock and metal for the next decade. They also made simple
performance videos that emphasized lead singer Jon
Bon Jovi's photogenic good looks, and these clips helped propel 1986's Slippery
When Wet and 1988's New
Jersey into multi-platinum status around the world. Both records were
criticized for being more pop than metal, as well as being targeted toward
teenyboppers, yet the group managed to subtly change its image in the early
'90s, moving away from metal and concentrating on straightforward arena rock and
big ballads. The shift in style worked, and Bon Jovi were the only American
pop-metal band of the '80s to retain a sizable audience in the '90s.
Jon
Bongiovi spent most of his adolescence ditching school to play rock &
roll, usually in local bands with his friend David
Rashbaum. Bongiovi's
cousin Tony
owned the famous New York recording studio the Power Station, which was where Jon
hung out. He was hired as a janitor, and soon he was recording demos at the
Power Station with several famous musicians, including members of the E Street
Band and Aldo
Nova. One of these demos, "Runaway," became a hit on local New
Jersey radio, and Bongiovi
formed Bon Jovi to support the song, recruiting not only Rashbaum,
but also guitarist Dave
Sabo, bassist Alec
John Such, and drummer Tico
Torres. Soon, Bon Jovi was the subject of a major-label bidding war, and the
group -- or, according to some reports, just Bongiovi
-- signed to Polygram/Mercury in 1983. Upon signing, Jon
changed his last name to Bon Jovi in order to de-emphasize his ethnic
background, and Rashbaum
adopted his middle name Bryan as his last name. Before the group entered the
studio, Bon Jovi replaced Sabo
with Richie
Sambora.
Bon Jovi's eponymous debut album was released in 1984, and
"Runaway" became a Top 40 hit. Following its success, Tony
Bongiovi sued the band, claiming he developed their successful sound; the
group settled out of court. The following year, 7800
Fahrenheit was released and went gold. Despite the band's respectable
success, Bon Jovi weren't becoming the superstars they had hoped, and they
changed their approach for their next album, Slippery
When Wet. Hiring professional songwriter Desmond
Child as a collaborator, the group wrote 30 songs and auditioned them for
local New Jersey and New York teenagers, basing the album's running order on
their opinions. After ditching the original cover of a busty woman in a wet
T-shirt for the title traced in water on a garbage bag, Slippery
When Wet was released in 1986. Supported by several appealing,
straightforward videos that showcased the photogenic Jon,
the album eventually sold nine million copies in the U.S. alone, helping usher
in the era of pop-metal. Two songs, "You Give Love a Bad Name" and
"Livin' on a Prayer," reached number one, while "Wanted Dead or
Alive" reached the Top Ten, and Bon Jovi were established as superstars.
Bon Jovi replicated the Slippery
When Wet formula for 1988's New
Jersey, which shot to number one upon its release. New
Jersey was only slightly less successful than its predecessor, selling five
million copies and generating two number one singles, "Bad Medicine"
and "I'll Be There for You," as well as the Top Ten hits "Born to
Be My Baby," "Lay Your Hands on Me," and "Living in
Sin." In 1989, the band supported Cher,
who was then dating Sambora,
on her Heart of Stone album, which was recorded while the group was in the midst
of an 18-month international tour. Following the completion of the tour, the
band went on hiatus. During their time off, Jon
Bon Jovi wrote the soundtrack for Young Guns II, which was released in 1990
as the Blaze of Glory album. The record produced two hit singles in the number
one title track and the number 12 "Miracle," as well as earning Grammy
and Oscar nominations. The following year, Bon Jovi reunited to record their
fifth album, Keep the Faith, which was released in the fall of 1992. While the
album didn't match the blockbuster status of its predecessors, largely because
musical tastes had shifted in the four years between New
Jersey and Keep the Faith, it was nevertheless a big hit, and its more
straightforward, anthemic sound produced the hit single "Bed of
Roses." A hits collection, Cross
Road, followed in 1994, and in the fall of 1995, they released These
Days, which proved to be a bigger success in Europe than America. After
appearing in the 1996 film Moonlight and Valentino, Jon
Bon Jovi released his first official solo album in the summer of 1997. Three
years later, Bon Jovi regrouped and released Crush.
"It's My Life" and "Thank You for Loving Me" were a chart
hits and Bon Jovi's star power soared beyond their wildest dreams. Crush
eventually went double platinum in the U.S. and sold eight million copies
worldwide, but Bon Jovi stayed focus. Within a year they returned with an eighth
studio effort, Bounce,
which appeared in fall 2002. Tours across the globe as well as dates with the
Goo Goo Dolls fared well. In 2003 Bon Jovi re-recorded many of their most
well-known songs for the release This
Left Feels Right and followed it in 2004 with a DVD companion of the same
title. The ambitious 100,000,000 Bon Jovi Fans Can't Be Wrong, four-CD/one-DVD
box set of rarities, arrrived later that November, followed by Have a Nice Day
in Sepetember of 2005. Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide