Founding Bon Jovi bassist Alec John Such dead at 70

Founding Bon Jovi bassist Alec John Such has died of unknown causes at age 70.

Before departing in 1994, Such played on the band’s first five studio albums, including the multi-platinum smashes Slippery When Wet, New Jersey and Keep the Faith.

At the band’s 2018 induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Such had nothing but good things to say about his former bandmates. “These guys are the best. We had so many great times together and we wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for those guys. [I] Love them to death and always will.”

Alec, you will be missed pic.twitter.com/yK0RlgVkZc

— Jon Bon Jovi (@jonbonjovi) June 5, 2022

Born in Yonkers, New York on November 14, 1951, John Such played in an earlier band with Sambora, The Message, before ultimately joining Bon Jovi. In the early 1980s, John Such was the manager of what was then the Hunka Bunka Ballroom in Sayreville, New Jersey. It was there where he booked Jon Bon Jovi & The Wild Ones, seeing the potential of a young musician with a mission.

John Such brought Torres and Sambora into the band, while Bon Jovi brought in his childhood friend David Bryan, who had been a part of an earlier band, Atlantic City Expressway. The band’s third album, “Slippery When Wet,” would end up selling 12 million copies and its follow-up, 1988’s “New Jersey,” scored even more hit songs.

“The record company used to lie about my age,” John Such told The Asbury Park Press in 2000. “I was 31 when I joined. I was a good 10 years older than the rest of the band. My sister eventually got really mad because the papers would describe her as my older sister when really she was younger.”

John Such remained in the band before his departure in 1994. He was replaced by bassist Hugh McDonald, who became an official member of the band in 2016.