Bon Jovi

Bon Jovi broke through in the 1980s with a run of radio staples that joined hard-rock guitars to pop hooks, led by singer Jon Bon Jovi. Formed in Sayreville, New Jersey, in 1983, the American band released its self-titled debut the following year. Its single “Runaway” reached the Top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100, setting up a far larger breakthrough with 1986’s Slippery When Wet. The album produced three Billboard Hot 100 Top 10 singles, including the No. 1 hits “You Give Love a Bad Name” and “Livin’ on a Prayer.”

The band followed it with New Jersey in 1988, another commercial success that delivered five Top 10 singles. “Bad Medicine” and “I’ll Be There for You” both reached No. 1. Bon Jovi spent the end of the decade on the 1988-90 New Jersey Syndicate Tour, then returned in 1992 with the double-platinum Keep the Faith, which included “Bed of Roses.” “Always,” released in 1994, became the group’s biggest-selling and longest-charting single. The 1995 album These Days presented a more mature sound.

After a second hiatus, Bon Jovi returned with Crush in 2000. Its lead single, “It’s My Life,” introduced the band to a younger audience. The platinum albums Have a Nice Day and Lost Highway brought country elements into parts of the band’s music. “Who Says You Can’t Go Home,” a 2006 single, won a Grammy Award and became the first song by a rock band to reach No. 1 on the country charts. The Circle, released in 2009, marked a return to a rock-focused sound.

Bon Jovi’s lineup has changed over the years. Original bassist Alec John Such left in 1994, while longtime guitarist and co-songwriter Richie Sambora departed in 2013, shortly before a concert on the tour supporting Because We Can. The group released This House Is Not for Sale in 2016, its first studio album without Sambora, and toured behind it from 2017 to 2019. The album 2020 was reworked to include songs inspired by the COVID-19 pandemic and protests following George Floyd’s death. The band’s current lineup includes Jon Bon Jovi, David Bryan, Tico Torres, John Shanks, Phil X, Everett Bradley, and Hugh McDonald.

Credited with bridging heavy metal and pop, Bon Jovi has released 16 studio albums, five compilations, and three live albums. The band has sold more than 130 million records worldwide and performed 3,000 concerts in 50 countries for a reported total audience of 34 million people. Bon Jovi received the American Music Awards’ Award of Merit in 2004, entered the UK Music Hall of Fame in 2006, and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2018.