About Bon Jovi

Just like every other band, Bon Jovi didn't start out as Bon Jovi. No. Jon worked as a janitor at his cousin's recording studio and he let Jon record some things. He recorded a song called "Runaway" with a studio band that happened to be there. He went around to several radio stations before one finally accepted his demo and played it. "Runaway" became a local hit. He soon got offered a record deal. Who did he call? His friend from Sayreville High, David Bryan. David in turn called his friend, Alec John Such. Alec was friends with Tico and basically talked him into joining this band. At first, their lead guitarist was a friend of Jon's by the name of Dave Sabo, who went on to form his own band, Skid Row. Richie sat in and watched this band play. He went up to Jon and said he wanted to be the lead guitarist of the band. Jon told him he was gonna think about it. One day, Jon walked in late to rehearsals and heard Richie playing. Richie was officially a part of the band.

They started off as just following bands around on tour and opening for them. Now they didn't have much luck on some of these. When they opened up for ZZ Top in 1983 in Madison Square Garden, Richie played the first note and his amplifier blew up. But, that didn't prove to phase them much as they kept going. They released their first album, Bon Jovi, in 1984. The biggest hit off that album? "Runaway". 1985, they released their second album, 7800 Fahrenheit. Then, in 1986, they brought a bunch of kids that were hanging out in a pizzeria into the studio to basically judge music for the next album. They will forever be known as the Pizza Parlor Jury. Bon Jovi released their best selling album, Slippery When Wet, that year. The three songs that everybody knows off of that album are "Livin' on a Prayer", "You Give Love a Bad Name", and "Wanted Dead or Alive". These songs made them legendary.

They went on a tour that lasted from mid-July 1986 to October 1987. Right after, they began work on their fourth studio album, New Jersey. After the New Jersey tour that ended in 1990, Bon Jovi went their separate ways with barely any goodbyes. In late 1991, the band came together and went to the Caribbean, where they worked out their problems by letting everyone get a chance to say their share without anyone interrupting. Sounds nice, right? The following year, they released their fifth studio album, Keep the Faith, which proved that Bon Jovi was still at the top of their game. Hits like "Bed of Roses" gained the band even more popularity in the 90s. In 1994, Bon Jovi fired their bass guitarist, Alec John Such, who was unofficially replaced by Hugh McDonald, who had originally recorded "Runaway" with Jon back in 1983.

With a new fresh start, Bon Jovi got right back to work. Jon and Richie pleaded with the company to let them have another year, since they were apparently on a creative streak. So they did. In late 1994, Bon Jovi released Cross Road, which contained a lot of their old songs and only two new songs called "Someday I'll Be Saturday Night" and one of their most powerful and notable ballads, "Always". The following year, they released their sixth studio album, These Days, which was their first album without Alec John Such. They took another hiatus from 1996-1999, but this time it was planned by the band. In 1999, they returned back to the studio. In 2000, Bon Jovi released their seventh studio album, Crush. This album proved that Bon Jovi had survived the turn of the century and still remained a great band, beloved by generations. On the album included the hits "It's My Life", "Say It Isn't So", and "Thank You for Loving Me". They released One Wild Night Live 1985-2001 with a new, updated rendition of "One Wild Night" from the Crush album.

Bounce was Bon Jovi's eighth studio album released in 2002. Bounce was majorly influenced by the 9/11 terrorist attack in New York. It also served as somewhat return to their "roots" with Richie playing heavily distorted guitars, gravelly vocals by Jon, keyboard effects and pianos by David and booming drums by Tico. The band rewrote, re-recorded and reinvented twelve of their biggest hits, releasing This Left Feels Right in November 2003. The following year, the band released 100,000,000 Bon Jovi Fans Can't Be Wrong, which included four CDs with thirty eight unreleased and twelve rare tracks as well as a DVD. Their ninth studio album, Have a Nice Day, was released in 2005. In February 2007, Bon Jovi and Jennifer Nettles won the Grammy Award "Best Country Collaboration with Vocals" for "Who Says You Can't Go Home". Bon Jovi also won an award for Favorite Rock Song at the People's Choice Awards with "Who Says You Can't Go Home".

Bon Jovi released their tenth studio album, Lost Highway, in 2007. Phil Griffin's documentary on the band, When We Were Beautiful, debuted at the Tribeca Film Festival, chronicling Bon Jovi's ups and downs over twenty five years and following the band on their Lost Highway tour. Jon and Richie were inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in June 2009. That month they also recorded a cover of the song "Stand By Me" with Iranian singer Andy Madadian, to show solidarity for those affected by political unrest in Iran. Parts of the song were sung in Persian. Their eleventh studio album, The Circle, was released on November 10, 2009 as a return to Rock N' Roll after their Nashville based album Lost Highway.

In October 2010, Bon Jovi released a greatest hits album with four new songs. On November 27, 2012, Bon Jovi released a new live video album called Inside Out. March 12, 2013, Bon Jovi released their twelfth studio album, What About Now. Two days later, they played a song from that album, "Because We Can", live during the results show of American Idol. Bon Jovi is currently on their What About Now tour with one less member. Richie left the tour in April but is said to be back sometime this month. Don't believe any of the rumors the press is spreading about Richie getting kicked out. Jon Bon Jovi has repeatedly denied this on interviews.