Idolator: Bon Jovi

Run-DMC And Slayer Will Not Be Performing Together At Next Year's Rock Hall Induction Ceremony

Maura Johnston — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 11:30:00 EDT

Jeff Beck, Chic, Wanda Jackson, Little Anthony and the Imperials, Metallica, Run-DMC, the Stooges, War, and Bobby Womack are this year's nominees for induction into the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame; five of them will be inducted next April after balloting concludes in January. This year's list of nominees is almost more notable for who isn't on it than who is; the list of eligible artists who were snubbed by the dudes who want to codify their definition of "rock and roll" includes inarguably influential artists like Slayer, the Cure, and—once again—Rush. Click through for our list of the six highest-profile acts who didn't make the ballot, and vote for who you think was the most robbed. Once the votes are tallied, we can march on the Rolling Stone offices and plead for justice!

Run-D.M.C., Metallica nominated for Rock Hall [AP]
Bon Jovi has best shot at 2008 Rock Hall of Fame induction [USA Today]

Tireless arena-rock outfit Bon Jovi is playing ...

Maura Johnston — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 09:15:00 EDT

Tireless arena-rock outfit Bon Jovi is playing another free concert, this time in Philadelphia. It's in honor of the ArenaBowl XXII win of the Jon Bon Jovi-owned Philadelphia Soul, which raises two questions for me. First: The Arena Football League has been around for 22 years? And second: Do you think people in Philadelphia are already griping about how if Jon really cared about the City Of Brotherly Love, his band would have played a free gig there before the one it pulled off in New York City last month? [Billboard]

Bon Jovi: The New Arcade Fire?

Maura Johnston — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 13:00:00 EDT

The free tickets for Bon Jovi's show in New York's Central Park this Saturday are all gone, but scalpers have rushed in to fill the void, with reports saying that resale prices are now ranging from 99 cents to $1,500. (The tickets are allegedly marked "not for resale," but you can't stop people who think they were born to be Jon's baby to pay for the privilege of seeing him.) The top-tier tickets noted by the Associated Press are seemingly gone from eBay—the highest bid right now is a comparably paltry $75/blanket space—while Craigslist's prices seem a little bit more sane, with some people even offering straight-up trades for other shows... and Yankees games.

While no one has stepped forward and said they're willing to charge ticket-seekers the GNP of Burundi for the privilege of seeing New Jersey's finest, there are other creative offers out there.

Trade Bon Jovi tickets for George Michael tickets: I'd like to think that there's one side that's a definite winner here.
Will give you Bon Jovi central Park if you buy my all star sunday: Or, "tickets for Bon Jovi = $225.00 + $53.00 + $5.00 + whatever shipping charges I signed up for." I like how this person gets around mentioning an actual dollar amount.
TRADE: 2 Bon Jovi Central Park for Yankees or Giants Tickets: The first people I thought of when I saw this ad were Mike and/or the Mad Dog. Perhaps they decided that it would be better to reconcile while watching what brought them together, instead of "Wanted Dead Or Alive."
FT: Bon Jovi Tickets for Verizon Blackberry: One wonders if this was this particular person's plan all along.

There are also a lot of people looking to trade their tickets for a ticket to the Billy Joel shows at Shea Stadium, which makes me laugh so, so hard. But can you feel the bartering era coming back?

And those of you who want to see Jon, Richie, and everyoe else while paying an inflated price needn't worry, as tickets for their upcoming Madison Square Garden show can be yours for a mere $8,394 on StubHub. Who says you can't go home?

bon jovi central park [Craigslist]
bon jovi central park [eBay]
Scalpers ask $1,500 for free Bon Jovi concert [AP]

Desmond Child: A Loving Tribute

Anthony Miccio — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 17:30:00 EDT

In a long-overdue bit of acknowledgement, Desmond Child—the man behind many of the finest in '80s power ballads, as well as disco Kiss and Ricky Martin—will enter the Songwriters' Hall Of Fame on Thursday, along with relatively minor songwriting figures as John Sebastian, Loretta Lynn, and Albert Hammond. Child tells the Miami Herald, "It was funny because I had been nominated twice before but I hadn't made it, and I spoke to the heads of it and they said, 'Well, we always thought you were too young to get it, but then we recently looked at your bio and realized you are old. You just looked young.'' As most of his big-name collaborators are out touring this summer, Desmond Child has been forced "by default" to reunite his late '70s combo Rouge for the ceremony. While it would be insane to try and list all of his greatest achievements ("Kiss The Rain"? "Born To Be My Baby"? "Shake Your Bon Bon"?), we've compiled a list of every ASCAP-registered song of his that features the word "love" in the title. Can you guess how many there are?

