Bon Jovi: When We Were Beautiful

By Bon Jovi

You think you know Bon Jovi, but you don't until you open this book. With gorgeous, exclusive photographs and revealing text from the band members themselves, Bon Jovi: When We Were Beautiful captures Jon, Richie, Dave, and Tico at both intimate moments and under the limelight in all aspects of their lives, from the private times backstage and on the road to their stunning and unforgettable live performances. Stretching back to the early days in Jersey, through successes and struggles, this book offers fans a dazzling portrait of rock stars on the road as they reflect on their twenty-five years together as a band of brothers. This insider's portrait of one of America's best-loved rock bands is the subject of a major documentary and this extraordinary book.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Open Road Integrated Media
• Release date: May 10, 2011
• ISBN: 9780062043771

Bon Jovi

Bon Jovi is the American rock band from Sayreville, New Jersey. Front man Jon Bon Jovi is lead singer, with Richie Sambora on guitar, David Bryan on keyboard, and Tico Torres on drums. Over the past twenty-five years, Bon Jovi has sold more than 120 million albums worldwide and 34 million in the United States.

Book preview

Lost Highway tour, end of show, XCEL Energy Center, St. Paul, MN, March 2008.

Phil Griffin

Title Page

Conversations with Phil Griffin

Whole Lot of Leavin’ portrait session, Minneapolis, MN, March 17, 2008.

Phil Griffin

When you have a song that becomes a part of people’s lives, forever marking memories, it’s nothing short of magic. It’s the closest thing to immortality we’ll ever know.

—Jon

Contents

Cover

Title Page

Epigraph

INTRODUCTION

JON

BAND OF BROTHERS

THE BEGINNING

THE BIG TIME

THE VISION

SHOULDER TO SHOULDER

RICHIE

THE SONGS

TICO

DAVID

THE SHOW

BACKSTAGE

BEYOND THE BAND

25 YEARS

Acknowledgments

About the Authors

Credits

Copyright

About the Publisher

INTRODUCTION

BY PHIL GRIFFIN

Lost Highway tour, Richie Sambora’s guitar rack, 2008.

Phil Griffin

It’s cold in Minnesota. It’s February 2007, a drafty hotel room, a tour-weary rock star and a somewhat juvenile British photographer. The guy behind the lens just wants to take a portrait. As with all life studies, you hope to capture the truth of the man. It’s different if the subject happens to have endured a million clicks and flashes over twenty-five years at the top of his game. I can’t help thinking it’s the last thing Jon Bon Jovi wants to do right now.

But ever the professional, Jon endured. Looking back to where this all began, it’s funny how one photograph, a stolen moment really, touched a nerve, inspired faith, and created an understanding between us. With that one image, never planned but always hoped for, Bon Jovi and I began a journey—a journey that has been inspiring, exciting, exhausting, and, at times, frustrating. Lets face it: You don’t simply go on the road with one of the biggest bands in the world and expect to be given free rein. Or do you?

The joke out on the tour was always that whenever I had my camera in my hand, I somehow slipped into an invisible cloak—like some lens-toting Frodo Baggins with his magic ring. For whatever reason, Jon just didn’t see me, Richie simply smiled, Tico winked, and Dave snarled his best keyboard king snarl.

It is the willingness of Jon, Richie, Tico, and Dave to let me in, let me be there, and let me take these pictures that has created the new material for this book. It is exciting for me to see the new and old share these pages. I hope it offers both a new perspective and a proud record of the past. It is, of course, both an honor and a responsibility, and I am doubly grateful that my pictures sit alongside the iconic images by Olaf Heine, Cynthia Levine, Mark Weiss, and all of the contributors to this anthology.

After our long trek on the Bon Jovi trail, making this book has taught me why this band is what it is. Why they have endured, why they are loved. It’s simple, really; they are a family.

Jon is a complicated fellow. Watching him as I have had to do has felt a little bit like spying on your brother. Not always comfortable, but a guilty pleasure nonetheless. It is Jon’s tireless drive and complexity that create such a perfect foil for Richie’s infectious enthusiasm. To my mind, this is what makes these guys such great partners. I am proud to have been let into just a small part of that very private brotherhood.

