Bon Jovi
Bon Jovi is a renowned American rock band formed in 1983, known for its significant impact on the music scene during the 1980s and beyond. Led by singer Jon Bon Jovi, the group includes members David Bryan, Richie Sambora, Alec John Such, and Tico Torres. The band's debut album, "Bon Jovi," featured the hit "Runaway," which helped establish their presence in the music industry. They achieved massive success with their 1986 album "Slippery When Wet," which included iconic tracks like "You Give Love a Bad Name" and "Livin' on a Prayer." This album not only topped the Billboard 200 chart for eight weeks but also sold over 12 million copies globally. Their follow-up album, "New Jersey," continued their trend of combining heavy metal with melodic pop, resulting in several more hits and solidifying their status as one of the premier rock bands of the era. Bon Jovi's music has been instrumental in introducing heavy metal to a broader audience, including women, and they remain a celebrated name in rock music history.
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Subject Terms
Bon Jovi
Identification American pop-metal band
Bon Jovi combined the rhythms and guitar distortion of hard rock, the power and rebellion of heavy metal, and the melodic interest and romantic lyrics of pop to become one of America’s leading mainstream rock bands by the end of the decade.
Key Figures
Jon Bon Jovi (1962- ), Bon Jovi’s lead singerDavid Bryan (1962- ), keyboardistRichie Sambora (1959- ), lead guitaristAlec John Such (1956- ), bass guitaristTico Torres (1953- ), drummerDesmond Child (1953- ), songwriter
During the late 1970’s, while a high school student in Sayerville, New Jersey, singer John Bongiovi performed with several bands in the region, the best of which was Atlantic City Expressway, a cover band that opened for numerous artists, notably Bruce Springsteen. Later, while working as a janitor at New York’s Power Station recording studio, Bongiovi made demo tapes, one of which, “Runaway,” became a hit on local radio and was chosen for a compilation recording of new artists. In 1983, Bongiovi (who had taken the professional name Jon Bon Jovi) signed with Mercury Records and formed the heavy metal band Bon Jovi with his boyhood friend David Bryan (keyboards), as well as Richie Sambora (lead guitar), Alec John Such (bass guitar), and Tico Torres (drums).
The band’s first album, Bon Jovi (1984), went gold in the United States (meaning it sold more than 500,000 units), and “Runaway” became a top-forty hit. The following year, 7800° Fahrenheit (named for the temperature of an erupting volcano) appeared and became Bon Jovi’s first Top 40 album.
Although Bon Jovi’s reputation was based on the group’s heavy metal sound and image, the band decided to change direction in 1986. Collaborating with songwriter Desmond Child, Bon Jovi abandoned the tough intensity of heavy metal in favor of softer, more melodic ballads, and the group began to sport jeans instead of leather. “You Give Love a Bad Name” and “Livin’ on a Prayer” became hits in the United States when they appeared on the group’s next album Slippery When Wet (1986), and “Livin’ on a Prayer” won the award for Best Stage Performance at the fourth annual MTV Video Music Awards the following year. The album itself held the number-one spot on the Billboard 200 chart for eight weeks and sold more than 12 million copies worldwide.
Bon Jovi’s next album, New Jersey (1988), continued the style of “pop-metal” and included two more number 1 hits, “Bad Medicine” and “Born to Be My Baby,” as well as the ballad “Blood on Blood,” a memoir of Jon Bon Jovi’s adolescence. Both Slippery When Wet and New Jersey were huge sellers, establishing Bon Jovi as one of the premier rock bands of the day. It won the American Music Award for Favorite Pop/Rock Band in 1988. The group continued to tour extensively and the following year (1989) appeared at the Moscow Music Peace Festival in Lenin Stadium.
Impact
Bon Jovi achieved enormous success during the 1980’s by mixing heavy metal with the softer, melodic interest of pop. The group introduced metal to a wider audience, including women, making it one of the most popular musical subgenres of the decade.
Bibliography
Raymond, John. “Bon Jovi at Memorial Coliseum, Portland, Oregon, May 8, 1989.” In The Show I’ll Never Forget: Fifty Writers Relive Their Most Memorable Concertgoing Experience, edited by Sean Manning. Cambridge, Mass.: Da Capo Press, 2007.
Walser, Robert. Running with the Devil: Power, Gender and Madness in Heavy Metal Music. Hanover, N.H.: Wesleyan University Press, 1993.
Weinstein, Deena. Heavy Metal: A Cultural Sociology. New York: Lexington Books, 1991.