Editing Bon Jovi (section)

===''Bon Jovi'', {{proper name|''7800° Fahrenheit''}}, ''Slippery When Wet'' and ''New Jersey'' (1984–1989)===
[[File:Gentle Giant.jpg|thumb|right|[[Derek Shulman]], who signed Bon Jovi to their first record deal]]
Once the band began playing showcases and opening for local talent, they caught the attention of record executive [[Derek Shulman]], who signed them to [[Mercury Records]] and who was part of the [[PolyGram]] company. Because Jon Bon Jovi wanted a group name, Pamela Maher, a friend of Richard Fischer and an employee of [[Doc McGhee]], suggested they call themselves Bon Jovi, following the example of the other famous two-word bands such as [[Van Halen]]. This name was chosen instead of the original idea of Johnny Electric. Pamela's suggestion of the name was met with little enthusiasm, but two years later they hit the charts under that name.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Henry |first=Big Joe HenryBig Joe |date=2020-06-26 |title=The time Bon Jovi almost named themselves Johnny Electric |url=https://nj1015.com/a-jersey-band-gets-signed-and-almost-calls-themselves-johnny-electric-this-week-in-music-history/ |access-date=2024-11-16 |website=New Jersey 101.5 |language=en}}</ref>

With the help of their new manager [[Doc McGhee]] they recorded the band's debut album, ''[[Bon Jovi (album)|Bon Jovi]]'', which was released on January 21, 1984. The album included the band's first hit single, "[[Runaway (Bon Jovi song)|Runaway]]", reaching the top forty on the [[Billboard Hot 100|''Billboard'' Hot 100]]. The album peaked at number forty-three on the [[Billboard 200|''Billboard'' 200]] album chart. The group soon found itself opening for [[Scorpions (band)|Scorpions]] in U.S. and for [[Kiss (band)|Kiss]] in Europe.{{citation needed|date=December 2019}}

In 1985, Bon Jovi's second album, {{proper name|''[[7800° Fahrenheit]]''}}, was released. The band released three singles: "[[Only Lonely]]", "[[In and Out of Love (Bon Jovi song)|In and Out of Love]]" and the ballad "[[Silent Night (Bon Jovi song)|Silent Night]]".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://music.apple.com/us/album/7800%C2%BA-fahrenheit/927202862|title=7800º Fahrenheit Bon Jovi|website=[[iTunes]]|date=March 27, 1985 }}</ref> The album peaked at number thirty-seven on the ''Billboard'' 200 and was certified Gold by [[RIAA]].<ref name="Bon Jovi Bio"/> While the album did not sell as well as the band had hoped, it allowed Bon Jovi to get out on the road touring again. In May 1985, Bon Jovi headlined venues in Japan and Europe. At the end of the European tour, the band began a six-month run of U.S. tour dates supporting [[Ratt]]. In the midst of that tour, they appeared at the Texas Jam and Castle Donington's [[Monsters of Rock]] concerts in England. The band also performed at the first [[Farm Aid]] in 1985.{{Citation needed|date=October 2024}}

