He's THE owner of the band, he did everything with his bare hands and he also maintains a solo career at the same time...
Let's get some facts about rock n' roll legend Jon Bon Jovi.
(Photo: Clay Patrick McBride)
1. He was born on March 2, 1962, in the city of Perth Amboy in New Jersey as John Francis Bongiovi Jr.
2. His father was of Sicilian-Slovak descent and was a barber in the Marines. His mother who is of German-Russian descent was a Playboy bunny.
3. His first band - "Raze" formed when he was 13. He played piano and guitar there.
4. The first rock show he saw in his life was by the Canadian band RUSH.
5. He first met keyboardist David Bryan when he was 16, and they formed the band "Atlantic City Expressway".
(Photo: Atlantic City Expressway Band Facebook)
6. Other groups in which John was a partner in his youth were "John Bongiovi and the Wild Ones" and "Rest" which he founded in 1980.
7. That same year he started working at the Power Station Studios recording studio in Manhattan New York. The studio was partly owned by his cousin Tony Bongiovi.
8. The first song he ever recorded was related to "Star Wars". It's called "R2-D2 We Wish You A Merry Christmas", and was included on the compilation album "Christmas in the Stars: The Star Wars Christmas Album" under the name John Bongiovi.
9. John took the time in his cousin's studio to record demos for the songs he wrote. He sent the demos to all the local record companies and radio stations, but without success.
10. In 1981 he recorded in the studio the song "Runaway" together with a studio band called "The All-Star Review" and among them was the keyboardist Roy Bittan, known from the "E Street Band" who accompanies Bruce Springsteen.
11. In 1982 John came from New Jersey to the WAPP FM103.5 NYC radio station with the demo of the song. He approached the broadcaster - DJ Chip Hobart and convinced him to play the song. The broadcaster was convinced and even included it on the station's album "Homegrown" which included songs by local artists at the beginning of their careers.
12. The song was played on the same station until it was rolled out to another radio station in New Jersey - WDHA which also included the song on its own compilation album of young bands that do not yet have a recording contract.
13. The recording rolled into the ears of Derek Shulman who worked for the record company Mercury Records. Schulman was himself a very talented musician, one of the leaders of the prog-rock band "Gentle Giant" and he immediately recognized the potential and signed John to a recording contract.
14. John did not have a band then and he immediately began a race to form it and choose a name for the band. One of the names the band came up with was "Johnny Electric".
15. The record company offered the name "Bon Jovi", similar to "Van Helen". John loved the idea and even adopted the stage name and so John Bon Jovi was actually born.
(Photo: Ross Halfin)
16. The well-known guitarist Dave Sabo from the band "Skid Row" was the band's first guitarist. He was soon replaced by Richie Sambora.
17. Dave Sabo was a childhood friend of Bon Jovi and there was an agreement between them that whoever of them would succeed in the music industry, would pull the other one up with him. Bon Jovi kept his promise to Sabo and made sure his manager arranged a recording contract for "Skid Row". Bon Jovi was not content with that and even made sure that "Skid Raw" will be the opening act for "Bon Jovi" during the 1989 tour.
18. John is actually the owner of the band and the "Bon Jovi" brand while the rest of the musicians are employed by him.
19. In an interview with Spin Magazine in 1998 he stated that he was a relative of Frank Sinatra.
20. John mentioned Frank Sinatra in the song "It's My Life" with the words "Like Frankie said, I did it my way".
21. Their first big hit was "You Give Love a Bad Name", which John and Richie almost gave to the band "Loverboy", before they regretted it and decided to leave it in the band. This is an incarnation of a song that Desmond Child originally wrote for singer Bonnie Tyler.
22. Bon Jovi's favorite movie is "The Godfather".
23. Bon Jovi is the founder and owner of the Philadelphia Soul Halls Football Team.
24. In the 1990s he started an acting career. He played among others in the movies: "Moonlight and Valentino", "Pay It Forward" and "U-571" as well as in the series "Sex and the City", "Ally McBeal" and "The West Wing".
25. He was the last to play with his band at Wembley Stadium before being demolished and re-established.
(Photo: Bon Jovi)
26. He was also the first to release with his band a rock album by an American band in Russia after the fall of the Soviet Union. It was with "New Jersey" released there by a local record company called Melodiya.
27. In 1987 he produced singer Cher's 18th album.
28. In 1990, John Bon Jovi released the soundtrack to the movie "Young Guns II". The soundtrack featured artists such as: Elton John, Little Richard and Jeff Beck.
29. In 1996 he entered the list of the 50 most beautiful people in the world by People magazine.
30. In 2000 the same magazine chose him as the sexiest rock star.
31. In 2006 he founded the Jon Bon Jovi Soul Foundation.
32. He was inducted into the Music Writers Hall of Fame in 2009.
33. In 2010 President Barack Obama awarded him the title of White House Adviser on Community Solutions.
34. In 2012 he was ranked 50th on the list of the 100 most influential and powerful people in the music industry.
35. In 2018 he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
(Photo: Suzie Fellows)
36. During his career in the Bon Jovi band he has released 15 studio albums, five EPs, five compilation albums, and three live albums.
37. Although he released a significant number of big hits to the British charts, he never reached number one.
38. Bon Jovi is one of the best-selling bands in the world with sales of over 130 million copies worldwide.
39. As part of his solo career he has released two more studio albums.
40. Bon Jovi has performed in over 2700 shows in over 50 countries and in front of more than 34 million people.
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