Lead singer and rhythm guitarist of Bon Jovi.
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 27 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.
In 2006, the band won a Grammy for best Country Collaboration for "Who Says You Can't Go Home" with Jennifer Nettles from Sugarland and also became the first rock band to reach #1 on the Hot Country Songs chart with the same song. They have also been nominated twice for the smash hit "It's My Life" and two songs from the album Bounce, "Misunderstood" and "Everyday".
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", "Prayer '94", "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.
On November 2nd 2009 Bon Jovi released their 11th studio album and it is called: The Circle. The first single off the album is slated to hit radio on August 31st and is called "We Weren't Born To Follow". A tour to promote this album will be annouced soon on www.bonjovi.com. All this info has been confirmed by Bon Jovi's engineer Obie O'brien.
Over the past 25 years, Bon Jovi has sold over 120 million albums worldwide, 34 million in the United States alone.
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From Wikipedia:Bon Jovi is an American rock band from Sayreville, New Jersey. Formed in 1983, Bon Jovi consists of lead singer and namesake 'Jon Bon Jovi' (John Francis Bongiovi, Jr.), guitarist Richie Sambora, keyboardist David Bryan, drummer Tico Torres as well as current bassist Hugh McDonald. The band's line-up has remained mostly static during their 26-year history, the only exception being the departure of Alec John Such in 1994, who was unofficially replaced by Hugh McDonald. The band became known for writing several rock anthems, and achieved widespread recognition with their third album Slippery When Wet, released in 1986. Bon Jovi is well-known for songs including "Livin' on a Prayer", which has become their signature song, as well as "You Give Love a Bad Name", "Wanted Dead or Alive", "Bad Medicine", "Keep the Faith", "Bed of Roses", "Always", "It's My Life", "Everyday" and "Have a Nice Day". Their latest hit single is "We Weren't Born To Follow".
After prolifically touring and recording during the late 1980s, the band went on hiatus following 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 album Keep the Faith and have since created successful albums throughout the 1990s and 2000s. Their 2000 single "It's My Life", which followed a second hiatus, successfully introduced the band to a younger audience. Bon Jovi have been known to use different styles in their music, which have ranged to country for their 2007 album Lost Highway. Their latest album, The Circle, was released on 10 November 2009 and were inducted into the UK Music Hall of Fame in 2006. The band was also honored with the Award of Merit at the American Music Awards in 2004, and as songwriters and collaborators, Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora inducted into Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2009.