Session Guitarist who Played on “Runaway” Had No Idea Bon Jovi Would Release the Song, Improvised His Solo

“Runaway” was more than Bon Jovi’s debut single. It was also the song that helped get the band into the spotlight. It won a local radio competition that led to the group’s first record deal. Additionally, it became a top 40 hit for the group. However, some fans may not know that the band isn’t playing on the recording. Instead, studio musicians laid the sonic backdrop for Jon Bon Jovi’s vocals.

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Bon Jovi stepped into the Power Station recording studio in Manhattan to record a song backed by the “All-Star Revue.” Hugh McDonald (bass), Tim Pierce (guitar), Frankie La Rocka (drums), and Roy Bittan (keys) played on the song. Recently, Pierce revealed that he improvised his guitar parts and had no idea “Runaway” would ever see the light of day.

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Tim Pierce on Recording “Runaway” with Jon Bon Jovi

“Jon Bon Jovi was 19 at the time, I was 23, and Jon had the laser focus about becoming a rock star at age 19. And I understand how he was able to do what he did, because he was completely laser-focused on being a rock star,” Tim Pierce said of his first impression of the future star.

“It was totally improvised. I had no idea that that song would go out into the world and be his first single,” Pierce said about the session. “We tracked the song, then we went upstairs into a smaller room and we overdubbed the guitars and the solo, and I made up the solo,” he recalled. “You create with the advice and the collaboration of the others, and they weigh in on what you are going to do,” he added.

Real People Inspired “Runaway”

Jon Bon Jovi co-wrote “Runaway” with George Karak. However, he found inspiration for the song during his frequent trips to New York.

“Runaway” tells the story of a teenage girl who gets too little attention at home and runs away. Bon Jovi regularly took a bus from New Jersey to Manhattan where he would encounter people living on the streets in desperate situations. These people helped inspire him to write what would be his first hit song.

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