By: Brooke Johnpier, Music Department Member
Bon Jovi is an American glam metal, rock, and hair band that was formed in 1983 in Sayreville, New Jersey. On a personal level, Bon Jovi is one of my favorite bands of all time, so I’m really excited to write this piece. Let’s jump right in!
Bon Jovi released their debut self-titled album on January 21, 1984. The album was recorded at the infamous Power Station recording studio because the lead singer, Jon Bon Jovi, had a cousin who founded it. Although the album only landed number 43 on the Billboard 200 charts, it had a total of two hits with “Runaway” and “She Don’t Know Me.” For a first album, it did pretty well through the years, going two times platinum in the United States.
Their second album, 7800 ° Fahrenheit, was released on March 27, 1985, and got its name from the melting point of rock, which is around 4313°C, and converting Celsius into Fahrenheit. Although this album placed better on the Billboard 200 chart at number 37, it didn’t sell as well, only going platinum once. The album also only contains once major hit with “In and Out of Love.”
On August 18, 1986, Bon Jovi released their third album, Slippery When Wet. This is personally my favorite Bon Jovi album, and I have it on a vinyl I got at a flea market in Alabama. As you can probably guess, I’ve played it a lot. The album has four hits: “You Give Love a Bad Name,” “Livin’ on a Prayer,” “Wanted Dead or Alive,” and “Raise Your Hands.” By far, this was their best album to date, going number one on the Billboard 200 chart for eight weeks, and was named the best-selling album of the year 1987. The album has also gone platinum 12 times here in the US.
Two years later, New Jersey came out to great commercial success once again. This album contains four major hits: “Lay Your Hands on Me,” “Bad Medicine,” “Born to Be My Baby,” and “I’ll Be There for You,” and went to number one on the charts in all of the major music countries of the world. It’s also gone platinum seven time in the US.
November 3, 1992, saw the release of their fifth studio album, Keep the Faith. This album was the last album to feature all five original members of the band on it, and because of that, it will be the last album I focus on in this article. It was the band’s longest album to date, clocking in at a whopping 66 minutes. The album had two songs on it that would become very well-known – the album’s title track and “Bed of Roses.” To promote the album that would eventually go platinum two times and land number five on the Billboard 200 charts, the band went back to their roots and performed in small New Jersey clubs. They also did an MTV Unplugged episode to show that they can be just as good without electricity as they are with.
Although I’m not going to cover any more of Bon Jovi’s albums, my personal favorite song by the group, “It’s My Life,” came out in 2000.
Bon Jovi has been nominated for, and won, too many awards to list here – but they won a Grammy, and a few American Music Awards (AMA’s) as well. They’re definitely a highly decorated band.
Bon Jovi is one of the best hair bands of the day. Their music style is one that took a bunch of different genres and combined it into one, while staying true to their roots and staying in the glam metal genre. If you’ve never listened to Bon Jovi yet, do so. I promise you that you won’t regret it, and you may just find a new favorite song.
Want to share your thoughts? Have a band/artist you want to be featured? Email Brooke at johnpibl23@bonaventure.edu!
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