About Bon Jovi

When Slippery When Wet was released in 1986, tens of thousands of American boys had to compete with Jon Bon Jovi for their girlfriends’ attentions. Of course, the Jersey boys had already been rockin’ for a while. Guitarist Richie Sambora had already been performing with Joe Cocker , auditioned for KISS, and been signed to Led Zeppelin’s Swan Song label. Two years before Slippery was released the albums Bon Jovi (which spawned “Runaway”, their first Top 40 hit) and 7800° Fahrenheit (the temperature at which rock liquefies) were released, but it wasn’t until Slippery and the follow up New Jersey that they became mega rockstars. Slippery spent 94 weeks on the charts, 8 weeks at number 1. New Jersey was the first rock album to release 5 top 10 singles. Between them, the 2 albums yielded 4 #1 hits (“You Give Love a Bad Name”, “Livin’ On a Prayer”, “Bad Medicine”, and “I’ll Be There for You”) and sold over 19 million copies in the US alone. Both albums were produced by super producer Bob Rock, who would produce albums for Bryan Adams, Veruca Salt, Aerosmith, and many more. Though rumors of a breakup have hounded the band for years, especially after Jon’s solo success with the Young Guns II Soundtrack, other than the departure of the bassist in ’94, Bon Jovi has kept the same lineup for over 25 years, a rare feat for any group. In 2005, the group released their 9th album, Have a Nice Day. Driven by singles like “Have a Nice Day” and “Who Says You Can’t Go Home”, which was the first song by a rock group to go number 1 on the country charts (The country version of the song featured Jennifer Nettles of Sugarland), the album sold over 200,000 copies in its first week. While many of their contemporaries such as Poison and Def Leppard have become less successful since their ‘80s heyday, Bon Jovi keeps going strong. In 2008, Bon Jovi was the highest grossing tour act of the year. The country rock album Lost Highway featured the singles “Lost Highway” and “You Want to Make a Memory.”