On This Day in 1988: Bon Jovi Topped the U.S. Charts with a Record-Breaking Streak of Hits
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New Jersey Hits No. 1 for Four Weeks
On October 15, 1988, Bon Jovi’s fourth studio album, New Jersey, began a four-week run at No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart. The album had debuted a week earlier at No. 8, before climbing to the top spot and holding it for a full month.
This achievement made New Jersey a major success and reinforced Bon Jovi’s standing in rock music.
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A Hard Rock Album with Five Top 10 Hits
What made New Jersey stand out even more was its string of hit singles. The album produced five Top 10 singles on the Billboard Hot 100 — more than any other hard rock album at that time. Among them, “Bad Medicine” and “I’ll Be There for You” reached No. 1. Other Top 10 hits included “Born to Be My Baby,” “Lay Your Hands on Me,” and “Living in Sin.”
This feat remains unique in the genre — a hard rock album with five high-charting singles was rare then and still is now.
Commercial Success and Legacy
New Jersey also performed strongly in sales. It sold seven million copies in the U.S. alone and went on to reach over five million more abroad, making it one of Bon Jovi’s biggest albums.
The album’s success gave the band a high level of commercial leverage. It reinforced that Bon Jovi could follow their earlier breakthrough with Slippery When Wet (1986) and not lose momentum. New Jersey demonstrated that they were not just a one-album wonder but a sustained force in rock music.
In the months following its release, New Jersey stayed on the charts through January 1990, and its singles continued to receive airplay. Its legacy endures as a high-point in Bon Jovi’s catalog — an album that combined arena rock ambition with strong songwriting that connected widely.
