Bon Jovi
From Your Subculture Soundtrack, the music encyclopedia
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Bon Jovi is a hard rock band from Sayreville, New Jersey. Fronted by lead singer and namesake Jon Bon Jovi, the group originally achieved large-scale success in the 1980s.
Bon Jovi formed in 1983 with lead singer Jon Bon Jovi, guitarist Richie Sambora, keyboardist David Bryan, bassist Alec John Such, and drummer Tico Torres. Other than the departure of Alec John Such in 1994 (which pared the lineup down to a quartet), the lineup has remained the same for the past 23 years.
After two moderately successful albums in 1984 and 1985, the band scored big with Slippery When Wet (1986) and New Jersey (1988), which sold a combined 19 million copies in the U.S. alone, charted eight Top Ten hits, and launched the band into global superstardom. After non-stop touring, the band went on hiatus after the New Jersey Tour in 1990, during which time Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora both released successful solo albums. In 1992, the band returned with the double platinum Keep the Faith and has since created a string of platinum albums throughout the 1990s and 2000s, also expanding their musical horizons, combining rock with such genres as pop, adult contemporary, and country. The band has also been credited with inspiring the MTV Unplugged series with their famous sit-down acoustic performance at the 1989 MTV Video Music Awards.
Throughout their career, the band has released ten studio albums, of which nine have gone platinum. In addition, the band has charted 19 singles to the Top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100, four of which reached #1 ("You Give Love a Bad Name", "Livin' on a Prayer", "Bad Medicine", and "I'll Be There for You"). The band also holds the record for the most weeks for a hard rock album at #1 on the Billboard 200 with Slippery When Wet, as well as the most Top 10 singles from a hard rock album, with New Jersey, which charted five such singles.
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[edit] Band members
[edit] Current members
- Jon Bon Jovi - lead vocals, guitar (1983-present)
- Richie Sambora - lead guitar, backing vocals, talkbox (1983-present)
- Hugh McDonald - bass, backing vocals (1994-present)
- Tico Torres - drums, percussion (1983-present)
- David Bryan - keyboards, backing vocals (1983-present)
with
- Bobby Bandiera - rhythm guitar, backing vocals (2003-present) (occasional touring member)
- Lorenza Ponce - violin, backing vocals (2006-present) (touring member)
- Kurt Johnston - steel, backing vocals (2006-present) (touring member)
[edit] Former members
- Alec John Such - bass, backing vocals (1983-1994)
[edit] Discography
[edit] Albums
100,000,000 Bon Jovi Fans Can't Be Wrong
[edit] Singles
[edit] Tours
- Slippery When Wet Tour
- New Jersey Syndicate Tour
- Stranger in this Town Tour (Richie Sambora Solo Tour featuring Tico Torres and David Bryan)
- Keep the Faith Tour
- Crossroads Tour
- These Days Tour
- Destination Anywhere (Jon Bon Jovi Solo Tour)
- Undiscovered Soul (Richie Sambora Solo Tour)
- Crush Tour
- One Wild Night Tour
- Bounce Tour
- Have a Nice Day Tour
- Lost Highway Tour
[edit] Awards
- 1987: MTV Video Music Awards: Best Stage Performance.
- 1988: American Music Award: Favorite Pop/Rock Band, Duo or Group
- 1991: MTV Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award
- 1995: World Music Awards: Best Selling Rock Band Of The Year.
- 1995: MTV Europe Music Awards: Best Rock
- 1996: BRIT Awards: Best International Band
- 2001: My VH1 Music Awards: Video Of The Year "It's My Life"
- 2002: My VH1 Music Awards: Hottest Live Show
- 2004: American Music Award: Award Of Merit
- 2005: Chopard Diamond Award at the World Music Awards for selling 100 million albums.
- 2006: UK Music Hall of Fame
- 2006: CMT Music Awards: Best Collaborative Video "Who Says You Can't Go Home"
- 2007: People's Choice Awards: Best Rock Song for "Who Says You Can't Go Home"
- 2007: Grammy Awards: Best Country Collaboration for "Who Says You Can't Go Home"
