ONLY ONE AVAILABLE! READY TO SHIP Jon Bon Jovi pendant with ferrule (circle), made out of Jon’s used/played silver colored guitar string. Designed by 2x breast cancer survivor Elisa Guida, the pendant is app. 1 and 5/8″ in length. The pendant includes a 16, 18 or 20″ stainless steel chain. As noted in the description – FCS Pendant is Ready to Ship and will leave my studio in 5 – 7 days.
Lots of people have moments when they say, “it’s come full circle.”
That is what inspired me to do the “Full Circle Series.”
“The literary or philosophical meaning of life coming full circle often means completing a cycle and a return to the beginnings of something. Like a closure to something.”
As I fast approach a milestone at the end of this year, entering my seventh decade, knowing I still have a lot of famous musician’s strings, I do not want to have these left when the time runs out. What do I mean by that, being a jeweler takes its toll on your body and there will be a time when I will no longer be able to do my craft. So, I am making “circles” and they will be very affordable. You will be able to own a piece of “Musical History” should you choose to do so.
When you wear your pendant, you can think of one of your “full circle moments” and feel joy.
ONLY ONE AVAILABLE! READY TO SHIP Jon Bon Jovi pendant with ferrule (circle), made out of Jon’s used/played silver colored guitar string. Designed by 2x breast cancer survivor Elisa Guida, the pendant is app. 1 and 5/8″ in length. The pendant includes a 16, 18 or 20″ stainless steel chain. As noted in the description – FCS Pendant is Ready to Ship and will leave my studio in 5 – 7 days. Make sure to view the pictures of the pendant in the gallery.
John Francis Bongiovi Jr was born in New Jersey and was then raised in nearby Sayreville. Both of Jon’s parents – Carol Sharkey and John Sr – were US Marines.
Jon Bon Jovi
Jon spent most of his adolescence bunking school to opt for music activities instead and he ended up playing in local bands with friends and his cousin Tony who owned the then famous New York recording studio, the Power Station. As a result, his academic records displayed less than spectacular achievements and poor grades.
After leaving school, Jon was hired as a janitor and thanks to his family connections he was lucky enough to record musical demos with several famous musicians at the Power Station studios. One demo in particular, Runaway caught the attention of the local New Jersey radio station and Jon recruited a band to support the song. Soon the band attracted a record company bidding war with some major labels and upon signing to Mercury/Polygram in 1983, the band became known as Bon Jovi – a diversion from his real surname in order to generate a wider audience fan base due to its disconnection with Jon’s true Italian ethnicity.
Bon Jovi’s first studio album, self-titled, went gold in the charts and Runaway became their first Top 40 hit. It was at this time that Jon’s cousin Tony Bongiovi apparently sued Jon and the band by claiming that he’d been responsible for their creation and unique sound. The case was reportedly settled out of court in 1986.
In 1985, the band’s second album 7800 Fahrenheit was released and also gained a gold record sale status yet Jon and his co-members felt that their fame wasn’t at the level they were hoping for.
To aim for higher success, Bon Jovi enlisted the help of professional songwriter Desmond Child to work on their sound for their next album, Slippery When Wet. As a fresh approach, the group wrote a total of 30 songs and auditioned them for local teenagers in New Jersey and New York to enable them to base the final running order of the album on their opinions.
The release of the finished work in 1986 was the huge hit the band had been waiting for. Slippery When Wet went on to sell nine million copies in just the USA and two songs in particular, You Give Love A Bad Name and Livin’ On A Prayer hit the number one slot in the singles chart. Finally, Bon Jovi had become the worldwide musical superstars they had been dreaming of.
Following the group’s success, Jon Bon Jovi was asked to assist in producing Cher’s ‘comeback’ album, Cher, as a solo influence. Jon co-wrote and sang backing vocals on Cher’s single We All Sleep Alone and also produced several other tracks on the album, later going on to co-produce Cher’s best-selling multi-platinum album Heart of Stone in 1987.
In 1989, Jon married his high school sweetheart Dorothea Hurley and the couple remain together today, with four children.
Shortly before his marriage to Dorothea, Jon made his first film appearance in The Return of Bruno (1988), a move that would see his long-term love of music also become equally paired with a career in acting.
Meanwhile, Bon Jovi’s fourth album New Jersey was released in September of the same year. The album topped the American Billboard charts for a month and included five Top 10 singles. As a result of the success, the band embarked on an 18-month tour around the world.
After the long tour, the band took a well-earned break and during this time Jon wrote the soundtrack for Young Guns II (which he took an unaccredited cameo acting part in also). The film and album were released in 1990 and gave Jon his first solo number one single with the hit Blaze of Glory. The soundtrack also peaked at number three in the charts and Jon’s input was recognized with both Grammy and Academy Award nominations plus a Golden Globe win for Best Original Song. A second single from the film’s soundtrack album, Miracle, also had a successful release in reaching the number 12 chart position and featured a then unknown Matt LeBlanc in the video.
Jon reunited with the rest of his band members in 1992 with their new work, Keep The Faith. The album didn’t manage to meet the success of the group’s previous two hit releases and spent only a fortnight in the top 10.
In 1994, Bon Jovi released a greatest hits album, Cross Road. The collection featured two new songs, Always and These Days which both were successful single releases, most notably throughout Europe and in Britain than the US. Read the complete bio here
