Bon Jovi has sold more than 120 million albums. Its anthems are everywhere, and the band has rocked arenas around the world for three decades. Its members have a reputation for longevity, and its success has set the bar high for other bands hoping to make it in the music business.
Jon Bon Jovi was born and raised in a working-class neighborhood in Metuchen, New Jersey. His father was of Slovak and Italian descent, while his mother was Russian and German. He learned to play piano and guitar as a young boy and began performing with his first band, Raze, when he was 13. In high school he sang in the choir and played in the school band. In high school he met fellow band member David Rashbaum, who plays keyboards in the group to this day. They started playing showcases and opening for local talent. After a while they moved to Los Angeles, where they took advantage of every opportunity to meet people who could help them become successful.
In 1986, they released Slippery When Wet, which was a major hit and cemented the band’s place in pop culture. The album featured the singles “You Give Love a Bad Name” and “Livin’ on a Prayer,” both of which reached #1 on the Billboard charts. It also became the band’s first gold record.
Over the years, Bon Jovi’s sound evolved, but their strategy was consistent: Write well-crafted rock songs with a pop sheen, play your heart out at concerts, exceed expectations at all times, and don’t forget to look good. The band’s hard work paid off in millions of fans and a handful of Number One singles and albums.
After a brief retirement in the early 1990s, Bon Jovi returned to the stage and continued to tour. In recent years, they have released a series of live recordings and a new studio album, Lost Highway. This is the first album that the group has made without guitarist Richie Sambora, who left the band in 2013.
In addition to making music, Bon Jovi has branched out into philanthropy. They own the Philadelphia Soul arena football team, which has gotten them involved in community affairs. The group has opened four Soul Kitchen outlets in New Jersey, which serve the homeless. They have also supported families during the Covid pandemic.
Despite his status as a living legend and the fact that he’s been doing this for more than 40 years, Bon Jovi remains grounded and humble. He is the epitome of a class act: wearing a simple black T-shirt and sporting his iconic heartthrob smile, he arrives for our interview with no entourage and pauses to thank the photoshoot’s makeup guy. While he still has that trademark grin, his eyes have a gentle wisdom, and there’s a wry humor in his speech. The Hulu docuseries, Thank You for the Music, captures this spirit perfectly. Jon and his wife Dorothea, his high school sweetheart, have been together for 44 years. They have four children and are “madly in love”.