John Francis Bongiovi, Jr. (born March 2, 1962), better known as Jon Bon Jovi , is an American musician, songwriter and actor, best known as the lead singer and founder of Bon Jovi. As of August 2008, he has sold over 120 million albums worldwide with his band. He is also an owner of an Arena Football League team, the Philadelphia Soul.
Early life
Jon Bon Jovi was born John Francis Bongiovi, Jr. , in Perth Amboy, New Jersey, the son of two former Marines, hairdresser John Francis Bongiovi, Sr. and one-time Playboy bunny Carol Sharkey. He has two brothers, Anthony and Matthew. He is Italian-American; his father was born in Sciacca, near Agrigento in Sicily. Bon Jovi attended St. Joseph High School, in Metuchen, New Jersey during his freshman and sophomore years. He later transferred to Sayreville War Memorial High School in Parlin, New Jersey.
Career
1980s
When he was seventeen, Jon was working sweeping floors at his cousin Tony Bongiovi's recording studio, The Power Station. In 1980, when Meco was there recording Christmas in the Stars: The Star Wars Christmas Album , Tony recommended Jon for the song "R2-D2 We Wish You A Merry Christmas." This became his first professional recording (credited as John Bongiovi). He left in 1983 when he got a record deal.
Along with Hugh McDonald, who would replace Alec John Such as Bon Jovi's bass player in 1994, and David Sabo, Jon released a song, Runaway , one of a few songs John wrote during his bus travels from Sayreville to The Power Station. He went to several record companies, including Atlantic Records,and Mercury (PolyGram), but they all turned him down. He went (as a last resort) to a Disc Jockey at WAPP-FM, a Manhattan radio show, and asked for the DJ to listen to Runaway ; the DJ accepted. The DJ enjoyed Runaway and played it; he even put it onto the WAPP record. Runaway became a hit on the charts. Along the way, Mercury gave Jon a recording contract in 1983, and to promote Runaway , Jon called up Richie Sambora, David Bryan, Tico Torres and Alec John Such and formed a band. John later found a man called Doc McGhee, who later became their manager. After John claimed he wanted a group name, one of the group suggested "Bon Jovi". Although Doc McGhee showed distaste to this suggestion (claiming it sounded like a French ice cream), the name stuck, and the group emerged as Bon Jovi, along with John slightly changing the spelling of his name to suit the band, and emerging as Jon Bon Jovi.
With the help of their new manager Doc McGhee, the band's debut album, Bon Jovi , was released on January 21, 1984. The album went gold in the US (sales of over 500,000) and was also released in the UK. The group found themselves opening for ZZ Top at the Madison Square Garden (before their first album had been released), and for Scorpions and KISS in Europe. They also made an appearance on Dick Clark's American Bandstand .
In 1985, Bon Jovi's second album 7800°Fahrenheit was released, but the response was poor. The leading British metal magazine Kerrang! , who had been very positive about the debut record, called the album "a pale imitation of the Bon Jovi we have got to know and learned to love." Jon Bon Jovi himself later said it could have and should have been better. The band members, in interviews, have said they will not perform live any song off that album anymore.
The turning point came when they brought in songwriter Desmond Child for their third album, Slippery When Wet . With Child co-writing many of their hits on this and future albums the band shot to super-stardom around the world with songs such as "You Give Love a Bad Name", "Livin' On A Prayer", and "Wanted Dead or Alive". The band recorded the album in Vancouver, and frequented many of Vancouver's strip clubs during their time away from the studio. The name of the album is said to be an homage to those very strip clubs.
The album has sold in excess of 28 million copies worldwide since its release in late 1986.
During their 1986-1987 tour, Jon's attempt to give it his all during live shows (plus the tour's exhausting schedule) greatly strained his vocal cords. In the band's Behind The Music special, he notes that his vocal cords were given steriods to help him sing. With the help of a vocal coach, he was able to continue tour. Contrary to popular belief, Bon Jovi did not have voice damage during the New Jersey Syndicate Tour. As recordings from that tour show, his voice was in perfect condition throughout.
