Few bands personified the era of pop-metal like Bon Jovi. By merging Def Leppard's loud but melodic metal with Bruce Springsteen's working-class sensibilities, the New Jersey-based quintet developed an ingratiatingly melodic and professional variation of hard rock -- one that appeal as much to teenagers as to housewives. Bon Jovi skillfully employed professional songwriters to give their songs, particularly their power ballads, an appropriately profitable sheen, inaugurate a trend that dominated mainstream hard rock and metal for the next decade. Bon Jovi also made easy presentation videos that emphasize lead singer Jon Bon Jovi's photogenic good looks, and these clips helped propel 1986's Slippery When Wet and 1988's New Jersey into multi-platinum status around the world. Both records were criticized for being more pop than metal, as well as life form targeted toward teenyboppers, yet the group managed to subtly change its image in the early '90s, moving away from metal and intent on straightforward arena rock and big ballads. The shift in style worked, and Bon Jovi were the only American pop-metal band of the '80s to retain a great audience in the '90s.

Jon Bongiovi spent most of his teenage years ditching school to play rock & roll, typically in local bands with his friend David Rashbaum. Bongiovi's cousin Tony owned the famous New York recording studio the Power Station, which was where Jon hung out. Bongiovi's was hired as a janitor, and soon he was recording demos at the Power Station with several well-known musicians, including members of the E Street Band and Aldo Nova. One of these demos, "Runaway," became a hit on local New Jersey radio, and Bongiovi formed Bon Jovi to hold up the song, recruiting not only Rashbaum, but also guitarist Dave Sabo, bassist Alec John Such, and drummer Tico Torres. Soon, Bon Jovi was the subject of a major-label bidding war, and the group -- or, according to some reports, just Bongiovi -- signed to Polygram/Mercury in 1983. Upon signing, Jon distorted his last name to Bon Jovi in order to de-emphasize his ethnic background, and Rashbaum adopted his middle name Bryan as his last name. Before the group enter the studio, Bon Jovi replaced Sabo with Richie Sambora.

Bon Jovi's eponymous debut album was released in 1984, and "Runaway" became a Top 40 hit. Next its success, Tony Bongiovi sued the band, claiming he developed their winning sound; the group settled out of court. The next year, 7800 Fahrenheit was released and went gold. Despite the band's respectable success, Bon Jovi weren't flattering the superstars they had hoped, and they changed their approach for their next album, Slippery When Wet. Hiring professional songwriter Desmond Child as a collaborator, the group wrote 30 songs and auditioned them for local New Jersey and New York teenagers; base the album's running order on their opinions. After ditching the original cover of a busty woman in a wet T-shirt for the title traced in water on a garbage bag, Slippery When Wet was released in 1986. support by several appealing, straightforward videos that showcased the photogenic Jon, the album finally sold nine million copies in the U.S. alone, helping usher in the era of pop-metal. Two songs, "You Give Love a Bad Name" and "Livin' on a Prayer," reach number one, while "Wanted Dead or Alive" reached the Top Ten, and Bon Jovi were established as superstars.