When Bon Jovi members first formed the band they did not have a blueprint to follow – but over time it has become clear that there were a few key ingredients to their recipe for success: Write well crafted rock songs with a deliberate pop sheen, play your heart out in every show, be generous with your fans and always look good. Millions of albums sold, a bunch of Number One singles, and world tours later, this strategy has proved very successful indeed.
Jon Bongiovi was born in 1963, the year that The Beatles were starting to get noticed by the music industry in Liverpool. His parents encouraged him to pursue his passion for music, but it was not until he had moved to New Jersey at age 23 that he found the inspiration to start a band that would take him and his friends on a journey that had them travelling all over the world in their van.
The name Bon Jovi was taken from a combination of the names of two of the band’s early musical heroes – The Beatles and The Rolling Stones. It was then decided to add a hyphen to the end of the name to make it sound more exotic and give the band a sense of mystery.
It was a brave move that paid off and with the release of the album Slippery When Wet in 1986, the band rocketed up the charts like a meteorite. The success of the album and the accompanying video for You Give Love A Bad Name saw Bon Jovi re-established as one of the biggest bands in the world.
During the late eighties and into the nineties Bon Jovi were constantly on the road. This meant that when they did have a break from touring, they spent most of their time writing and recording. This resulted in a steady stream of new material and in turn produced an amazing collection of hit albums.
By 1995 the band was entering a phase of their career where they were beginning to feel at something of a crossroads. A decision was made to change their musical style slightly on the album These Days. Some of their hardened long standing fans did not initially take to this and as a consequence the band lost some support.
Throughout this period the band continued to grow and develop as artists and on April 15th 2018, Bon Jovi members past and present, were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The ceremony was an emotional event and a very fitting tribute to all the hard work that the Band has done over the years. Phil X, the current lead guitarist, has been with the Band since 2016 and they will be releasing their next studio album in 2020. Jon has also begun to do some film composing while Sambora continues to tour with his solo project.