10 Greatest Hard Rock Frontmen Of The '80s

Looking back on the height of hair metal, Bon Jovi ends up getting a lot of flak for being one of the leaders of the era of spandex and lipstick. Even with the Motley Crues of the world making waves on the Sunset Strip, the amount of classics these guys from Jersey had in their arsenal rocketed them to arena status in just a few years. These guys could have easily been relegated to cheesy territory, but their greatest strength was in Jon Bon Jovi's songwriting.

Across albums like Slippery When Wet and New Jersey, the band's songs were a cut above the sex, drugs, and rock and roll you would typically find in the hair metal crowd. There are certainly some weapons-grade cheese on ballads like "I'll Be There For You," but not many artists were writing outlaw ballads like "Wanted Dead Or Alive" or the Springsteen-esque story of "Livin on a Prayer."

Though no hair band was bulletproof in the '90s, Jon's way with melody saw the band transition out of the glam era tastefully, adopting more rootsy production and having a country element to their newer material. At this point, the band is basically a glorified solo project for Jon, but given the amount of power he has with a hook, this is probably the best conclusion we could have hoped for.