[[File:Jonathan King with Jon Bon Jovi.jpg|thumb|Producer Jonathan King with Jon Bon Jovi in 1987]]
After two moderately successful albums, the group changed its approach and hired professional songwriter [[Desmond Child]] as a collaborator. [[Bruce Fairbairn]] was chosen to produce and, in early 1986, Bon Jovi moved to Vancouver, Canada to spend six months recording a third album. They named it ''[[Slippery When Wet]]'' after visiting a [[strip club]] in Vancouver.<ref name="TV">{{cite web |title=Bon Jovi: Summary |url=http://www.tv.com/bon-jovi/person/591904/summary.html |work=TV.com |publisher=CBS Interactive |access-date=June 1, 2009 |archive-date=March 19, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120319090906/http://www.tv.com/people/bon-jovi/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> On August 16, 1986, ''Slippery When Wet'' was released and it spent eight weeks atop the [[Billboard 200|''Billboard'' 200]].<ref>{{cite magazine|url={{BillboardURLbyName |artist=bon jovi |chart=all}} |title=Slippery When Wet – Bon Jovi|magazine=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]] |access-date=January 13, 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.riaa.com/newsitem.php?content_selector=newsandviews&news_month_filter=9&news_year_filter=2000&id=8FE9018F-4FD8-8A99-C464-ED5774E23BF3 |title=Diamonds Are a 'Chicks' Best Friend |publisher=RIAA |access-date=September 18, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131013203039/http://www.riaa.com/newsitem.php?content_selector=newsandviews&news_month_filter=9&news_year_filter=2000&id=8FE9018F-4FD8-8A99-C464-ED5774E23BF3 |archive-date=October 13, 2013 }}</ref> The first two singles from the album, "[[You Give Love a Bad Name (song)|You Give Love a Bad Name]]" and "[[Livin' on a Prayer]]", both hit number one on the [[Billboard Hot 100|''Billboard'' Hot 100]].<ref name=allmusicsingles>{{cite web |url={{AllMusic|class=artist|id=p3734/charts-awards/billboard-singles|pure_url=yes}}|title=Bon Jovi > Charts & Awards > ''Billboard'' Singles|publisher=[[AllMusic]]. [[Rovi Corporation|Macrovision]]|access-date=July 28, 2009}}</ref> ''Slippery When Wet'' was named 1987's top-selling album by ''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]'',<ref name="billboard">{{cite magazine |url=https://www.billboard.com/charts/year-end/1987/the-billboard-200 |title=1987 |magazine=Billboard.com |access-date=July 18, 2011 |archive-date=July 20, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150720063231/http://www.billboard.com/charts/year-end/1987/the-billboard-200 |url-status=dead }}</ref> and "Livin' On A Prayer" won an [[MTV Video Music Award]] for Best Stage Performance.<ref name="metrolyrics.com">{{cite web|url=http://www.metrolyrics.com/1987-mtv-video-music-awards.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110722121932/http://www.metrolyrics.com/1987-mtv-video-music-awards.html|archive-date=July 22, 2011|url-status=unfit |title=Metrolyrics.com |publisher=Metrolyrics.com |date=September 11, 1987 |access-date=July 18, 2011}}</ref> The band won an award for Favorite Pop/Rock Band at the [[American Music Awards]]<ref name="american-music-awards">{{cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=k_YaAAAAIBAJ&pg=3222,293008&dq=bon+jovi+american+music+awards |title=Rockin' on music awards night |date=February 2, 1988 |access-date=July 18, 2011}}</ref> and an award for Favorite Rock Group at the [[People's Choice Awards]].<ref name="1988 People's Choice Ödülleri">{{cite web|url=http://www.peopleschoice.com/pca/awards/nominees/index.jsp?year=1988 |title=1988 Pcavote.com |publisher=Peopleschoice.com |access-date=July 18, 2011}}</ref> When ''Slippery When Wet'' was released in August 1986, Bon Jovi was the support act for [[38 Special (band)|38 Special]]. By the end of 1986, Bon Jovi were well into six months of headline dates in arenas across America. In August 1987, they headlined England's [[Monsters of Rock]] festival.{{Citation needed|date=October 2024}} During their set, [[Dee Snider]], [[Bruce Dickinson]] and [[Paul Stanley]] guested to perform "[[We're an American Band (song)|We're an American Band]]". The band ended the year having headlined 130 shows in the "Tour Without End", grossing $28,400,000.{{Citation needed|date=October 2024}} Asked what this breakthrough to worldwide fame meant, Jon Bon Jovi said, "Everything is bigger, and it moves twice as fast. You're recognized twice as often. This is bigger, the whole world gets bigger. You have to sell more records, be huger. You get smarter and you understand the business a little more, so it's more responsibility. You understand it now, and you want to make sure everything goes right".{{citation needed|date=December 2019}}

