John Francis Bongiovi Jr. was born March 2nd, 1962 at 8:45 pm in Perth Amboy, New Jersey, USA. He grew up in Sayreville. He was in previous bands such as Raze, Atlantic City Expressway (ACE), The Rest, John Bongiovi and the wild ones. Before the band, he worked in pizzarias, shoestores, sold burgers, worked in a autobodyshop and washed cars. He finally got his big break when WAPT, a local radio station, liked "Runaway", and included it on a compilation album. New York radio stations began playing it, so Jon needed to get a band together. Bon Jovi was finally complete when bass player Alec John Such introduced guitarist Richie Sambora to Jon. The band was named after Jon, but with the phonetic spelling of "Bon Jovi". Jon and the band have since experienced tremendous success with their music. Jon married his high school sweetheart, Dorothea Hurley, and they have two children - Stephanie Rose, and Jesse James Louis.