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On February 22 1985, the up-and-coming rock star took part in a photoshoot capturing a rare moment in time before the spotlight changed everything
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On February 22 1985, Jon Bon Jovi– a then up-and-coming rock star – took part in a hot tub photoshoot in the Hart Plaza Hotel in Detroit, Michigan, and it captured a rare moment in time before the spotlight changed everything for the musician.
© Getty Images
Jon took part in the photoshoot in 1985
The candid portraits were taken by rock photographer Ross Marino – who also worked with Bono and U2, the Beastie Boys, and Michael Jackson – before a local performance, catching the musician on the cusp of becoming one of the most recognizable names in the world.
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The shoot took place in Michigan before a show
The pictures, however, are not what we would expect from rock stars – the 23-year-old posed shirtless in skimpy blue Nike shorts in the hotel's hot tub.
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He looks worlds away from the on-stage rocker
A collection of silver bracelets on his wrist and chunky silver rings are the only hints that the young man is usually in leather pants and unbuttoned shirts.
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They were taken in a moment of time before he found fame
But Jon's charisma is impossible to miss with the handsome singer comfortably posing nearly nude with a smirk in his eyes.
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The band also took part in a shoot that day
The band had released their debut album a year prior with the single "Runaway" reaching the Top 40, but it wouldn't be until the following year that they broke through with their third album, Slippery When Wet, which included two number one singles, "You Give Love a Bad Name" and "Livin' on a Prayer".
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Dorothea and Jon met in 1980 in high school
It was around the time of this photoshoot that Jon split from his high school girlfriend, Dorothea.
They had met in 1980 while they were both students in the same history class at Sayreville War Memorial High School in New Jersey; she was dating one of his friends at the time, and let him cheat off her paper in class.
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Jon and Dorothea, pictured in 2024
Jon went on to date actress Diane Lane, before he reunited with Dorothea as they recognized how much they meant to each other.
They married on April 29, 1989; the pair eloped secretly during a stop in Los Angeles, four hours away, during the New Jersey Syndicate Tour.
"We had the No. 1 album, the No. 1 single, and we were playing three nights at the Forum in L.A.," he told Men's Health in 2010. "I turned to Dorothea and said, 'I got an idea. Why don't we go right now?' She said, 'You're out of your mind.' I said, 'Come on. What's better than this, right now, this moment?' And so we ran off to Las Vegas. Didn't tell a soul."
© WireImage
Jon and Dorothea eloped in 1989
It was a decision that shocked everyone, including the band's female fans.
"It was like Harry Styles or Justin Timberlake getting married," he told The Mirror.
"I was that to the young girls in my time. When I came back from Vegas my manager was furious. He was like, 'America's boy is now married… that's not a good career move.' The record company was also despondent."
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Jon with his 4 kids and wife Dorothea (R)
In his docuseries Thank You, Goodnight: The Bon Jovi Story, Jon candidly admitted that he was "not a saint" during the mid-1980s, acknowledging that there were "100 girls in my life: I'm Jon Bon Jovi; it was pretty good."
But he has always credited Dorothea for helping him to remember his roots.
"She's not afraid to call me out on something, but she's also there when I call, and I'm there for her when she falls. No matter where I went in my career — the ups or the downs — we did it together," he said.
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