Bon Jovi 40th Anniversary- Jon, Richie Sambora

It is the fortieth anniversary of “Runaway” by Bon Jovi being released nationwide. Since starting out in earnest in the early Eighties, living on a prayer of finding fame, fortune, and the rock respect of their many idols who came before them, as well as their peers who traveled parallel paths, Bon Jovi found that last goal particularly elusive until recently. Celebrate their fortieth anniversary of their first hit “Runaway” with Jon Bon Jovi and former guitarist/songwriter Richie Sambora here In the Studio  focusing on their Cross Road  best of the Eighties.

To attempt to get your head around the phenomenon of Bon Jovi’s 1986 third album Slippery When Wet, it helps to write out the worldwide sales estimate since then : 28,000,000 copies. No hyperbole here, it is impossible to overstate how massively popular Bon Jovi’s Slippery When Wet  became quickly after release in Summer 1986, or how influential its sound and success were for the rest of the Eighties. But what does that do to the lives of the individuals involved? Each year at this time we honor rock musicians for their artistic contributions to our culture but also, at least to some degree, to their popularity. After all, it is called the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Celebrity from the entertainment business is a fickle and highly misunderstood by-product of pop art success in Western culture, and few people outside of the business understand the seduction or recognize the dark side of it. Find out from someone who knows firsthand, namesake Jon Bon Jovi and original guitarist/ co-writer Richie Sambora (who left in 2013), framed by unforgettable songs “Runaway”, “You Give Love a Bad Name”, “Living on a Prayer”, “Wanted Dead or Alive”, “Bad Medicine”, “I’ll Be There for You”, and “It’s My Life”. The #1 fan vote-getter in 2018’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame fan balloting was Bon Jovi.

A four-part documentary of Bon Jovi’s four decades, Thank You, Goodnight: The Bon Jovi Story, starts April 26 on Hulu, but first Jon will be honored for his considerable philanthropy, through the JBJ Soul Foundation and JBJ Soul Kitchen, February 2 two nights prior to the Grammy Awards, as MusiCares 2024 Person of the Year.  –Redbeard