Jon Bon Jovi

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John Francis Bongiovi Jr. (born March 2, 1962), known professionally as Jon Bon Jovi, is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, and actor. He is best known as the founder and frontman of the rock band Bon Jovi, which was formed in 1983. He has released 16 studio albums with his band as well as two solo albums.

In the 1990s, Bon Jovi started an acting career, starring in the films Moonlight and Valentino, The Leading Man, Little City, Homegrown, Pay It Forward, U-571 and Cry Wolf and appearing on television in shows such as Sex and the City, 30 Rock, Ally McBeal, and The West Wing.

Bon Jovi was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2009.[1][2] In 2012, he ranked number 50 on the list of Billboard magazine's "Power 100", a ranking of "The Most Powerful and Influential People in the Music Business".[3]

Bon Jovi is a founder and former majority owner of an Arena Football League team, the Philadelphia Soul.

Early life

John Francis Bongiovi Jr. was born in Perth Amboy, New Jersey. His father John Francis Bongiovi Sr. (born 1930) was a barber and a former Marine. His mother Carol (née Sharkey; 1940–2024), also a former Marine, was a florist and Playboy Bunny.[4][5] His father was of Italian and Slovak ancestry; the name Bongiovi comes from Sciacca, Sicily. His mother was of German and Russian descent.[6][7] In an interview about his family tree, Bon Jovi stated, "I’m not a blood relative of Frank Sinatra, but I’ve always loved that rumour. Who wouldn’t want to be related to the man?"[8]

Bon Jovi was raised Catholic.[9] During the height of Beatlemania, his mother became a fervent admirer of The Beatles and dreamed that her son would achieve similar fame. To instill in him a love of music, she gave him his first guitar at the age of seven. Although Bongiovi received some lessons, he never enjoyed them and eventually abandoned the guitar in the basement. "I liked the sound it made falling down the stairs more than any of those boring lessons," he later stated. He attended St. Joseph High School in Metuchen, New Jersey, during his freshman and sophomore years.[10] He later transferred to Sayreville War Memorial High School in Parlin, New Jersey.[11]

At 15, he attended a Bruce Springsteen concert with his friends, and it was then that he knew what he wanted to do for the rest of his life. He resumed his guitar lessons with a new teacher, Al Parinello, who was very demanding but also instilled in him a passion for music. Jon Bon Jovi later recalled the importance of those lessons and acknowledged that they were one of the best things that had ever happened to him. When Parinello passed away in 1995, the vocalist carved the initials AP into his acoustic guitar in honor of his mentor, something he continued to do for many years.

Musical career

Beginnings

File:Jonathan King with Jon Bon Jovi.jpg
Bon Jovi (right) with Jonathan King in 1987

Jon Bon Jovi began playing music in 1974, when he formed his first band Raze and took part in a talent contest at his school.[12][13] At 16, he formed a band called Atlantic City Expressway and was joined by David Bryan, who would later become a member of the Bon Jovi band.[12][14] Still in his teens, Bon Jovi played in the band John Bongiovi and the Wild Ones, performing in clubs such as the Fast Lane and opening for local acts.[14][15] By 1980, he had formed his first original band, the Rest; the band opened for New Jersey acts such as Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes.[14][16][17] In late 1979, Jon Bon Jovi joined the band The Rest—founded by guitarist Jack Ponti—with whom he began writing his first songs, including "Shot Through the Heart," which years later would appear on Bon Jovi's debut album. However, after receiving no record offers, Ponti decided to disband the group.

By mid-1980, out of school and working part-time at a women's shoe store, Jon Bon Jovi took a job at the Power Station Studios, a Manhattan recording facility where his cousin Tony Bongiovi was co-owner.[18] One day, he was sweeping the floor as Disco producer Meco was in the studio recording Christmas in the Stars: The Star Wars Christmas Album. Meco suggested that Bon Jovi sing "R2-D2 We Wish You a Merry Christmas", which became his first professional recording (credited as John Bongiovi).[19][20]

Bon Jovi

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File:Jon Bon Jovi in concert.png
Bon Jovi performing on the Have A Nice Day Tour in 2006

Jon made several demosTemplate:Sndincluding one produced by Billy SquierTemplate:Sndand sent them to record companies, though failing to make an impact.[21] In 1982, Jon recorded "Runaway" in his cousin's studio, backed up by studio musicians.[14][14] Jon visited a local radio station WAPP 103.5FM "The Apple" in Lake Success, New York, to write and sing the jingles for the station.[22][23] He spoke with DJ Chip Hobart and to the promotion director, John Lassman, who suggested Jon let WAPP include the song "Runaway" on the station's compilation album of local homegrown talent.[24][25] Jon was reluctant, but eventually gave them the song, which he had re-recorded in 1982 (following a rough early recording in 1981) with local studio musicians whom he designated The All Star ReviewTemplate:Sndguitarist Tim Pierce, keyboardist Roy Bittan (from Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band), drummer Frankie LaRocka, and bassist Hugh McDonald.[26]

