360 Degrees of Bon Jovi

Since the early 80’s Bon Jovi has been sharing with the world their passionate hard rock tunes and love for clean, fresh melodies.

And as the legend continues, a look into Bon Jovi’s roots gives fans and onlookers an insightful understanding of where the band started and how its members grew into the popular stars that they are today.

John Bongiovi, Jr.
In Perth Amboy, New Jersey on March 2nd 1962, Jon Bon Jovi was born John Bongiovi Jr. to parents Carol Sharkey and John Bongiovi Sr. who were both marines. They raised him in Sayreville, New Jersey and his love for music became apparent early when he first began playing instruments at around 13 years old. He favored strings and piano but specifically, John is experienced with the acoustic guitar, rhythm guitar and harmonica as well.

John began his first band, Raze, at 13 while attending St. Joseph High School, a Catholic school for boys. He later transferred to Sayreville War Memorial High school because of poor grades, early testament to the mild but rebellious attitude of Bon Jovi.

At 16 John met David Bryan and together they formed a cover band called Atlantic City Expressway. Around this time Bongiovi also played in the band John Bongiovi and the Wild Ones, who appeared at clubs and often opened for local bands.

In 1982 John Bongiovi, now an adult, left his part time retail job at a shoe store to work as a janitor at Power Station Studios in Manhattan, where his cousin was co-owner. While at Power Station John was able to make several demos, produced by his uncle, and send them out, though nothing much came of his hard work.

In 83, however, John stumbled across an opportunity to put his song “Runaway” on a compilation released by WAPP 103.5 out of Lake Success New York. “Runaway” was made possible by guitarists Dave Sabo and Tim Pierce. Frankie La Rocka was on drums for the song and Roy Brittan was keyboardist while Hugh MacDonald played bass.

Though John was reluctant about permitting the station to use the song, he allowed it and the song gained major recognition and bounced from one radio station to another. The group was underway. They signed with a popular label, who insisted they become Bon Jovi and their legend began.

With John Bongiovi in charge and on lead vocals, the band released their self titled debut in 1984 which went gold and began the long, famous journey of the Bon Jovi band.

The official band members of Bon Jovï:

• Jon Bon Jovi, Lead Singer
• Richie Sambora, Guitarist
• David Bryan, Keyboardist
• Alec John Such, Bassist
• Tico Torres, Drummer

In between touring in 1989, John himself enjoyed a brief hiatus with his new wife, Dorothea Hurley, who was once his high school sweetheart. They married on April 29, 1989 in Las Vegas at the Graceland Wedding Chapel. John and Dorothea have had four children together. Stephanie Rose Bongiovi, who was born on May 31, 1993, Jesse James Louis Bongiovi, born February 19, 1995, Jacob Hurley Bongiovi, who was born May 7, 2002 and Romeo Jon Bongiovi, the youngest, who was born on March 29th in 2004.

Bon Jovi’s Success
Bon Jovi, the band, released their self titled debut in 1984 which went gold. “Runaway” was officially Bon Jovi’s first Top 40 Hit. The hit, however, was bitter-sweet when John’s previously mentioned cousin from Power Station sued John and the band because he felt that he was responsible for the band’s distinctive sound, which was a big part of their success. The suit was later settled out of court in 1986 and never really had much of an impact on the rest of the band’s career.

From the rest of 84 into 85, the band released a couple of moderately successful albums including 7800 Fahrenheit. In 1986, however, they released Slippery When Wet which to date has sold more than 26 million copies.

In 1987 John assisted in producing Cher’s “comeback” album at the request of David Geffen. The album was titled Cher and John co-wrote her hit single “We All Slep Alone”, which he also performed back up vocals for. John enjoyed the experience so much that he later helped produce Cher’s best-selling album Heart of Stone.

In 1988 Bon Jovi released New Jersey, which sold 28 million in the U.S. alone and had 8 top-ten hit songs including 4 number one songs.
With plenty of songs, many of which were co-written by Desmond Child, Bon Jovi went on tour from 1988 to 1990 and visited dozens upon dozens of countries and countless cities. During their tour, in 1989 the band appeared and performed on the MTV Music Awards as well. Their entrancing performance there inspired the later successful Unplugged live performance show, an ongoing MTV show which Kurt Cobain later performed on.

After Bon Jovi’s long tour, the band took a break from the pop scene and both John and Richie released successful solo albums. This was also a time for the band members to have personal time, time which many of them reported to have spent with their families.

Back together in 1992, Bon Jovi released Keep The Faith, which marked turning points for the band. The melody was smoother, more calm and the lyrics now had deeper meaning, noting social and religious problems in the United States at the time. The Keep The Faith singles “Bed of Roses”, “Keep the Faith” and “In These Arms” made the Top 40 on the charts in the U.S.

1994 marked the release of Cross Road, a compilation of Bon Jovi’s best hits with 2 new, additional songs. One of the new songs, “Always”, became one of Bon Jovi’s most successful songs ever, making the album a hit.

The 1995 album released by Bon Jovi was These Days, the band’s sixth studio album. The single noted as a chart topper is “This Ain’t a Love Song”. The album sold over 11 million copies all around the world but was the last thing Bon Jovi did before their much longer break which didn’t end until 2000. This period of time was meant for more personal growth between the band members and more time spent raising families.

The band returned yet again in 2000 with the album called Crush. Though the album itself was only moderately successful, the album harbored the bands most successful song of their entire career to date, “It’s My Life.”

In 2002 the band released Bounce but the album was not much of a success. This was a turning point for Bon Jovi and many of its members began to branch out in other areas of their careers, including writing and performing for other artists.

Jon Bon Jovi as an Actor and Soloist

Over his long, successful career, John himself has become quite an actor. He has appeared in many television shows, played major roles in several hit movies and poked around a bit in low budget films as well.

John has played in…

• Moonlight and Valentino
• Destination Anywhere
• Homegrown
• The Leading Man
• Little City
• No Looking Back
• Row Your Boat
• U 571
• Young Guns II
• Vampires Los Muertos
• Cry Wolf
• National Lampoon’s Pucked
• Pay It Forward
• Ally McBeal, television
• Sex and the City, television
• The West Wing, television
• Las Vegas, television
• The Sims Superstar, television

John’s Solo Albums/Productions:

• Blaze of Glory, 1990
• Destination Anywhere, 1997

Bon Jovi Today
To date, Bon Jovi has sold over 120 million copies of their albums world wide and despite the calmness that seems to have pushed their career into moderation, the band continues to create success.

On June 19th, 2007, Bon Jovi released Lost Highway which has proven moderate success and opened the world’s door to Bon Jovi once again. Since then the band has gone back on tour, appearing mainly in Australia through 2007 and throughout Portugal this year.

More modernly, Bon Jovi is becoming known for their hits in Country Music, the genre that the band seems to have comfortably settled into in their maturity. In fact, 2006 marked the winning of the band’s Grammy for Best Country Collaboration on the song “Who Says You Can’t Go Home.”

You can learn more about Bon Jovi’s current tour in Portugal and when they plan to return to the United States on their official website at www6.islandrecords.com.

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