Bon Jovi
In a world of manufactured
pop bands put together by reality TV shows and music moguls hoping to make a
quick buck, few artists’ careers will last more than a couple of albums.
Longevity in the music industry is a rare thing these days and more often than
not it is achieved by rock bands, not pop stars.
One band still churning out hits are (formerly) long haired rockers from New Jersey, Bon Jovi. For the past twenty seven years they have been at the forefront of the stadium rock scene and have produced some of the most memorable rock anthems ever written, including ‘Livin’ on a Prayer’, which has become their signature tune, ‘Bad Medicine’, ‘You Give Love a Bad Name’ and ‘It’s my Life’.
Bon Jovi is made up of lead singer Jon Bon Jovi, guitarist Richie Sambora, drummer Tico Torres and keyboardist David Bryan, as well as current bassist Hugh McDonald who unofficially replaced Alec John Such in 1994. Bon Jovi were officially formed in 1983 when long-time friends Bon Jovi and Bryan decided to put a band together. They began touring locally in the New Jersey area and soon came to the attention of record executive Derek Shulman who signed them to Mercury Records. Following the lead another massively successful rock outfit, namely Van Halen, they decided to use Jon’s surname as their stage moniker.
Most of the eighties were spent touring prolifically in support of the four albums they released in that decade. They had huge success with two albums in particular ‘Slippery when Wet’ and ‘New Jersey,’ the former yielding what is probably their best known hit to date ‘Livin’ on a Prayer’. The song hit the top of the Billboard Charts, where it stayed for four weeks, and was one of the first tracks co-written with, a then virtually unknown Desmond Child. This songwriting partnership was to prove very successful and has lasted longer than some of the guys’ marriages!
Between 1988 and 1990 Bon Jovi toured relentlessly and were on the road with the New Jersey tour for a gruelling 18 months. This left the band worn out, and when they played their final date in Mexico they simply packed up and went home with no fixed plans for the foreseeable future. During the intervening year, with both Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora releasing solo albums, it looked like time was up for the band. However, they patched up their differences late in 1991 and went on to release ‘Keep the Faith’, ‘Crossroads’ and ‘These Days’ from 1992-1996. Another hiatus followed – this time deliberate – before the band teamed up again for ‘Crush’ in 2000. ‘Bounce’, ‘This Left Feels Right’, ‘Have a Nice Day’, ‘Lost Highway’ and ‘The Circle’ were all released in the following decade, one of the most productive in the band’s long history. A ‘Greatest Hits’ album is planned for 2010, which given their illustrious history, will probably be a 5 disc set!
