The Only Condition Jon Bon Jovi Had To Accept To Start His Music Career

The artists whose names we all know today may have succeeded in their music careers, but most of them probably had to go through many stages before arriving at that point. They all wanted to get their music out there and heard by the masses somehow. The musicians naturally need some means to promote their artistry and build a fan base since developing an appealing image has a massive effect on the success they can achieve in their career.

It certainly requires considerable hard work, dedication, and struggles to achieve that spotlight. All musicians have their own unique success stories for finding a place for themselves in the music industry. There are many directions the artists may take to pursue their dreams of becoming a star. The charismatic frontman Jon Bon Jovi also needed to go through some phases to start his music career.

What Was The Condition Jon Bon Jovi Had To Accept To Launch His Music Career?

Jon Bon Jovi is known primarily for his outstanding vocal skills, but the singer is also an accomplished songwriter. He has always been involved in songwriting and put his signature on many Bon Jovi hits. He also collaborated with other songwriters, so maybe he wasn’t the only creator all the time, but he always took part in the whole process.

However, there was only one time he agreed not to take part in songwriting to be able to launch his music career. There are many opportunities for musicians to start their careers now, but they usually needed to work with the record labels in the past. The record labels run all the promotion, marketing, and distribution processes, which help the artists advance their careers and put forward some conditions.

At the beginning of his music career, Jon Bon Jovi made several demos and sent them to record companies. Then, he signed with Mercury Records for the release of his self-titled debut album. The singer revealed during an old interview that the record company agreed to sign a contract with him under the only condition that he needed to record a song that he did not write.

It was unusual since he always wrote his songs, but the frontman still accepted the record label’s condition. Otherwise, they wouldn’t sign a contract with him, and he wouldn’t be able to start his music career at the time. Jovi recorded that song for his debut album, but he regards it as one of his mistakes in his musical journey. Other than that song, he was involved in the songwriting of every song in every album.

When asked whether he wrote every song in his every record, Jon Bon Jovi replied:

“There was one song on one record, my first album, because an A&R guy told me, ‘If you do this song, we can sign you.’ I did it. It was one of those little mistakes I made. I wrote every other song on every other album.”

That song was ‘She Don’t Know Me,’ released as the second single from their self-titled debut album, ‘Bon Jovi.’ As the singer stated, it is the only release in Bon Jovi’s entire discography that was not written or co-written by a band member. Regardless of its songwriter, it charted at number 48 on the Billboard Hot 100 upon its release.

You can watch the full interview and listen to the song below.