Jon Bon Jovi “wasn’t that impressed” with ‘Livin’ On a Prayer’ when it was first written.
The Bon Jovi frontman 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.
He told People magazine: “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.
“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.
“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 the 62-year-old singer also admitted he wasn’t keen on 1994’s ‘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.”
Meanwhile, Jon expressed his gratitude for the brotherly bond he shares with fellow performer Bruce Springsteen, 74.
He said: “Our connection is deep, on a whole different level of friendship, because how many guys can talk like we can talk, in close quarters, about life and love and loss?
“Our relationship is deep, and he’s a dear friend of mine, and he really is like a big brother.”