According To The Gospel Of Love
After My Love Is Gone
All About Lovin' You
Almost A Love Song
Are You In It For Love?
Before Your Love
Calling It Love
Dare To Love
Does Anybody Really Fall In Love Anymore?

Does He Love You Like I Do?
Ghost Of Love
Give Our Love A Fighting Chance
How Can We Be Lovers?

I Feel Sorry For Love
I Hate Myself For Loving You
I Love Myself Today
I Was Made For Loving You

If I Can't Have Your Love
If I Loved You
If It Feels Like Love
In The Arms Of Love
In The Eyes Of Love
It Ain't About Love Anymore
It's Not Over Till We're Lovers
Let's Get To The Love Part

Live Up To Your Love
Love Cuts Deep
Love For Sale
Love Is My Witness
Love Is War
Love Junkie
Love On A Rooftop

Love Should Be A Crime
Love Transfusion
Love United
Love Will Keep Us Alive
Love You For A Day
Lovin' You Is A Dirty Job

Lovin' You, Lovin' Me
Man In Love
Missin' My Love
My Right To Love You
New Love
Our Love Is Insane

Price Of Loving You
The Problem With Love
The Way Of Love
There's Always Love
This Ain't A Love Song
This Maniac's In Love With You

Timeless Love
Times Are Hard For Lovers
Tonight My Love
Volvere A Amar
What About Love

Why Don't You Love Me?
Without Love
You Give Love A Bad Name

You Love Me To Hate You
You Should Be High Love
You're Lovin Me To Death
You're Not My Lover (But You Were Last Night)

And while this song doesn't have the word love in the title, it's one that shouldn't go unacknowledged when celebrating Desmond Child.

Child was only giving songwriting credit because of a "Livin' La Vida Loca" interpolation, but this only stands as proof of how the majesty of Desmond Child will live on long after he, Richie Sambora, Eric Bazilian, Paul Stanley, Dianne Warren, and his many other collaborators are in their cold, cold graves. We love you, Desmond.

You may not know his name, but you know his songs [Miami Herald]
Kane Roberts - Does Anybody Really Fall In Love Anymore [YouTube]
Michael Bolton - How Can We Be Lovers? [YouTube]
Kiss - I Was Made For Loving You [YouTube]
Play - Let's Get To The Love Part [YouTube]
Ratt - Lovin' You Is A Dirty Job [YouTube]
Desmond Child & Rouge - Our Love Is Insane [YouTube]
Alice Cooper - This Maniac's In Love With You [YouTube]
Heart - What About Love? [YouTube]
Blake Lewis - You Give Love A Bad Name [YouTube]
Sisqo - Thong Song [YouTube]

Irish Bon Jovi Fan Gets Her New Jersey-Bred Rock Stars Mixed Up

Maura Johnston — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 10:30:00 EDT

If you're not a fan of Bon Jovi's second-tier hit "In These Arms," you can skip forward to about the 2:30 mark to watch as an Irish fan tries to have her own "Dancing With The Dark" moment with lead singer Jon Bon Jovi. The twist, of course, is that the "happy ending" involves her being dragged away by security. (At least she tried slipping him some tongue before being forcibly restrained, right? Talk about moxie!) [YouTube]

DUI Daddy Richie Sambora To Do Rock Of Love?

Anthony Miccio — Thu, 01 May 2008 09:30:00 EDT

Richie Sambora should be visiting Dr. Drew's Celebrity Rehab, but it looks like he'll be hitting up a dozen floozies for the love and support that Heather Locklear and Denise Richards couldn't provide instead. Yes, that's right: The Bon Jovi guitarist will allegedly replace Bret Michaels for season three of Rock Of Love. The bandanna-wearing Poison frontman claims that he's really found love with season two winner Ambre Lake, which means that his schedule is clear for him to turn his attentions to Look What The Cat Dragged In, a sitcom on MyNetwork TV about a party-hearty rocker who moves in with his uptight lawyer brother in Beverly Hills, played by Alan Ruck. Well, at least I'm hoping that happens.

