Bon Jovi Makes History - First Rock Band with a No. 1 Song on Country Charts
Tuesday April 25, 2006
It's been almost 30 years since a non-country artist held the top spot on the Country charts. The last time was February 26, 1977, when Tom Jones topped the charts with "Say You'll Stay Until Tomorrow." Bon Jovi's single, "Who Says You Can't Go Home" on which they duet with Jennifer Nettles of Sugarland has just become the latest No. 1 song. And, in doing so, Bon Jovi holds the distinct privilege of being the first Rock Band ever to top the Country charts.
The song is from the band's Have a Nice Day release, and actually Jennifer was not the first person to sing the song with them. A while back I heard the story on After Midnight with Blair Garner that Keith Urban was asked to play on their album, which he did. Since he was there, they asked if he might be interested in singing, which he also agreed to. They taped the song, and it was later decided that Keith's voice sounded too much like Jon Bon Jovi's so they asked Jennifer Nettles in to try the part, since they had met filming the CMT Crossroads show together. The fit was perfect, and a No. 1 song in-the-making was created.
Congrats to the band, and Jennifer on their first Country No. 1 song.
Related Links:
Photo © Island Records
Comments
Great article!! Being a Bon Jovi fan as well as a country fan I LOVE hearing the song on the radio but I must correct something here, maybe Blair Garner will read it. LOL Keith has Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora on some upcoming music from his catalog. As for Jennifer and Bon Jovi they met in Nashville prior to the release of “Have a Nice Day” which was recorded (the Jovi/Nettles version of “Who Says”)prior to their Crossroads match up. (Crossroads aired 9/16/05 and HAND was released 4 days later on 9/20/05). Jon and Richie have been writing in Nashville for almost 15 years and Nashville is where Jon’s good friend Billy Falcon resides. Actually Jon and his wife Dorothea are good friends with country stars Tim and Faith. The line between country and rock is more blurry than most believe it is and I am very very proud of my guys being the first rock band to have a cross over country hit!!
Just responding. I assumed that the Jennifer and Bon Jovi connection was based on their taping. Sorry about that.
As for my comment on where Keith came in, I found my notation and this is what I wrote down: Jon Bon Jovi and Keith Urban met in the gym and he invited Keith down to their studio and he said, now that you’re here, you can do some work. So, he played a little banjo. Jon said, Why don’t ya
sing? So he sang on the song, but they ended up not using that cut of the song because Jon and Keith’s voices sounded too much the same.
Anyway, thanks for the info.
Bon Jovi is one of the top band in the world… I LOVE BON JOVI forever… Because, BON JOVI is my inspiration for my heart if i got Broken Heart, and I fall in Love i always listen to Bon Jovi my rocks band… hehehehe… my favorite songs from Bon Jovi are This ain’t a Love Song, Bed Of Roses, I’ll be there for you, and Livin’ On a Prayer…