Bon Jovi 2000s
 Once the band began playing showcases and opening for local talent, they caught the attention of record executive Derek Shulman, who signed John to Mercury Records, part of the PolyGram company. Because John wanted a group name, Jerry Jaffe, head of A&R at PolyGram, came up with Bon Jovi, changing the spelling and rationalizing that it had the cadence of Van Halen and also seemed to make an oblique reference to AC/DC's, Bon Scott. The band didn't really like it. (Manager Doc McGhee scoffed that it made the band sound like French ice cream). But within a week it was adopted without much fanfare. Also, John then removed the 'h' in his first name to make it Jon.
With the help of their new manager Doc McGhee, the band's debut album, Bon Jovi, was released on January 21, 1984. The album went gold in the US (sales of over 500,000) and was also released in the UK. The group found themselves opening for ZZ Top at the Madison Square Garden (before their first album had been released), and for Scorpions and Kiss in Europe. They also made an appearance on the popular television program American Bandstand.
In 1985, Bon Jovi's second album 7800?Fahrenheit was released. While embarking on a tour opening up for Ratt, the album received a poor response by critics. The leading British metal magazine Kerrang!, who had been very positive about the debut record, called the album a pale imitation of the Bon Jovi we have got to know and learned to love. Jon Bon Jovi himself later said it could have and should have been better. The band members, in later interviews, have said they will not perform any songs off that album anymore.
The turning point came when they brought in songwriter Desmond Child for their third album, Slippery When Wet. With Child co-writing many of their hits, the band shot to super-stardom around the world with songs You Give Love a Bad Name, Livin' On A Prayer, and Wanted Dead or Alive. Bon Jovi has said the album was named after the ubiquitous highway warning signs, but Bryan has said the following about the album's title:
During the recording of the record we frequently wound up in a striptease club where incredibly good looking girls were putting water and soap on each other. They became so slippery because of that, that you couldn't hold on to them even if you wanted to really bad. 'Slippery when wet!' one of us yelled out and the rest of us immediately knew: that had to be the title of the new album! Originally we were going to put a picture of some huge breasts, the really big ones, on the cover; but when the PMRC [a moral board chaired by Tipper Gore, wife of future Vice President Al Gore ] found out, we were in big trouble. So we made it into a very decent cover.
The album has sold in excess of 26 million copies worldwide since its release in late 1986. In 1987, the band headlined England's Monsters of Rock festival with Dio, Metallica, W.A.S.P., Anthrax, and Cinderella. The tour took its toll on singer Jon Bon Jovi when he began having vocal difficulties. The extremely high notes and unrelenting schedule threatened to damage his voice permanently. With the help of a vocal coach, he made it through the tour. Bon Jovi has tended to sing slightly lower pitches since then.
The next album was 1988's New Jersey. The album was recorded very shortly after the tour for Slippery, because the band wanted to prove that they were not just a one hit wonder. The resulting album is considered a fan favorite, a pop-metal masterpiece, and was a mammoth commercial success, with hit songs Bad Medicine, Lay Your Hands on Me and I'll Be There for You, which are still in their live repertoire. New Jersey was a commercial smash and became the first hard rock album to spawn five Top Ten singles. Bad Medicine and I'll Be There for You both hit number one, and Born to Be My Baby (#3), Lay Your Hands on Me (#7), and Living in Sin (#9) rounded out the list.
New Jersey was supported by video releases such as New Jersey: The Videos and Access All Areas, as well as a massive 18-month tour, originally billed as The Jersey Syndicate Tour. In 1989, the band headlined the Moscow Music Peace Festival along with the Scorpions, Ozzy Osbourne, M?tley Cr?e, and Skid Row. Despite the band achieving massive success, New Jersey almost led to the end of the band as they went straight back out on the road so soon after the heavy touring for their previous album. This constant living on the road tested the strong bond between Jon Bon Jovi and Sambora. As mentioned in Behind the Music, at the end of the tour, each band member went their own way and departed in separate jets. It was during this time that Sambora offered the lead singer position to Billy Rogers, known for his hit single with Ike Turner, I'm Blue. However, the band made it through and took a healthy break before their next studio effort. To date, the album has sold 18 million copies worldwide.
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