Bon Jovi guitarist Sambora 48, has been single since his April 2007 divorce from actress Heather Locklear and a short-lived romance with Locklear's former pal Denise Richards ended last year.

And TV bosses want to help him find love. A source tells OK! magazine, "He's perfect for TV. If you thought Bret (Michaels) was must see TV, you ain't seen anything yet. Richie is going to be a train wreck looking for love."

Sounds pretty tentative, but now that Sambora successfully plea-bargained that whole "driving drunk with his daughter in the back seat" nuisance away, he's free to let VH1's comely lunatics work his talkbox.

Sambora To Replace Michaels on 'Rock of Love'? [SF Gate via Sleaze Roxx]
[Photo: AP]

Richie Sambora Courageously Tours After DUI Arrest, Wakes Up Bon Jovi Fans

Anthony Miccio — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 16:00:43 EDT

There is so much wrong with what went down at the Bon Jovi concert in Denver last night. First: Richie Sambora is out on tour less than a week after he was arrested for driving drunk with his daughter in the back seat. Rehab can wait, I guess. Second: Richie got a standing ovation after thanking his fans for their support. Um, yeah. Go you, Richie. Third: The repeated references to standing in this account would imply that people spend most of their time at a Bon Jovi concert sitting down. What's up with that?!

Near the end of the band's set, Jon Bon Jovi introduced Sambora to the crowd and then exited the stage. Sambora, sporting black leather pants and a long, purple overcoat, walked to the center-stage microphone and addressed the crowd:

"Hello Denver," he said, as the crowd cheered. "I just want to thank everyone for their support. Sometimes friends need the help of their friends to get by. This next song is one that keeps coming back in my life and is current again ... ."

The crowd stayed on its feet while Sambora launched into a solo rendition of "These Days."

These days - the stars seem out of reach
But these days - there aint a ladder on these streets
These days are fast, love dont lasts-in this graceless age
Even innocence has caught the morning train
And there aint nobody left but us these days
- Bon Jovi, "These Days"

Douche.

Richie Sambora thanks fans & friends for their support [People]

CMT Blog Thinks CMT Music Award Nominations Are Just Dandy

Dick Malone — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 11:30:43 EST

After noting that the just-announced CMT Music Award nominees include rockers (or "rockers") Robert Plant, Bon Jovi, Huey Lewis, and the Eagles, the CMT blog says this is nothing to get worked up about. Really, Huey Lewis is just nominated for songwriting because Garth Brooks covered him (!). And Plant, of course, is there because of his duet with Alison Krauss. As for the other two? Well...

Substantial promotional effort was involved in marketing the Eagles and Bon Jovi to the country audience, but that's simply part of the music industry machinery. I can't imagine that either group sat down and said, "Let's see what we can do to pander to the country audience."

I don't follow country nearly as closely as I would like to, and I'll admit that it does seem to be the genre of choice for just the kind of aging white dudes who make up Bon Jovi and the Eagles, so their intentions were probably at least a little sincere. It just seems to me that the opportunistic incursion of dinosaur rock acts into a still-evolving genre can't be good for that genre's evolution.

CMT Music Awards Nominate Rock Acts [CMT Blog]
CMT Music Awards: Nominees [cmt.com]

Presidential Candidates Hope To Convince Jon Bon Jovi That He Was Made To Be Their Man

mjohnston — Wed, 26 Dec 2007 12:40:20 EST

I don't know about you, but when I think of the phrases "Jon Bon Jovi" and "politicians" my mind flashes back to the controversy over Jon's eponymous band's video for the 1989 song "Living In Sin," which ruffled a ton of feathers back in the day because it showed a chick taking communion and engaging in premarital sex. Oh, the family values-obsessed wonks who came out of the woodwork for that one! But none of them, as far as I can recall, were among the politicians who the New York Times outed today as courting the New Jerseyan's endorsement for the 2008 Presidential race, because good ol' JBJ has apparently become, as the Times tells it, "New Jersey's very own Bono":

Jon Bon Jovi and Hillary Rodham Clinton have been friends for more than a decade, uniting for state dinners at the White House and campaign fund-raisers in the Hamptons.

