Jon Bon Jovi Artistfacts

March 2, 1962
Jon is best known as the leader of Bon Jovi, but he released two albums as a solo artist: Blaze Of Glory in 1990 and Destination Anywhere in 1997. Blaze Of Glory served as the soundtrack to the movie Young Guns II. The title track was a #1 hit and won the Golden Globe for Best Original Song.
He grew up in Sayreville, New Jersey, about a 40-minute drive from Bruce Springsteen's stomping ground of Asbury Park. When he was 17 and still in high school, Jon had a cover band called Atlantic City Expressway that played a lot of Springsteen songs. At a 1980 gig in Asbury Park, Bruce surprised them by coming on stage to join them when they played his song "The Promised Land."

"When you went down to Asbury Park, the guys that were making records about your backyard were in your backyard," Jon said at a press event for his book Bon Jovi: Forever. "That made it a little more possible to think that someday you could make records like that."
His childhood home at 16 Robinhood Drive in Sayerville, New Jersey, became a popular destination for Bon Jovi tourism when the band got really famous, so Jon's parents sold it... to MTV, who gave it away in the 1989 "Bon Jovi Home Contest."

Contestants had to call a 900 number to enter; the winning couple, Jay and Judy Frappier, got to meet Jon when they claimed their prize on the air. They sold the house a year later.
He was born John Francis Bongiovi Jr. He changed it when he signed to Mercury Records in 1983 and decided to call his band Bon Jovi, à la Van Halen. The pronunciation didn't change, just the spelling: "John Bongiovi" is pronounced "Jon Bon Jovi."
Some heavy hitters performed on his solo album Blaze Of Glory, including Elton John, Jeff Beck, Little Richard and session stars Danny Kortchmar, Waddy Wachtel, Kenny Aronoff and Randy Jackson, who was a judge on American Idol in 2007 when Jon participated in Bon Jovi Week.
He has an impressive list of acting credits that includes the movies Pay It Forward (2000), U-571 (2000) and Cry Wolf (2005). He was nominated for an Oscar, but nor for acting: "Blaze Of Glory" was up for Best Original Song in 1991. Jon took his grandmother to the ceremony.
He started having problems with his voice in 2013, and in 2022 he had surgery to treat a vocal cord injury. After extensive rehab, he was able to lay down tracks for Bon Jovi's 2024 album Forever, but had to cancel the planned tour when it became clear in rehearsals that his voice couldn't handle the strain.
In 2011 he opened JBJ Soul Kitchen in Red Bank, New Jersey, with his wife Dorothea. It's a "community restaurant" where there are no prices on the menu - patrons can earn meals by volunteering if they can't pay. He and Dorothea later opened other locations in New Jersey, including one on the campus of Rutgers University.

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