Determined to prove that the success of ''Slippery When Wet'' was not a fluke, Bon Jovi released their fourth effort, ''[[New Jersey (album)|New Jersey]]'', in September 1988 which peaked at number one in the U.S., Canada, UK, Ireland, New Zealand and Australia.{{Citation needed|date=October 2024}} The album produced five Top 10 hits on the Billboard Hot 100, giving Bon Jovi the record for the most Top 10 singles spawned by a hard rock album.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ssmusic.tv/artist_profile.php?Opt=2&Language=&artId=20070500010|title=SS MUSIC > Bon Jovi|publisher=SS MUSIC|access-date=January 13, 2010|url-status=usurped|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080530183755/http://www.ssmusic.tv/artist_profile.php?Opt=2&Language=&artId=20070500010|archive-date=May 30, 2008}}</ref> Two of the hits, "[[Bad Medicine (song)|Bad Medicine]]" and "[[I'll Be There for You (Bon Jovi song)|I'll Be There for You]]", reached number one.<ref name=bjbio>{{cite magazine|url={{BillboardURLbyName|artist=bon jovi|bio=true}}|title=Bon Jovi Biography > ''Billboard.com''|magazine=Billboard.com|access-date=January 13, 2010}}</ref> The album's three other singles, "[[Born to Be My Baby]]", "[[Lay Your Hands on Me (Bon Jovi song)|Lay Your Hands on Me]]", and "[[Living in Sin (song)|Living in Sin]]", reached the top ten.{{Citation needed|date=October 2024}} Bon Jovi made the news when the video for "Living In Sin" was banned by MTV for sexual content; after the video was re-edited, MTV put it in heavy rotation.<ref name="Bon Jovi Bio"/> Bon Jovi mounted another huge worldwide tour that continued throughout 1989 and 1990. They visited more than 22 countries and performed more than 232 shows. On June 11, 1989, the band performed a homecoming concert at [[Giants Stadium]] in New Jersey; the venue was sold out.{{Citation needed|date=October 2024}} In August 1989, the band headed to the Soviet Union for the [[Moscow Music Peace Festival]]. Bon Jovi were officially sanctioned by the Soviet government to perform in the Soviet Union, and ''[[New Jersey (album)|New Jersey]]''  was legally released in the [[USSR]].<ref name="on this day historyking">{{cite web| title=On This Day |url=http://www.on-this-day.com/onthisday/thedays/music/aug14.htm  |work=Historyking.com |access-date=June 1, 2009}}</ref>{{Better source needed|reason=The current source is insufficiently reliable ([[WP:NOTRS]]).|date=October 2024}}

In the [[1989 MTV Video Music Awards]], Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora performed acoustic versions of "Livin' on a Prayer" and "Wanted Dead or Alive". While [[MTV Unplugged]] was already in development by the time of this event, its [[showrunners]] have credited the pair's performance with influencing the show to go from initially being meant only for "young, up-and-coming artists" into being a simplified showcase for the "big, stadium, electric-arena-type acts".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.theringer.com/2017/09/07/music/mtv-unplugged-nirvana-don-henley-paul-mccartney |title=Nirvana, Lauryn Hill, and Faxes From Don Henley: Behind the Scenes at the Original 'MTV Unplugged' |work=The Ringer |last=Harvilla |first=Rob |date=September 7, 2017 |access-date=April 22, 2025}}</ref>

The exhaustion of recording ''Slippery When Wet'' and ''New Jersey'' back to back and going on highly paced world tours took its toll. By the end of the ''New Jersey'' tour, the band had 16 months of concerts under its belt. The bandmates were exhausted physically, mentally and emotionally. Following the final tour date in Mexico, and without any clear plans for their future, the members of the band simply went home.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://melodic-hardrock.com/bios/bon-jovi/|title=Bon Jovi|website=Melodic-hardrock.com}}</ref> The band has since stated that there were few if any goodbyes between them. During the time they took off from the scene, members of the band retreated to [[#Solo projects|their own projects]] and showed no desire to make another album.<ref name="Bon Jovi Bio"/>