The song began to get airplay in the New York area, then other sister stations in major markets picked up the song.Script error: No such module "Unsubst". In March 1983, for a short tour supporting "Runaway" Jon Bon Jovi called David Bryan, who in turn called bassist Alec John Such and an experienced drummer named Tico Torres, both formerly of the band Phantom's Opera.[27] Jon saw and was impressed with hometown guitarist Richie Sambora who was recommended by fellow bassist Alec John Such and drummer Tico Torres. Once the band began playing showcases and opening for local talent, they caught the attention of record executive Derek Shulman, who signed them to Mercury Records and who was part of the PolyGram company. Because Jon Bon Jovi wanted a group name, Pamela Maher, a friend of Richard Fischer and an employee of Doc McGhee, suggested they call themselves Bon Jovi, following the example of the other famous two-word bands such as Van Halen. This name was chosen instead of the original idea of Johnny Electric. Pamela's suggestion of the name was met with little enthusiasm, but two years later they hit the charts under that name.[28]

With the help of their new manager Doc McGhee they recorded the band's debut album, Bon Jovi, which was released on January 21, 1984. The album included the band's first hit single, "Runaway", reaching the top forty on the Billboard Hot 100. In 1985, Bon Jovi's second album, Template:Proper name, was released. The album certified Gold by RIAA.[29] In 1986, the band achieved widespread success and global recognition with its third album, Slippery When Wet,[30][31] which had sold 30 million copies worldwide.[19] The first two singles from the album, "You Give Love a Bad Name" and "Livin' on a Prayer", both hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100.[32] Its 1988 sequel New Jersey, and 1992's Keep the Faith were all international hits, each selling over ten million copies worldwide. They incorporated elements of soft rock and country, moves that helped them sustain their popularity into the 21st century. As of 2022, Bon Jovi has released 16 studio albums, three compilations and two live albums. The band has sold more than 149 million records worldwide, making it one of the bestselling American rock bands.[33] Bon Jovi has performed more than 3,000 concerts in over 50 countries for more than 35 million fans.[34][35] Bon Jovi was inducted into the UK Music Hall of Fame in 2006 and into the U.S. Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2018.[36]

Solo career

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File:Bon Jovi 3.jpg
Bon Jovi performing in 2009

The exhaustion of recording Slippery When Wet and New Jersey back to back and going on highly paced world tours took its toll. By the end of the New Jersey tour, the band had 16 months of concerts under its belt. The bandmates were exhausted physically, mentally and emotionally. Following the final tour date in Mexico, and without any clear plans for their future, the members of the band simply went home.[37] The band has since stated that there were few if any goodbyes between them. During the time they took off from the scene, members of the band retreated to their own projects and showed no desire to make another album.[29]

In 1990, Jon Bon Jovi recorded a soundtrack to the movie Young Guns II. The soundtrack is commonly known as Blaze of Glory. Having been originally approached by his friend Emilio Estevez to lend "Wanted Dead or Alive" as the theme song for his upcoming Billy the Kid sequel, Bon Jovi ended up composing an all-new theme song for the film's soundtrack and delivering his first solo album. The album featured guests such as Elton John, Little Richard and Jeff Beck. The title track, "Blaze of Glory", peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100. In 1991, "Blaze of Glory" won an award for Favorite Pop/Rock Single at the American Music Awards[38] and won a Golden Globe as well. The song also earned Jon Bon Jovi an Academy Award nomination and a Grammy Award nomination.[39]

In 1991, Jon Bon Jovi started his own label, Jambco Records, and produced Aldo Nova's album Blood on the Bricks[40] and Billy Falcon's album Pretty Blue World.[41]Template:Better source Jon Bon Jovi's second solo album was 1997's Destination Anywhere. A short movie of the same name was based entirely on the songs from the record; it starred Jon Bon Jovi, Demi Moore, Kevin Bacon and Whoopi Goldberg. The film debuted in 1997[42] on both MTV and VH1. In 2012, Jon Bon Jovi recorded a soundtrack to the movie Stand Up Guys. The soundtrack is commonly known as Not Running Anymore. The song "Not Running Anymore" was nominated for a Golden Globe Award that year.[43][44]Template:Better source

