Bon Jovi, The #62 Artist of the Rock Era, Part Two

 

Bon Jovi set the all-time record for Top 10 singles on a Hard Rock album.  A worldwide tour took them to 22 countries and included 232 shows, including a sellout show at Giants Stadium in Rutherford, New Jersey and a performance in the Moscow Music Peace Festival.  Bon Jovi became the first band approved by the Soviet Union government and New Jersey became the first album from the United States to be released legally in the U.S.S.R.  

But the enormous and newfound success had taken its toll--they had recorded two monster albums in a row and kept up a frantic pace on the road with two worldwide tours.  After they finished up the New Jersey tour, the members went their separate ways with barely a word to each other.  Jon released a solo album and recorded "Blaze Of Glory" for the movie Young Guns II, while Sambora also released a solo album during this time.

Then in 1991, Jon fired McGhee and his agents and business advisers and created Bon Jovi Management.  Late in the year, he organized a meeting of band members on the island of St. Thomas to discuss their plans.  It was a good move as Bon Jovi agreed to go back to Vancouver to begin working on their fifth album.

 

In 1992, Bon Jovi released the album Keep the Faith.  The title song was one of a host of songs to be severely underrated by Billboard.  Other song-ranking organizations around the world had more sense--#3 in France and Switzerland, #5 in the U.K. and Canada, #7 in Sweden, #8 in West Germany, #9 in the Netherlands and #10 in Australia.  Yet in the U.S., where Bon Jovi is from, Billboard's methodology had the song peaking at #29.

 

Keep the Faith has sold over two million albums.  The single "Bed Of Roses" went to #2 in Canada, #9 in the Netherlands and Switzerland and #10 in the United States, Australia and West Germany.

 

The group played in 177 shows in 37 countries, playing before 2.5 million fans. "In These Arms".

 

"Dry County" is a Top Track* that did find some fans catching on.  It reached #6 in Finland and #9 in the U.K.

 

In 1994, the group released the compilation album Cross Road.  The single "Always" achieved the rare feat of reaching the Top Five in every major country in the world and sold over two million copies.  Bon Jovi captured the Best-Selling Rock Band honors at the World Music Awards.

 However, Such was fired, replaced on bass by Hugh McDonald.  In 1995, Bon Jovi released the album These Days, which debuted at #1 in the U.K. and stayed at the top for four weeks.  The group once again dazzled audiences on a worldwide tour that included three sold out nights at Wembley Stadium in London. "This Ain't A Love Song" shot to #1 in Finland, #2 in Canada and #3 in the Netherlands.

 

The band took another another hiatus before recording the song "Real Life" for the movie EdTV.  In 2000, they released the album Crush.  The single "It's My Life" sold over two million copies in the United States but peaked at #33--some chart organization was asleep at the wheel.  Canada was the only other country in the world that didn't take the song inside the Top 10.  Bon Jovi were nominated for Best Rock Album and Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group for "It's My Life".  

Bon Jovi played two more sold-out shows at Wembley Stadium, the last concerts at the historic venue before it was demolished.  The group played before 1.1 million fans across North America, Europe and Japan.

The band wanted to take another vacation before working on their next album, but after the September 11, 2001 murders at the World Trade Centers, Bon Jovi and Sambora filmed Public Service Announcements for the Red Cross, recorded "America The Beautiful" for the National Football League and performed on the live telethon America:  A Tribute to Heroes.  
The next month, Bon Jovi performed at two Monmouth County Alliance of Neighbors concerts in New Jersey to raise funds for families affected by the World Trade Center disaster.  They then performed at the Concert for New York at Madison Square Garden to honor the first responders who worked to save lives during the attack and to raise relief funds for families who needed them.

In 2002, Bon Jovi released the album Bounce.  Another tour followed, in which the group was the last to play Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia before it was torn down.

In 2003, Bon Jovi rewrote and recorded 12 of their biggest hits and released it as This Left Feels Right.  

The next year, to commemorate the sale of 100 million albums as well as the 20th anniversary of Bon Jovi's first album in 1984, the group released the box set 100,000,000 Bon Jovi Fans can't Be Wrong.  At the end of the year, Bon Jovi received the Award of Merit at the American Music Awards.

 

In 2005, Bon Jovi released their 10th album, Have a Nice Day, which debuted at #2 in both the United States and the U.K. and peaked at #1 in 15 countries.  The title song was a Top 10 hit everywhere in the world except Ireland and the United States.  The latter oversight was the result of a cockeyed methodology by Billboard--it sold over one million copies but Billboard only ranked it #53! 

 

"(You Want To) Make A Memory" wasn't a much better example; it peaked at #27 in the U.S. and also went Gold.  The song reached the Top 10 in every country except the United States and the U.K.

 

A version of "Who Says You Can't Go Home" with Jennifer Nettles of Sugarland rose to #1 on the Country chart, as Bon Jovi became the first Hard Rock band to score a #1 Country hit.  Bon Jovi won Favorite Rock Song at the People's Choice Awards for this #5 smash.

Another wildly successful world tour followed, in which the band played to over two million fans and grossed $191 million, the third highest-grossing tour of the year behind the Rolling Stones and Madonna.

In 2007, Bon Jovi released the album Lost Highway.  They performed at the Live Earth concert at Giants Stadium, and also played dates in the United States, Canada, the U.K. and Japan.  The tour was the top-grossing of the year with ticket sales of $210.6 million.

"Till We Ain't Strangers Anymore", with LeAnn Rimes, won a Country Music Television Award for Collaborative Video of the Year and was nominated for Vocal Event of the Year at the Academy of Country Music Awards.

In 2009, Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora were honored with induction into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.  Later that year, Bon Jovi released the album The Circle, which debuted at #1 in the United States, Germany, Canada and Japan.  

The group played three sold-out shows at the New Meadowlands Stadium and 12 nights at the O2 Arena in London.  Once again, Bon Jovi finished 2010 with the highest-grossing tour of the year.  

The band released a greatest hits album including four new songs.  In 2012, Bon Jovi released the album Because We Can and toured North America, Europe, Africa, the Far East, Australia and Latin America.

But in April, Sambora left the band, although he has kept open the possibility of returning to Bon Jovi.  Phil X, who had played with the group from time to time, was named a full-time member.

Bon Jovi released the compilation album Burning Bridges in 2015 and the studio album This House Is Not For Sale in 2016.  Last year, the group released the album 2020.

The great New Jersey band scored 26 career hits, with 10 Top 10 songs and 4 #1's.

Bon Jovi has sold over 130 million albums and played over 2,700 concerts in 50 countries before over 34 million fan