Bon Jovi has hit a huge milestone: “Livin’ On a Prayer” has been streamed two billion times on Spotify! The song first appeared on their third album, *Slippery When Wet*, released in August 1986. It topped the charts for four weeks in February 1987.
“Livin’ On a Prayer” tells the story of a fictional couple, Tommy and Gina, who struggle to make ends meet while trying to keep their faith alive. Interestingly, the band wasn’t initially sold on the song. Jon Bon Jovi recalled, “I remember walking out of the room with Richie and I said, ‘Eh, it’s okay. Maybe we should just put it on a movie soundtrack.’” Richie Sambora disagreed, insisting it was really good.
The demo version of the song was quite different from the final hit. Co-writer Desmond Child shared that they originally wrote it to be more moody and sensitive. Jon wasn’t sure it fit their hard rock style, but Richie and Desmond convinced him to record it.
“Livin’ On a Prayer” became Bon Jovi’s second consecutive No. 1 single, following “You Give Love A Bad Name.” They made history as the first hard rock band to have back-to-back No. 1 hits on the Hot 100.
Earlier this year, Bon Jovi’s “It’s My Life” also reached one billion streams on Spotify, making it the third classic hit to achieve this milestone, following “Livin’ On a Prayer” and “You Give Love a Bad Name.” “It’s My Life” was released in June 2000 as the lead single from their album *Crush*.
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