Watching this band thru a lens has been a great way of focusing on where their trust in each other was born. To me it comes from the avenues and alleyways of Jersey, in the bars and clubs of the neighborhoods of their youth. It’s in the fabric of the walls in Jon’s studio on the banks of the Navesink River. It’s in the strings of Richie’s guitars and in the backbone of Tico’s godfather-like presence at the back of the stage. These guys, much misunderstood but always steadfast in their identity, knew what their bottom line was—trust each other, tight-fist the world, and no one can break the circle.

I hope these pictures throw a light onto that truth. Each one has been chosen with care and pride. That’s what these guys do to you: They make you care, make you want just a little bit of that brotherhood, a small slice of the family pie that is the Bon Jovi way.

Talking of bottom lines, for me a truly great picture is indeed a stolen moment, a piece of a soul that once taken can never be given back. I am proud that Jon and his band have trusted me enough to let me steal pieces of their hearts to share with you.

—Phil Griffin, 2009

Lost Highway tour set lists, denoting which guitars Richie needs for which show, 2008.

Phil Griffin

JON

Whole Lot of Leavin’ portrait session, Minneapolis, MN, March 17, 2008.

Phil Griffin

As far as I’m concerned, the world began when Sinatra swooned, Presley swayed, the Beatles sang, She Loves You, and the Stones flaunted their sympathetic devil-may-care swagger. The rest of it just sort of happened.

Since the beginning of the rock ‘n’ roll era, the idea of being in, or around, a band gave you license to thrill, if not the masses then yourselves.

In a band, you always felt invincible. Why? Because you knew you were among brothers, comrades, gang members. And if you dared, if you believed, you were Rock Stars.

Any successful musician will tell you it takes equal parts talent, sweat, and swagger to make up the magic formula. Sure, there are ups and downs at every level of your career. But over time those ups and downs become memories, and

Reviews for Bon Jovi

[claire5555 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

An enjoyable insight to one of the biggest rock bands in the UK (Here in the UK we describe Bon Jovi as a rock band). A group that seems to have been around forever, and still as good. Fans of music will enjoy this book

[jo3jo_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Let me start by saying that if you are a Bon Jovi fan, this is a book that you will want to have on your coffee table. You can only imagine how tickled pink I was to open this book and find so many full page photographs from the very same concert that I attended in 2008! This book gives you an honest look into the lives of the band and the path they followed that brought them where they are today.As they look back at the beginning of their career it seems to me that when they hit it big, they hit it big fast. Although the stardom I'm sure was fun and exciting for them I think it was also hard having to keep up with such a fast pace. When they were doing those early tours they didn't even own homes but seemed to just live from hotel to hotel and I can't even imagine that. I also remember a period of time when you really didn't hear much about Bon Jovi. This would have been the time when they took a much needed break, and they talk about this time in the book. It was a tough time for everyone and I think they all seemed to have their own ideas for the future of the band.It was after this break when Jon approached the members and said that they need to get their minds in order before they can succeed as a band again, and that is when he suggested that they all see a 'shrink'. Even though they were pretty hesitant about this idea they went through with Jon's suggestion and found it was probably the best thing they could have ever done. This act put them on a path to better communication and let them realize that they all have different gifts to offer to the band.Jon shares with us in this book how important it is for him to write songs that move people. He also shares with us how he wants people to enjoy their songs just as much ten years from now as today. Well I am definitely hoping to see the documentary that this book was made to accompany. I am probably biased because I have been a Bon Jovi fan since high school in the eighties, but they are still my favorite! Unfortunately, because of my location I did not have the opportunity to see Bon Jovi live back then. I wasn't able to go to my first show until a couple of years ago, and I can tell you one thing that I said: "I will never miss seeing this band again!" It truly was an amazing concert and if you enjoy their music you will not be disappointed! They have successfully reached out to all generations because when I looked around that arena I saw ages of people that ranged fifty years. And I also want to say that they put on the best show that I have ever seen! So I think you can tell from my review that I enjoyed this book, and if you enjoy Bon Jovi I think you will also.

[phoenixcomet · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

There should be 2 ratings for When We Were Beautiful - one for the fantastic and moving photos of the band, and one for the content. As far as content goes, you really do not learn anything about Bon Jovi other than they truly are a band of brothers. They stand together and have for 25 years now and will continue to do so for however long they last. Jon is, hands-down, the visionary of the band and leads the way for Tico, David and Richie. Truly enjoyable.