Other ventures

Acting career

Jon Bon Jovi is a credited actor in the films Moonlight and Valentino, The Leading Man, Destination Anywhere, Homegrown, Little City, No Looking Back, Row Your Boat, Vampires Los Muertos, U-571, Cry Wolf, National Lampoon's Pucked, and New Year's Eve.[45] He also had a supporting role in the movie Pay It Forward, where he played Helen Hunt's abusive ex-husband.[46] His TV series appearances include Sex and the City, 30 Rock, Las Vegas, The West Wing, and an extended stint on Ally McBeal as a plumber who was Ally's boyfriend for a short period of time.[47] He also had a brief, uncredited role in the 1990 film Young Guns II.[48] On January 24, 2011, it was confirmed that Bon Jovi would be cast in the film New Year's Eve, released later that year, as a successful rock star who is connected with Katherine Heigl's character.[49]

Sports franchises

In 2004, Bon Jovi became founder and primary owner of the Philadelphia Soul of the Arena Football League. He appeared in several television commercials for the league, typically with John Elway, Hall of Fame quarterback for the Denver Broncos and co-owner of the AFL's Colorado Crush. Bon Jovi is no longer part owner of the Soul.[50]

JBJ's Nashville

On June 8, 2024,[51] Jon Bon Jovi opened a rooftop restaurant and bar in Nashville, Tennessee, located at 405 Broadway.[52] JBJ's is a Bon Jovi and rock music themed restaurant and bar.[53] It hosts live music daily. The restaurant is multi-leveled, with each level having a balcony looking down upon the stage in the center of the venue.[54][55] The grand opening included a performance by Bon Jovi and the rest of the band, which was their first full band live performance since the end of the 2022 tour.[56] The grand opening was attended by Vince Neil of Mötley Crue, Jeremy and Ajay Popoff from Lit, Big Kenny, Jelly Roll, and Jamie O'Neal, amongst others.[53]

JBJ's also features the first ever permanent installation of a Proto hologram machine in a music venue, which can show Jon Bon Jovi and his band's holograms and "beam in" special guests.[57]

Philanthropy

File:Jon Bon Jovi at the 2009 Tribeca Film Festival 3.jpg
Bon Jovi in April 2009

During an appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show in 2005, Bon Jovi (the band, not the individual) donated $1 million to the Angel Network foundation.[58]

In July 2007, Jon Bon Jovi announced a project that would rehabilitate a block of 15 homes in North Philadelphia.[59][60]

The Jon Bon Jovi Soul Foundation (formerly the Philadelphia Soul Charitable Foundation) was founded in 2006. It supports community efforts to break the cycle of poverty and homelessness.[61][62] On October 19, 2011, it opened the JBJ Soul Kitchen, a community restaurant in Red Bank, New Jersey, where patrons pay what they can afford for their meals, either with money or by volunteering work.[63] Template:As of, three additional locations have been opened—one in Toms River, another at the Newark campus of Rutgers University,[64] and a third one inside the Gilligan Student Union at New Jersey City University.[65] In 2025, Mayor Dan Rodrick of Toms River, New Jersey, accused the organization of attracting homeless people from other parts of the country to congregate in the town.[66]

Jon Bon Jovi is one of 21 artists singing on "Everybody Hurts", a charity single organized by Simon Cowell aiding victims of the 2010 Haiti earthquake.[67]

Activism

During the 2004 presidential campaign, Jon Bon Jovi toured extensively on behalf of presidential candidate John Kerry, appearing at and playing acoustic sets with Richie Sambora at rallies for the Kerry-Edwards ticket throughout the U.S.[68] In 2009, he played at a Manhattan fundraiser for former Secretary of State and 2016 presidential Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton to lessen some of her $6.3 million 2008 presidential campaign debt. On January 18, 2009, Bon Jovi performed a duet at Barack Obama's inauguration concert, performing the Sam Cooke song "A Change is Gonna Come" with Bettye LaVette.[69] On June 4, 2009, Bon Jovi performed an acoustic benefit show for Democratic New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine at the NJPAC in Newark, New Jersey.[70]

On June 24, 2009, Bon Jovi, Sambora and Andy Madadian recorded a musical message of worldwide solidarity with the people of Iran. The handwritten Persian sign in the video translates to "we are one".[71]

On December 15, 2010, Bon Jovi was appointed by then U.S. president Barack Obama to the White House Council for Community Solutions.[72]

In 2017, Bon Jovi raised money for Jim Renacci, a Republican representative from Ohio's 16th congressional district and then a potential candidate for Ohio governor with whom he had had common business interests several years prior.[73]

In the 2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries, Bon Jovi endorsed fellow New Jersey resident Cory Booker for President of the United States.[74]

On October 24, 2020, Bon Jovi performed at a drive-in event for Joe Biden at Dallas High School in Dallas, Pennsylvania.[75][76]

On January 20, 2021, Bon Jovi and the Kings of Suburbia performed a cover of the Beatles' song "Here Comes the Sun" as part of the "Celebrating America" Inauguration of Joe Biden event.[77]

