Jon Bon Jovi - vocals
Richie Sambora - guitar
David Bryan - keyboards
Tico Torres - percussion


The artistic career of Jon Bon Jovi and his band is not a subject of great interest for the journalists and musical critics. But one thing is for sure - the artist's name, which later became the band's name as well, is a synonym for the word "success".

And that's how it began: two young students - David Rushbaum and Jon Bon Jovi - from a small town Sayreville (New Jersey), organized a rock-band, which was influenced by the soul-music and such artists as Diana Ross, Stevie Wonder, Smokey Robinson. Ater the school was over, Rushbaum left the band to become a student of a prestige Juliards's musical school while Jon Bon Jovi went to New-York. There he was able to work in a studio owned by one of his relatives.

The very first demo single "Runaway" (appeared in 1982), much to Jon's surprise, was very successful and got aired on a local radio. The next year the band called Bon Jovi was formed. The same year the new band signed a contract with Mercury/Polygram Records.

The first LP-album "Bon Jovi" was released in 1984 and certainly "Runaway" was the first song on it. The album quickly became popular, and the band began with their tours. In 1985 the next album - "7800 Fahrenheit" became a gold record.

"Slippery When Wet" - band's third album - appeared in 1986. During some months more than 6 million copies were sold, and for 2 more years the album was present in many countries' charts. Four songs from this record ("You Give Love a Bad Name", "Livin' on a Prayer", "Wanted Dead or Alive", "Never Say Good Buy") were included in the band's "Greatest Hits" album ("Crossroad", 1994).

After 2 years of silence, Bon Jovi awarded their fans for the patience, releasing their next super-project - "New Jersey". Three songs from this album ("Lay Your Hands on Me", "Bad Medecine", "I'll Be There for You") appeared in the "Crossroad" album. In 1990 Bon Jovi tried themselves as the soundtrack makers. The new band's album "Blaze of Glory" was a soundtrack for the "Young Guns II" movie. The album became popular, and the title-song "Blaze of Glory" was another super-hit.

The album "Keep the Faith" released in 1992 became double-platinum and was sold 8 million worldwide. Another three songs ("In These Arms", "Keep the Faith", "Bed of Roses") were taken by the band for the "Crossroad" super-album, which appeared in 1994 and contained 15 tracks: 13 good old songs from previous 6 albums and two new ones - "Always" and "Someday I'll Be Saturday Night" . 12 million copies of the album were sold worldwide.

But that wasn't all. The next year the prolific guys issued their 8th album - "These Days", including a super-hit of 1995 - "This Ain't a Love Song".

This is the last paragraph for now. The band got their vacation, which they needed already for a long time. The last thing that appeared in 1997 is the Jon Bon Jovi's solo-album "Destination Anywhere", but that's already an absolutely another story.

The story is written by Vadim Belov, 1998. All rights reserved

The best songs from each Bon Jovi album (my opinion):

Bon Jovi - Runaway
7800 Fahrenheit - In and Out of Love
Slippery When Wet - You Give Love a Bad Name
New Jersey - Born to Be My Baby
Blaze of Glory - Santa Fe
Keep the Faith - I'll Sleep When I'm Dead
Crossroad - Livin' on a Prayer
These Days - If That's What It Takes


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