Original Bon Jovi bassist Alec John Such has died aged 70

Jon Bon Jovi announced on social media today (June 5) that founding Bon Jovi bassist Alec Jon Such has passed away at the age of 70. A cause of death has not yet been confirmed. 

“We are heartbroken to hear the news of the passing of our dear friend Alec John Such,” Bon Jovi wrote. “He was an original. As a founding member of Bon Jovi, Alec was integral to the formation of the band. … To be honest, we found our way to each other thru him — He was a childhood friend of Tico [Torres] and brought Richie [Sambora] to see us perform. Alec was always wild and full of life. Today these special memories bring a smile to my face and a tear to my eye. We will miss him dearly.”

Born in Yonkers, New York on November 14, 1951, John Such had previously played in the band The Message alongside Sambora before joining Bon Jovi. 

During the early 1980s he had been the manager and booker for the Hunka Bunka Ballroom in Sayreville, New Jersey. There he crossed paths with Jon Bon Jovi when he booked him and his solo band the The Wild Ones.

He was around a decade older than the singer when he joined the Bon Jovi lineup in 1983 and remained with the lineup for the hugely successful Slippery When Wet and New Jersey albums before he decided to depart in 1994. 

“When I was 43, I started to get burned out,” he told the Asbury Park Press in 2000. “It felt like work, and I didn’t want to work. The reason I got into a band to begin with is because I didn’t want to work."

He remained on good terms with the band and when Bon Jovi was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2018, former members John Such and Richie Sambora reunited with the band for a live performance. 

“When Jon Bon Jovi called me up and asked me to be in his band many years ago, I soon realised how serious he was and he had a vision that he wanted to bring us to, and I am too happy to have been a part of that vision,” he said in his speech on the night, that the band has shared footage of in tribute.

“These guys are the best," he added. "We had so many great times together and we wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for those guys. Love them to death and always will.”