Personal life

During a stop in Los Angeles on the New Jersey Syndicate Tour in 1989, Bon Jovi secretly took a trip to Las Vegas, where he married his high school sweetheart, Dorothea Hurley, on April 29 at the Graceland Wedding Chapel. The couple have four children: a daughter, Stephanie, born in 1993; and three sons, Jesse, Jake, and Romeo, born in 1995, 2002, and 2004, respectively.[78][79] The British actress Millie Bobby Brown is his daughter-in-law; she married his son Jake in May 2024.[80] Bon Jovi became a grandfather when Jake and Brown adopted a daughter in 2025.[81][82]

A former resident of Rumson, New Jersey, Bon Jovi established his Sanctuary Sound recording studio in the basement of his home there.[83][84]

Bon Jovi has described himself as a recovering Catholic.[9]

Bon Jovi is a close friend of New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft and former head coach Bill Belichick. He owns two Super Bowl rings from the Patriots and has performed several times at the Patriots' home field, Gillette Stadium.[85]

In 2019, Bon Jovi received an honorary Doctor of Music degree from University of Pennsylvania[86] and a second honorary doctorate from Princeton University in 2021, recognizing his contributions in music and social welfare.[87]

In October 2021, Bon Jovi tested positive for COVID-19 at a fan event in Florida.[88] He was reported as fully vaccinated and "feeling great".[89] He had recovered from the disease by November 12, 2021.[90] In April 2022, Bon Jovi spoke of how much his COVID-19 experience had affected him, including in his songwriting, saying about COVID-19 that it made him realize "how volatile we are and how fragile life is. It didn't matter if you were young or old, American or Egyptian, no matter who you were or where you were from, the COVID-19 pandemic affected you. I was aware of that when I was writing the record."[91]

On September 11, 2024, Bon Jovi helped prevent a woman from jumping off the John Seigenthaler Pedestrian Bridge in Nashville.[92]

Discography

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Studio albums

Live albums

  • At the Starland Ballroom Live (2009)

Compilation albums

Filmography

Films

Year Title Role Notes
1990 Young Guns II Prison scene bandit (uncredited)[93][94][95]
1995 Moonlight and Valentino The Painter
1996 Template:Sortname Robin Grange
1997 Little City Kevin
Destination Anywhere: The Film Jon
1998 No Looking Back Michael
Homegrown Danny
Row Your Boat Jamey Meadows
2000 U-571 Lieutenant Pete Emmett
Pay It Forward Ricky McKinney
2002 Vampires: Los Muertos Derek Bliss
2005 Cry Wolf Rich Walker
2006 National Lampoon's Pucked Frank Hopper
2011 New Year's Eve Daniel Jensen
2024 Avicii – I'm Tim Himself Documentary

Television

Year Title Role Notes
1997 Malhação[96] Himself Season 3; 3 Episodes
1999 Sex and the City Seth Episode: "Games People Play"
2002 Ally McBeal Victor Morrison 10 episodes
2005 Las Vegas Himself Episode: "Centennial"
2006 Template:Sortname Himself Episode: "Welcome to Wherever You Are"
2010 30 Rock Himself Episode: "Anna Howard Shaw Day"

References

Template:Reflist

External links

Template:Sister project Template:Sister project

Template:Jon Bon Jovi Template:Navboxes Template:Navbox musical artist Template:Scandal Template:Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes

Template:Authority control

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  10. ↑ Jon Bon Jovi remarks Template:Webarchive American Music Awards, November 14, 2004. "In the fall of 1977, I was just another sophomore at St. Joseph's High School in New Jersey."
  11. ↑ Bon Jovi pays surprise visit to his old school Template:Webarchive Sentinel, March 23, 2006. "Students chat with Sayreville class of '80 grad-turned-rock-star."
  12. ↑ a b Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  13. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
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  69. ↑ Bon Jovi to Sing at NYC Hillary Clinton Fundraiser Template:Dead linkTemplate:Cbignore Yahoo News, January 3, 2009
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  83. ↑ Intindola, Brendan. "Rich and famous mourn Wall Street's John Mulheren", Forbes, December 19, 2003, backed up by the Internet Archive as of March 2, 2004. Accessed September 27, 2015. "Mr. Bon Jovi, a fellow resident of Rumson and lead singer of the rock band Bon Jovi, was among the long line of mourners who stood outside waiting to enter the gray, shingled church."
  84. ↑ The Bon Jovi Library, Island Records, backed up by the Internet Archive as of August 30, 2006. Accessed September 27, 2015. "Sanctuary Sound was originally built in the basement of Jon Bon Jovi's Rumson ranch home."
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