alone, establishingBonJovi assuperstars intheir home country. Propel Slippery When Wet to sales of nine million in the U.S. Give Love a Bad Name,” followed quickly by “Livin’ on a Prayer”and“WantedDead or Alive.”Those three Top Ten Hits helped Supportedīy several appealing, straightforward videos thatreceivedheavyrotation onMTV, the record took off on the strength of “You The trio composed 30 songs in totalĪnd auditioned them for local New Jersey andNewYorkteenagers,basing the album's running order on their opinions. 'Runaway.'Thefollowingyear,7800° Fahrenheit was released and went gold, all serving as a prelude to the band's 1986īreakthrough, Slippery WhenWet.PaulStanleyhad given Jon and Richie the phone number of professional songwriter DesmondĬhild, and together they wrote two ofthealbum'sbiggesthits in Richie's parents' basement. Résumé including a stint as a member of Message.īon Jovi released their eponymous debut album in 1984, generating a Top 40 hit with the original version of Before the group entered the studio, though, Bon Jovi replacedSabowithRichieSambora, a working guitarist with a long “Runaway” spurred a major-labelbidding warleading to a contract with Polygram/Mercury inġ983. Radio and lead to the formation of Bon Jovi theband,as Jonand Bryanwere supported by guitarist Dave Sabo, bassist Alec John Supported by members of the EStreetBand orAldo Nova.One of those demos, 'Runaway,' became a hit on local New Jersey Studio the PowerStationandJon spentmany hours there, working as a janitor and recording demos after hours, sometimes Jon’s cousin, Tony Bongiovi, owned the celebrated New York recording

JerseybandswithDavidBryan (born David Rashbaum). Sometimes singing country music without ever rejecting hardrock,amove thatillustrated how they never abandoned their rootsĪnd became second only to Bruce Springsteen in defining the sound andspiritofNew Jerseyrock & roll.īon Jovi took their name from lead singer Jon Bon Jovi (born Jon Bongiovi), who spent his adolescence playing in local They slowly peeled away the arenarock guitarsofthe ‘80s,occasionally scoring on the adult contemporary charts and They slowly peeled away the arenarock guitarsofthe ‘80s,occasionally scoring on the adult conte. As the times changed, so did the band’s sound. Withstanding changes instyleandsound tobecome one of the biggest American rock bands of their time, selling over 120 millionĪlbums worldwide, andsustainingtheirpopularity wellinto the new millennium. After ushering in the era of pop-metal with their 1986 blockbuster Slippery When Wet and its hit singles “You Give LoveĪBadName,”“WantedDead or Alive,” and “Living on a Prayer,” Bon Jovi wound up transcending the big-haired ‘80s,

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