Unplanned Brilliance: The Wild Ride of Jon Bon Jovi’s ‘Blaze of Glory’!

Songwriters often jump at the chance to write from the perspective of characters different from themselves, since it opens up all kinds of artistic possibilities. For a guy who was coming from the pressure of leading the biggest band in the world at the time, that opportunity must have been particularly cherished.

Such was the situation in which Jon Bon Jovi found himself in 1990. And it led to his impromptu decision to release “Blaze of Glory,” his first song separate from his Platinum band and a track that immediately proved his Midas touch at the time could work even in a solo setting.

“Glory” Road

Things couldn’t have been much rosier for the band Bon Jovi as the ’80s came to a close. Their previous two albums had both topped the Billboard charts, and they were touring the world to sellout audiences. But the grind of reaching the top, combined with the unrelenting schedule, convinced them they needed to take a little break.

At the conclusion of their tour behind their 1988 album New Jersey, that’s just what they did. Jon Bon Jovi, the group’s frontman, did not intend at first to go out looking for solo opportunities. Instead, a chance sort of fell into his lap.

Bon Jovi was friends with actor Emilio Estevez. Estevez was in the process of making the film Young Guns II, a sequel to the 1988 hit that retold the Billy the Kid saga with hot young actors at the time. Estevez was hoping the movie could use “Wanted Dead or Alive,” the hit song by Jon’s band, in the film. Instead, the request sparked the singer’s creative juices.

Trailing the “Blaze”

Bon Jovi didn’t think “Wanted Dead or Alive” was all that good a fit for the film, since the Western images in the song were simply metaphors for the life of a touring rock and roll band. Instead, he volunteered to write a new song for the film that would hew closer to the story, which is how he created “Blaze of Glory.”

He didn’t do it alone. Aldo Nova, the Canadian rocker who had once scored a minor hit with the song “Fantasy,” helped with the main riff. Although Jon is credited as the song’s chief writer, he paid Nova back by helping him release an album on the Bon Jovi vanity label.

Bon Jovi, who was used to the guitar expertise of Richie Sambora in his day-job band, called on another hero of the instrument, Jeff Beck, to play the slide guitar in the track. Jon would end up doing the entire Young Guns II soundtrack album, which ended up receiving a boost from “Blaze of Glory” and going all the way to the top of the U.S. singles charts in 1990.

What is “Blaze of Glory” About?

“Blaze of Glory” does a nice job of capturing the ethos of an outlaw who knows his days are numbered. This is the only way he knows how to live, and he embraces it with gusto: I’m a devil on the run / A six gun lover / A candle in the wind. And he understands his fate very well: I’m goin’ down in a blaze of glory / Take me now but know the truth.

Such a life is invariably a solitary one: Well I’ve seen love come / I’ve seen it shot down / I’ve seen it die in vain. Knowing he can’t alter his life’s inevitable outcome, he asks for one tiny bit of mercy: Let this boy die like a man / Starin’ down the bullet / Let me make my final stand.

Jon Bon Jovi was reluctant to call the Young Guns II project his solo debut, since it didn’t reflect his actual person as much as it did these characters. Nonetheless, with “Blaze of Glory,” he proved even without a band, his hitmaking skills were very much intact.

Photo by Mick Hutson/Redferns