Bon Jovi hasn’t released any new music since its studio album 2020 arrived three years ago, but the New Jersey rockers are about to change that this week by putting out a new holiday tune.
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The band has just announced on its social media sites, “We’ve got an early Christmas present for you! Our new original holiday song, ‘Christmas Isn’t Christmas,’ is out this Friday.” The post also includes a link to pre-save the track on Spotify and Apple Music.
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In addition, the post features two photos of the band. The first pic shows Jon Bon and his bandmates apparently working on the track in what looks like the nave of a church, and what the Asbury Park Press identifies as Ocean Way Nashville Recording Studios. The second photo shows the band members gathered in front of the Nashville dive bar Santa’s Pub, along with the pub’s bearded owner—Denzel “Santa” Irwin.
Bon Jovi guitarist Phil X revealed in an episode of the Not These Two Fucking Guys podcast last month that the band was planning to head to Nashville soon to work on songs Jon Bon Jovi wrote recently for a possible new album.
Fans who follow the link to pre-save “Christmas Isn’t Christmas” can also enter a contest offering the chance to win one of three copies of the new Bon Jovi Monopoly game signed by Jon Bon Jovi himself. The board game, which can be pre-ordered at the band’s official store and is priced at $49.99, celebrates the group’s 40th anniversary and boasts properties, tokens, and other elements inspired by Bon Jovi’s history.
The six collectible tokens that come with the game were based on Bon Jovi’s heart-and-dagger logo; the smirk face that appears on the Have a Nice Day album cover; the Superman logo, which Jon Bon Jovi has tattooed on his left shoulder; the group’s home state of New Jersey; the Bon Jovi skull logo; and Jon’s signature acoustic guitar.
Bon Jovi previously released a holiday single in 1994, “Please Come Home for Christmas,” a cover of a 1960 tune by blues artist Charles Brown. The same track was initially issued as a Jon Bon Jovi solo song as part of the 1992 compilation album A Very Special Christmas 2. The band released the recording as a holiday single, and it peaked at No. 7 on the U.K. chart in 1994.
Meanwhile, Jon Bon Jovi released a three-song solo holiday EP in December 2020 called A Jon Bon Jovi Christmas that’s available only via streaming and digital platforms. It included three covers—Tom Petty’s “Christmas All Over Again,” The Pogues’ “Fairytale of New York,” and a tune Elvis Presley released in 1971 titled “If I Get Home on Christmas Day.”
