And the Hello and welcome to this very special edition of Soda Jaker on songwriting. I'm Brian O'Connor, accompanied

as ever by my co-host Simon Barber and we hope you're all keeping safe and well.

Joining us for episode 190 is a legendary American singer and songwriter not to mention philanthropist and

sometime actor who's best known as the founder and frontman of one of the most successful

beloved and enduring rock bands on the planet.

Not only is he responsible for more fist pumping rock anthems than you can

shake a stick at. He's also a Grammy winner and member of both the songwriters and Rock and Roll

halls of fame. His band has sold over 130 million albums worldwide, also notching up seven number one singles and innumerable top 10 hits.

We are beyond giddy to welcome the one and only John Bon Jovi to the show.

In October 2020 Bon Jovi released their 15th studio album entitled

Aptly Enough 2020. It was originally due in May but was pushed back due to the

pandemic and instead of sitting on his hands

John used the postponement to continue work on the album, writing new songs for it in order to address

the current social and political situation in the US.

What a thrill it is to have John on the pod, I know. We've said it many times before,

but it never gets any less exciting to speak to these people who we grew up listening to on the radio

and watching on MTV as teenagers.

Yeah, actually my first memory of Bon Jovia is hearing my big sister playing them on our

cassette player in our shared bedroom when I was about seven or eight I think.

She was nine years older than me and still is.

And they're very much into a rock and heavy metal at the time.

I seem to remember we also had the New Jersey video collection on VHS.

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