John Francis Bongiovi Jr. was born March 2nd, 1962 in Perth Amboy, New Jersey. He has raised by his parents Carol and John Bongiovi. By his early teen years he knew that one day he would become a rock star. Following the footsteps of rising stars Bruce Springsteen and the Ausbury Jukes, Jon began playing in local clubs. John began playing piano in guitar in 1975 when he was only thirteen. By age sixteen he put together a two ten-piece rhythm and blues band, and performed with several other bands.
After he had been playing guitar for about three years, Jon Bon Jovi met David Bryan, the band’s keyboard player and backup singer. Together they formed a band called Atlantic City Expressway. By mid 1982, Jon Bon Jovi made several demos and showed them around to many record companies, many of which didn’t respond back. Jon Bon Jovi borrowed his cousin’s studio and with the help of some musicians that were already there he recorded “Runaway.” After releasing this song to a local radio station “Runaway” started to play more frequently due to the high demand and Atlantic City Express was beginning to be recognized all around. In March 1983, the band Bon Jovi was officially born with Jon Bon Jovi as lead singer and guitar player, David Bryan as keyboard player and backup singer, Richie Sambora as lead guitar player and backup singer, Tico Torres as drum and percussion player, and Alec John Such as bass guitar player and backup singer. After performing in a show in New York in 1983, the band caught the attention of record executive producer Derek Shulman, who was part of the PolyGram company, who signed them to Mercury Records. Shulman changed the band’s name to “Bon Jovi” and this marked the beginning of the band’s major success.
Bon Jovi’s s debut album was released on January of 1984, making it to the gold level. They created a style of unique guitar riffs and melodies. With these factors implemented, their self-titled album was a huge hit. In April 1985, their next album “7800 Fahrenheit” was released. Many of their fans enjoyed their music only to a certain point. Many critics were harsh with the band’s performances and music styles. The band eventually made tours to open for famous bands like Judas Priest, the Scorpions, and KISS. With the openings for this band, Bon Jovi became more recognized and built up an enormous amount of hype for themselves. It wasn’t until the collaboration with Desmond Child, professional song writer, in 1986 that the band burst into the international rock scene with hits such as “You Give Love a Bad Name”, “Livin’ on a Prayer” and “Wanted Dead or Alive”. With these songs, their record sales were on the same league as Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” and their third album was considered to be one of the most influential in the history of rock and music.
Through the release of their fourth album in September 1988, the band proved that their success was not a just a stroke of luck. Their album was number one in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Ireland, New Zealand, and Australia. The band mounted another huge world wide tour up until 1990, visiting over twenty two countries and performing over 232 shows. Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora performed at the 1989 MTV Video Music Awards with only two acoustic guitars. Their performance was so inspiring to the public that it helped popularize the unplugged movement in music, mainly causing the spark that led to the MTV Unplugged Series.
Their musical success continued until the early 1990s when the members of Bon Jovi decided to go their separate ways. During this time, Jon Bon Jovi recorded an award winning solo album, Blaze of Glory. The album’s title track shot to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, won a Golden Globe for best song, and was nominated for an Academy Award. Other band members also worked on independent projects. Richie Sambora released a solo album, Stranger in This Town, during this time. It wasn’t until 1992 that Jon Bon Jovi, Richie Samora, David Bryan, Alec John Such, and Tico Torres decided to come back together and release the album Keep the Faith. This album was released in November 1992 and it represented a new beginning for the band and its music.
The band was not only recognized for their musical talent but also for their unique style of dressing. When it came to the band’s unique fashion sense during their performances, Bon Jovi was well-known as the “Rock Star Icon of Leather.” Their usual attire consisted of slim shirts that fit them tightly, military leather jackets, bomber jackets, motocross jackets, and distressed leather jackets. When it came to the waist down, it consisted of tight blue jeans or leather black pants, leather trousers, black shiny jeans, and boots. Their way of styling their hair has also caused a considerable amount of media attention to the extent of making it to the headlines on CNN.
Like other bands of their era, that have disbanded or undergone a major lineup change, Bon Jovi has stayed almost completely intact. The only major change was in 1994 when bass player Alec John Such was replaced by Hugh McDonald. Consistency is one of the band’s strengths and takes its tours and commitment to its fans seriously. Some of the band’s most recent albums that have been released include What About Now, March 2013 and This House Is Not For Sale, November 2016 making it the thirteenth album that the band has made. While some members of Bon Jovi have been working on a great deal of individual projects over the early years, they do commit in keeping the band alive by periodically performing at events inside the U.S and making tours. Although the band is not as popular as it was back in their prime days, the band music is still acknowledged and enjoyed by many people around the world. Even though the band has not been inducted into the Rock Hall of Fame for personal reasons, the band is marked as one of the best rock and roll bands of its time.