Bon Jovi

A band from New Jersey made huge strides in the glam rock arena in the 1980s and this band emerged from the often derided term Hair Metal genre, they were Bon Jovi. The band formed in 1983 and had moderate success with there two early album releases but it wasn't until the release of the Third Album 'Slippery when Wet' that this record catapulted this band into the public arena.

The band has pretty much remained the same since it'd formation with Bon Jovi, Torres, Sambora and Bryan leading the charge for the fluffy haired axe wielding giants. There success came the hard way with Bon Jovi working at radio stations and record labels pleading with anyone to listen to there music.

There first two albums 'Bon Jovi' and '7800 fahreinheit' achieved moderate success in America with first single 'Runaway' reaching the top 40 in America and the albums also denting the top 40. They were getting noticed and were soon opening for the likes of Kiss and Scorpions as well as an appearance at the Monsters or Rock at Donnington.

1986 the band moved to Canada and spent a solid 6 months working on 'Slippery when wet' and the results were huge. The first single releases 'You give love a bad name' and 'Livin' on a prayer' both went to number one in the USA. The album spent 2 months at number one in America and they soon became the hottest band to see live. such was there popularity that in 1987 they headlined the Monsters of Rock Festival which is no mean feat. The album was a huge success in America and Europe and keen to build on that success the next album did not disappoint.

The release of 'New Jersey' the album went to number one in America and the UK and a number of singles were released such as 'Bad Medicine', 'born to be my Baby' and 'Lay your hands on me' all going top 10. The success of the band was it's live sets and one in particular started a whole generation of how music should be viewed and heard.

In 1989 Bon Jovi and Sambora performed Living on a Prayer and Wanted Dead or Alive with just two acoustic guitars at the MTV music video awards and this is widely reported that this performance alone sparked the whole MTV unplugged series which still continues to this day.

The band also performed in Russia which was a first for any band and there whole appeal was beginning to take effects on the band. After the tours of 1989 the band took a long earned rest to recouperate and think about the next direction.

It wasn't until late 1992 that the band appeared again with the 'Keep the Faith' album and again huge commercial success. Although the hair metal scene was often criticised there music managed to pull through and the band kept there credibility when many others had lost there's.

The band has sold over 130 million records and countless awards such as UK hall of Fame in 2006 and songwriters hall of fame in 2009.

During the 1980s they released four studio albums with 'New Jersey' there only number one album in the UK. They also released 16 singles with surprisingly only one top 10 in the UK with Livin' on a prayer, In America they enjoyed four number ones. In the UK they were to enjoy better singles success in the 1990s.