Jon Bon Jovi

Jon Bon Jovi (John Francis Bongiovi Jr.), born on March 2, 1962; started his career early by knowing that he wanted to become a rock star. He started his band, named Bon Jovi, in 1980. His first release was a single called Runaway, which was picked up from a compilation tape and got frequent time on the radio causing his popularity to rise. It wasn’t until 1984 that the group created a name for itself by releasing the self-titled album Bon Jovi. The album eventually went gold and Bon Jovi became the name everyone knew and loved. The following year, 1985, Bon Jovi released a follow-up album called 7800 Fahrenheit which was met with popular reviews from fans, but not so favorable reviews from critics.

In late 1986 the band released its third album which was by far considered its most popular, Slippery When Wet. This album is said to have been produced to respond to the critics from the previous album and it paid off. Slippery When Wet went on to become gold and platinum simultaneously within six weeks of its release. Slippery When Wet was powered by songs such as “Livin’ on a Prayer” and “Wanted Dead or Alive” raising the album’s sales to over 14 million, similar to Michael Jackson’s “Thriller.”

After their success with Slippery When Wet, Bon Jovi went into temporary retirement in 1989, to which Jon was able to focus on his solo career where he released Blaze of Glory in the film Young Gun II. He also starred in the films, “The Leading Man” and “Moonlight and Valentino” as well as being a recurring character on the television show “Ally McBeal” until the series finale in 2002. He also appeared in several independent films, most notably “Pay It Forward” and “U-571”.

1994 began the on again off again collaboration of the band Bon Jovi. It started with the same year album Keep The Faith; 1996’s album Crush, 2002’s album Bounce, 2007’s album Lost Highway, 2009’s album The Circle, 2013’s album What About Now, 2015’s album Burning Bridges, and 2016’s This House Is Not For Sale. Bon Jovi continued his solo career throughout the band’s successes and released Destination Anywhere in 1997.

In late 2017, after selling more than 130 million records in total, Jon Bon Jovi was elected into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Even after being elected into the Hall of Fame, Bon Jovi was not done producing music. He has since released the single Unbroken in November 2019 and Limitless in February 2020, which was a precursor of his 2020 album that was released on October 2, 2020.

In 2004, Bon Jovi made headlines when he became a co-founder/ majority owner of the Arena Football League’s Philadelphia Soul. He parted ways with the team in 2008.

Throughout his entire career he has won 2 American Music Awards, 1988 and 2004 for album Bon Jovi; a Billboard Music Award for Top Touring Artist in 2014 along with 6 Billboard Touring Awards in 2008, 2011, 2013 (3), 2016. He won the Brit Award in 1996, 2 CMT Music Awards in 2006 and 2008; an Echo Award for Crush in 2001; and a Grammy Award for Who Says You Can’t Go Home in 2007. He brought home a total of 25 awards throughout his career on 68 nominations.