If it seems strange that a rocker who sings paeans of working-class New Jersey is so friendly with a senator and former first lady who chose a Celine Dion song for the theme of her presidential campaign, consider a few items on Mr. Bon Jovi's social calendar in the last few months.

There were dinners in East Hampton with Mrs. Clinton and another Democratic presidential candidate, John Edwards. Senator Barack Obama, her fiercest rival for the nomination, asked Mr. Bon Jovi to hear him speak in Midtown Manhattan. And Al Gore caught up with him in London for a photo op. ...

Unlike many other celebrities, he keeps his thoughts about the war in Iraq and President Bush largely to himself. While fellow New Jerseyan Bruce Springsteen is not shy about taking Mr. Bush to task and speaks out against the war on his new album, Mr. Bon Jovi is more comfortable talking about poverty and affordable housing. And his attention to those causes has earned him an audience with some of the country's biggest political names.

No word yet on who Jon is going to endorse—presumably he's canvassing the Presidential hopefuls on the always-crucial issue of whether or not musicians should be able to walk around with loaded six-strings on their backs—but my guess is that it's going to be Edwards, if only because this will give him yet another opportunity to try and ply that whole "country crossover" move.

Politicians Of All Stripes Join The Line For Bon Jovi [NYT]

Jon Bon Jovi's "Project Runway" Appearance: So Much For That Country Crossover

mjohnston — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 13:20:14 EST

Sales of his band's "back to country" album have flagged, so Jon Bon Jovi is going back to what he was doing in between his duet with the Sugarland chick and the fourth time he recorded an unplugged version of "Wanted Dead Or Alive": Fashion. Or something like it! The former Versace model is the "surprise" guest on tonight's Project Runway, and he'll be judging the contestants' abilities to make him an outfit of some sort.

Details on what the challenge will exactly entail are, of course, being kept secret, but I personally am hoping that each designer is given the charge of replicating outfits from Bon Jovi's body of music-video work. Just imagine the run on leather at Mood when the designers are given the task of replicating Jon's jacket from the clip for "Runaway"!

Or the "fun" with bleach that any designers who are feuding with one another could have if they were forced to recreate his outfit from the "Bad Medicine" video. I can see the blinding now! Er, no pun intended.

But the challenge will probably wind up being something boring like "make him an outfit that makes country fans think that he's really from the South, and not just some carpetbagger from New Jersey."

Exclusive: Bon Jovi to Judge Schmattes with Heidi [Fashion Week Daily]
[Photo: AP]

Jon Bon Jovi And LeAnn Rimes: The (Hopefully) Burning Bed

jharv — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 13:25:13 EST

"Can you see this Jon Bon Jovi/LeAnn Rimes video?" Maura just asked. "I want to know if Jon and LeAnn are making out in it."

Well they're not "making out" but they're kind of...nuzzling? Ugh. It's pretty gross, y'all. Did you know Jon Bon is 20 years older than LeAnn. Slippery When Wet hit before she enrolled in preschool. Now he's breathing in her ear while she's dressed in fancy underwear? Today I've somehow seen more leathery lovin' before noon than I really needed to see all week.

Bon Jovi And LeAnn Rimes, "Till We Ain't Strangers Anymore" - Video Premiere [PopEater]

Jon Bon Jovi's litigious tantrum about energy ...

mjohnston — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 16:10:40 EDT

Jon Bon Jovi's litigious tantrum about energy drink Mijovi has sent sales of the coffee-based energy drink through the roof. So what's in this "Angry Rocker" cocktail that was, apparently, inspired by Bon Jovi's freakout? Mijovi and freshly wrung sweat, finished with a quick spray of Aqua Net? [NYP]

Jon Bon Jovi's Support For Arena Football Extends To Sample-Clearance World

mjohnston — Wed, 18 Jul 2007 15:30:38 EDT

Meet Reggie Stephens, who also goes by the name Famouz; a former player for the New York Giants and the Arena Football League's Nashville Kats, Famouz became, er, sorta famous today for being the first person to legally sample a Bon Jovi song on a hip-hop track. (Yes, we're pretty shocked that it took this long, too.)