The next album from Bon Jovi was New Jersey released in 1988. The album was recorded very shortly after the tour for Slippery , because the band wanted to prove that they were not just a one hit wonder. The resulting album is a fan favorite and a mammoth commercial success, with hit songs such as "Bad Medicine", "Lay Your Hands on Me" and "I'll Be There for You", which are still nightly stalwarts in their live repertoire. New Jersey was a commercial smash and became the first hard rock album to spawn five Top Ten singles. "Bad Medicine" and "I'll Be There for You" both hit number one, and "Born to Be My Baby" (#3), "Lay Your Hands on Me (#7), and "Living in Sin" (#9) rounded out the list. "Blood on Blood" was also popular among fans. New Jersey was supported by video releases such as New Jersey: The Videos and Access All Areas , as well as a massive 18-month tour, originally billed The Jersey Syndicate Tour. In 1989, the band headlined the Moscow Music Peace Festival. Despite the band achieving massive success, New Jersey almost led to the end of the band as they went straight back out on the road so soon after the heavy touring for their previous album. This constant living on the road almost destroyed the strong bond between the band members. Sambora is noted on the albums as co-writer for many songs, yet he resented the lack of attention that was heaped on Jon alone. As mentioned in VH1's Behind the Music , the band members note that at the end of the tour, each band member went their separate way, even departing in separate jets after the tour ended in Guadalajara, Mexico in early 1990.
1990s
Between 1990 and 1992, the band members went their separate ways after the very rigorous two year New Jersey Tour, which exceeded 200 shows on 5 continents. This time off also helped them determine where Bon Jovi would fit within the rapidly changing music scene upon their return. Jon Bon Jovi recorded a solo album, a soundtrack to the movie "Young Guns II" (in which he also appeared for less than a second), more commonly known as Blaze of Glory . Released in 1990, the album featured high profile guests such as: Elton John, Aldo Nova, Little Richard, and Jeff Beck, among others. The album fared well commercially and received very positive reviews and quickly achieved double platinum status. The title track, "Blaze of Glory", hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and earned Jon an Academy Award nomination for Best Song, but he did not win the award. That same year, however, "Blaze of Glory" was awarded a Golden Globe.
In 1992, the band returned with the album Keep the Faith. The album was released in November 1992 to the most critical acclaim that the band had ever received. Produced by Bob Rock, the album signified an ending to their early Glam Metal roots in previous albums and introduced a more "rock n roll"-driven groove to the album. Much more complex, lyrically and musically, the album proved that Bon Jovi could still be a viable band in 1992, despite the decline of the late 80s pop metal genre into which the band had been lumped and despite the industry's and audience's growing affinity for Grunge. As Bon Jovi's sound morphed itself to work in the 90s music scene, their image changed, as well. Gone were the excessive rock 'n' roll trappings of spandex, hairspray and hair. Singles "Bed of Roses," which was a huge Top 10 hit, "Keep the Faith" and "In These Arms" all hit the Top 40 in the U.S. Other songs on the album were released as singles internationally, mainly "Dry County", "I Believe" and "I'll Sleep When I'm Dead". The album went double platinum in the U.S., and sold very well worldwide.
In 1994, Bon Jovi released a "greatest hits" album titled Cross Road , which also contained two new tracks: the hit singles "Always" and "Someday I'll Be Saturday Night".Always",spent thirty-two weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 and became one of Bon Jovi's all-time biggest hits.The song peaked at #4 on the US charts and at #1 in countries across Europe, Asia and in Australia. The single sold very well, going platinum in the U.S.
That same year, bassist Alec John Such left the band, the first and only lineup change since Bon Jovi began. Hugh McDonald, who was the bassist on "Runaway", unofficially replaced Such as bassist. To this day, there is still speculation about whether Alec was fired or left on his own accord. Jon has claimed that Such was making too many mistakes onstage as a result of intoxication while performing. Such denied many of these claims in an interview soon after his departure, but later admitted there was some truth to them. Jon has made it public that there has been contact between Such and other band members recently. He even rejoined the band on stage for one song ("Wanted Dead or Alive") during their "homecoming" show at Giants Stadium in 2001. While he has not been officially replaced, Hugh McDonald has handled studio and live bass duties since then, with rumors that he had also reco
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