What is a party without Bon Jovi hit Livin’ On A Prayer blasting? Well, it turns out Jon Bon Jovi ‘wasn’t that impressed’ with the band’s iconic single when it was first written.
The legendary frontman, 62, admitted he ‘was wrong’ with his original assessment of the 1986 chart-topping single, which went on to become one of the group’s most famous hits, but he’s glad they were able to work on developing the track into what it became.
The single was the band’s first number one song on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart and has since been certified triple platinum for over three million digital downloads worldwide.
‘It wasn’t that I didn’t want to record it, but I wasn’t all that impressed on the day that we wrote it,’ he said.
‘It was the simple chord progression, the melodies and the lyrics [at first]. But the bass line came to life in the demo studio, when we took it back to the band and worked it up. That’s how it became what it is.’
Jon continued to People Magazine: ‘We knew what we wanted, we just didn’t have it, and so I was like, “Yeah, it’s good. Good day. Good day at the office,” and I was wrong. It’s one of the biggest songs in our catalogue.’
And that’s not all, with the singer also admitting he wasn’t keen on the band’s hit 1994 track Always and was ready to shelve the track.
Noting it is ‘also one of our biggest songs ever’, Jon recalled: ‘When I’d written that, we demoed it for a movie, that I had written it for, and thought, “Yeah, that’s not very good.” Put it on the shelf, and an A+R guy, who was a friend of ours, was listening to some of those lost songs, and he said, ‘You know, this is a monster hit.’ He was right.’
The power ballad, released in 1994, sold a million copies in the US and more than three million worldwide and reached number four on the US Billboard Top 100 chart.
It comes as the singer revealed he’s not sure when he will tour again after undergoing major surgery.
The rocker – whose son is preparing to marry Stranger Things star Millie Bobby Brown – is being forced to take it easy after undergoing surgery nearly two years ago for an ‘atrophied’ vocal cord.
While he’s been able to get through creating the band’s 18th studio album, Forever, he’s since admitted: ‘I don’t know about a tour.’
‘It is my desire to do a tour next year, but I’m just still recovering from a major surgery,’ he told Boston’s Mix 104.1.
‘I’m well on the road to recovery and was able to take my time and do a song a day when I made the record,’ he said, but declared his ‘need’ was to be able to perform for ‘two-and-a-half hours a night four nights a week for months on end.’
He described the new album to Ultimate Classic Rock magazine as something he had to ‘work through a lot of dark misery’ to achieve.
Got a story?
If you’ve got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the Metro.co.uk entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@metro.co.uk, calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we’d love to hear from you.
MORE : Harvey Weinstein hospitalised in New York days after overturning of rape conviction
MORE : 1980s celebrities who have barely aged in 40 years
