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The Pop-Metal band Bon Jovi traced its roots to 1983 when lead singer
John Bonjovi cut a demo tape entitled "Runaway" at New York
City's legendary Power Station recording studios. The track received some
regional radio airplay in New Jersey and without Bonjovi being signed
to a label, his song was becoming a hit, breaking nationwide; he recruited
his long-time friend keyboardist David Bryan, guitarist Dave Sabo, bassist
Alec John Such and drummer Tico Torres playing a handful of concerts.
Bongiovi finally signed to Mercury Records and replaced Sabo with Richie
Sambora; John then shed the 'h' from his first name and de-ethnicized
his last name. He re-emerged as Jon Bon Jovi and the band Bon Jovi was
born.
They opened for ZZ Top at Madison Square Garden before the label had released
the band's eponymous debut album, "Bon Jovi", in February of
1984; the record reached the #43 on The Billboard Top 200 chart while
"Runaway" crashed into the top 40 of The Billboard Hot 100 and
a second single cut, "She Don't Know Me", reached the #48 in
the same chart.
In April 1985, the group released their sophomore effort, "7800°
Fahrenheit"; it debuted at #28 in the U.K. Albums Sales chart, cracked
the top 40 of the American Billboard 200 list and generated three Mainstream
Rock top 40 hits: "Only Lonely", "In And Out Of Love"
and "Silent Night".
Within a year, Bon Jovi, moved to Vancouver, to record their next album;
now, shifting into high gear, the band released "Slippery When Wet"
in the summer of 1986, an album which shot to #1 on The Billboard Top
200 chart going on to sell over 10 million copies in U.S. alone, the record
also stalked the charts on the other side of the Atlantic hitting the
top 10 in Britain. The first single, "You Give Love A Bad Name"
became the band's first #1 on the The Billboard Hot 100 and peaked at
#9 on The Mainstream Rock Tracks chart, the follow-up single, "Livin'
On A Prayer", hit #1 as well on The Billboard Hot 100, spending four
weeks at the top position and reached the same slot on Active Rock list;
the album included two more Mainstream Rock top 20 hits, "Never Say
Goodbye" and "Wanted Dead Or Alive", the latter of which
rose to #7 on Billboard's Hot 100. To support the release the band set
out on a nationwide arena tour and armed only with acoustic guitars, Jon
Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora, performed at the MTV Video Music Awards spearheading
the unplugged movement in popular music.
Determined to prove that the success of "Slippery When Wet"
was not a fluke, Bon Jovi released its fourth effort in autumn 1998, "New
Jersey" went straight to #1 on both U.S. and U.K. Albums charts spawning
several massive hits like "Bad Medicine" and "I'll Be There
For You", both of which topped The Billboard Hot 100 and peaked at
#3 and at #5 respectively on The Mainstream Rock Tracks list; "Born
To Be My Baby" hit #3 on Billboard's Hot 100 and rose to #7 on Active
Rock chart; two further singles, "Lay Your Hands On Me" and
"Living In Sin", charted in the top 10 in U.S. Hot 100. The
group mounted another huge worldwide tour that continued throughout 1989
and 1990; they visited more than 20 countries and performed more than
150 shows.
In 1990, Jon Bon Jovi wrote and recorded the soundtrack for "Young
Guns II" which generated the chart-topping "Blaze Of Glory"
and went on to win him a Golden Globe Award for Best Song From A Motion
Picture.
The future of Bon Jovi became even more uncertain the following year when
Richie Sambora released his first solo album.
But before 1991 was out, Jon regrouped the members of Bon Jovi and headed
back into the Vancouver studios to work on the group's fifth album.
In late 1992, the band returned to the spotlight with a new look and
with "Keep The Faith", the record smashed at #1 on the Official
British Albums chart and reached the top 5 of the American Billboard 200
list; the title-track became an instant hit, reaching #1 on Active Rock
radio, followed by the ballad "Bed Of Roses" which was a Billboard
Hot 100 top 10 hit and "In These Arms" peaked at #27 in the
same chart. To mark the beginning of the band's next phase Bon Jovi embarked
on an extensive international tour playing stadiums in America, Europe,
Asia and Australia.
October 1994 saw the release of a greatest hits compilation entitled "Cross
Road", the set featured a couple of new songs, as well as a new,
updated rendition of "Livin' On A Prayer" and Jon Bon Jovi's
solo hit, "Blaze Of Glory"; the collection hit #1 and #8 respectively
in the U.K. and U.S. Pop Albums charts; the first single off of the CD,
"Always", was a massive worldwide hit; the second single, "Someday
I'll Be Saturday Night", entered the top 10 of both British and Australian
charts.
But while "Cross Road" was flourishing on the charts and tallying
up sales, the band saw the departure of original bass player Alec John
Such; with Hugh McDonald called in to handle bass duties, Bon Jovi headed
out on the road supporting their latest release.
The band's next studio album, "These Days", arrived on the shelves
in June 1995, it climbed to the top spot in the British chart and peaked
at #9 on The Billboard Top 200 list; the main single, "This Ain't
A Love Song", hit #14 on The Billboard Hot 100 and cracked the top
10 in Britain, it was followed by three more U.K. top 10 hits: "Lie
To Me", "Something For The Pain" and the album's title
cut.
Following the success of the "These Days" album and tour, the
members of Bon Jovi went their separate ways working on independent projects.
After an extended hiatus, Bon Jovi regrouped in 1999 and began recording
their seventh studio album, "Crush" was finally released in
mid-2000; it debuted on the U.S. Billboard Top 200 at #9 and became the
band's fifth consecutive U.K. #1 album. Worldwide it sold more than 7.5
million units and spawned three singles: the American top 40 hit "It's
My Life", "Thank You For Loving Me" and "Say It Isn't
So", all of those singles also charted in the top 20 of the British
Official Pop list.
The next year, the band released "One Wild Night: Live 1985-2001";
this was Bon Jovi's first-ever live album.
In spring 2002, the group entered the recording studio to begin recording
their eighth studio album, the title, "Bounce", was a reference
not only to New York City's and the United States' ability to bounce back
from the World Trade Center attacks as a nation but, it also referred
to Bon Jovi, the band's ability to bounce back again and again, over the
years. The record debuted at #2 on the U.S. Billboard Top 200 list and
entered the top 3 on both Canadian and British Albums charts; the lead
single, "Everyday", hit #1 in Canada and in the U.K. reached
the #5 slot.
In late 2004, to commemorate their 20th anniversary, the band unleashed
the five CD-DVD box set of rarities entitled "100,000,000 Bon Jovi
Fans Can't Be Wrong", which marked the sales of 100 million Bon Jovi
albums.
On July 2, 2005, the band at Live 8 in Philadelphia performed a new song,
"Have A Nice Day" alongside the classics, "Livin' On A
Prayer" and "It's My Life".
Bon Jovi's next album of original material, "Have A Nice Day",
was released in mid-September 2005; it peaked at #2 on The Billboard 200
and at #1 in Canada. The title-track, as first single, made a mid-chart
appearance peaking at #53 on The Billboard Hot 100 and "Who Says
You Can't Go Home" grabbed a #23 spot on the same chart.
"Lost Highway" is the title of the tenth studio album by the
veteran Jersey stadium rockers and is also the first #1 debut on The Billboard
200 chart for the week ending July 7. The band's new Country-flavored
album includes the top 40 hit single "(You Want To) Make A Memory".
Bon Jovi biography is an exclusive of 100xr.com
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