Bon Jovi Read Online Free PDF Page A

Heine
     

     
Aboard One Wild Night tour plane, somewhere over California, March 2001.
Cynthia Levine
     

     
Meatpacking District, New York, NY, December 9, 1999.
Olaf Heine
     

     
Lost Highway Tour, XCEL Energy Center, St. Paul, MN, March 2008.
Phil Griffin
     

     
Lost Highway tour, Punchestown Racecourse, Dublin, Ireland, June 7, 2008.
Phil Griffin
     

RICHIE
     
     
     
Lost Highway tour, XCEL Energy Center, St. Paul, MN, March 2008.
Phil Griffin
     
    My dear friend, My right hand, Guitar player extraordinaire, The consigliere, Richie Sambora.
—Jon
     
    A few years back, we started writing a “proper” band biography. The publishers wanted a tell-all and we were determined to tell nothing. No one was saying a word so we scrapped the idea. But in a way, that says all you need to know about this band.
    Through the movie and this book, we’re finally inviting people to witness the relationships between the band members and also between the public and the songs Jon and I have written. The connection people feel to our songwriting is part of what has kept us relevant over so many years. I feel so privileged to be a part of the soundtrack of people’s lives.
    The relationship between Jon, Tico, David, and me is a very special bond. It began as we fought to build a career and navigate the ever-changing waters of the music business together. It grew as we each battled our mutual and personal angels and demons. At different times, we were there to pick each other up, lend an ear, or offer a shoulder to lean on. We’ve spent more time together than with our families and that definitively makes us a family.
    Jon and I find ourselves closer than ever now; it’s an anomaly the record business has never seen before. That Mick and Keith thing? It was a power struggle that never happened to us. We’re tighter now, after twenty-six years of brotherhood and friendship.
    Every night I walk onto the stage, look over my shoulder, and see Tico and Dave. I’m proud as hell to know I’m playing with the best musicians, my brothers. Jon, in my opinion, on any given night is the best front man in the business. I have such mad respect and love for all my bandmates. It is truly an honor.
    I feel an enormous responsibility to the band, and especially the fans who come to see us from city to city, country to country, and all over the world. Every night, I give 100 percent of my heart onstage. I’m grateful for that opportunity. I thank you.
    I’m excited, not just about the new album but about the future of Bon Jovi. We plan to maintain the integrity and dignity of our songwriting and record-making process and the journey will continue, searching for the evolution of what the band will be.
    —Richie
    I feel so privileged to be a part of the soundtrack of people’s lives.
—Richie
     

     
One Wild Night tour, The Schott, Columbus, OH, May 4, 2001.
Sam Erickson
     

     
Lost Highway tour, Punchestown Racecourse, Dublin, Ireland, June 7, 2008.
Phil Griffin
     

     
New Jersey tour, 1989.
Mark “WEISSGUY” Weiss/www.markweiss.com
     

     
Slippery When Wet tour, 1987.
Neil Zlozower
     

THE SONGS
     
     
     
Sanctuary Sound II, Middletown, NJ, April 2009.
Phil Griffin (2009)
     
    JON: The best part of this whole process to me is writing the song, seeing it on a piece of paper.
    Then the second phase is recording it and seeing if it came out as good as it was in theory. And then, of course, you want to tour it.
    What I try to do—and I realize that I do this to a fault—is I try to find the optimism. I don’t like to write the downer song. I have, but I don’t typically because I want to use the moment for the people who are listening to find something to lift them up.
    The recurring theme of eternal optimism seems to be my niche. I’m living there. I’m very, very comfortable in knowing that niche is mine. Bon Jovi have our thing.
    Art is subjective. It shouldn’t make my music any more important or less important than