You can probably guess what song is sampled by Famouz' "Bad Name," and on first listen, we can say that it's definitely better than the 311y version of the song that appeared on the band's ill-fated covers album This Left Feels Right a few years back. What's interesting is why Jon Bon Jovi picked Famouz for his band's initial foray into the hip-hop world—you'd think he'd have angled for someone at least on the level of, say, Fabolous. Perhaps the Arena Football League bond is, indeed, that strong—or maybe Jon just wanted to wash the taste of Blake Lewis' groundbreaking (and ear-shattering) beatbox version of "You Give Love A Bad Name" out of his mouth as soon as possible.

Bad Name Feat. Jon Bon Jovi: Famouz [HHNLive]
Famouz AKA FMZ [MySpace]
Reggie Stephens [arenafan.com]

Which Album Will Land At The Top Of The Heap?

mjohnston — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 10:00:24 EDT

Normally, we reserve our Tuesday-morning Billboard 200 quarterbacking for sales-total predictions, but this week's race for No. 1 has three Nashville-born albums vying for the pole position. In one corner there's Lost Highway, Bon Jovi's attempt to remind people that they are, in fact, steel horse-riding cowboys; in another, there's 5th Gear, the latest album from country lifer Brad Paisley; and finally, there's the White Stripes' Icky Thump, which was recorded at Nashville's Blackbird Studios, although of the three, we're betting that it's the least likely to get love from the country-radio cabal:

Bon Jovi Hoping To Sell A Bundle Of Its New Album

mjohnston — Fri, 08 Jun 2007 13:45:44 EDT

In an effort to bump up the first-week SoundScans of its forthcoming country crossover album Lost Highway, Bon Jovi is bundling free copies of its forthcoming album, Lost Highway, with tickets to its "open-ended" run of shows at a new venue in Newark, N.J.:

The online presale program will be available exclusively to American Express cardholders beginning June 12 through June 14, and to the general public from June 15 through June 22. Tickets without the digital album download will then be available for purchase by the general public beginning June 23.

Fans who purchase the Lost Highway Ticket Package will receive a code from Ticketmaster that enables them to download Lost Highway from iTunes beginning on its June 19 release. The ticket/album package will be priced at $9.99 higher — the price of the album on iTunes — than those later sold outside the package. Album sales in the bundle will count toward SoundScan and the album's Billboard chart position.

The shows are in October, which means that Richie Sambora will have plenty of time to get clean (and relearn the words to "Wanted Dead Or Alive") . We're guessing also that the option of buying tickets for multiple nights out of the question—although the option to do so would certainly bump up the SoundScans, given that these shows are in Bon Jovi's ground zero of New Jersey and the run is "open-ended." (Although if word gets out that this show's setlist will only include songs from Lost Highway and This Left Feels Right, the strategy could backfire.)

Bon Jovi To Bundle Digital Album, Presale Tickets [Billboard.biz]

Liner Notes: Billy Corgan's Aeroplane Still Flying High, For Now

Brian Raftery — Mon, 19 Mar 2007 14:02:19 EDT

- The Smashing Pumpkins' first reunion-tour stop in North America will be at Toronto's Virgin Festival, where Billy Corgan is expected to fire and replace the rhythm section in time for the first encore. [Billboard]
- Bon Jovi's next album, tentatively titled Something Something Football And Pride, will be released in June. [Billboard]
- Antony & The Johnsons singer Anthony Hegarty has issued a plea to his fans, asking them to refrain from posting recordings of his concerts. Done and done! [NME]

Liner Notes: That Jon Bon Jovi, He's Such A Doll

mjohnston — Tue, 03 Oct 2006 14:07:30 EDT

- McFarlane Toys has announced that it will make action figures in the likenesses of Bon Jovi members Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora. Once again, Tico Torres fans get the shaft. [spawn.com]
- Panic! At The Disco get tired of taking cues from drama club afterparties, decide to take cues from Motley Crue. Recent Motley Crue. [MTV]
- 'Cocaine' is back ... in Eric Clapton's concert repertoire. [AP via ABC News]