Slippery When Wet Turns 40. We Were in the Room.
Slippery When Wet, Bon Jovi’s third album, hits its 40th anniversary on August 18, 2026. Released that same day in 1986 on Mercury Records, it spent eight weeks at number one on the Billboard 200, became the top-selling album of 1987, and sent two singles straight to number one on the Hot 100. Forty years later, “Livin’ on a Prayer” and “You Give Love a Bad Name” are still the loudest songs at every wedding, tailgate, and arena you have ever walked into.
We were there for it. Jason was a regular on Dance Party USA in Philadelphia that year, and Bobby was already part of the show. Those songs were the air in that studio. You did not decide to hear Bon Jovi in the summer of 1986. Bon Jovi decided for you, and you were grateful.
This is what Slippery When Wet sounded like from inside the decade, and what it means that the album and the band are both still standing at 40.
What made Slippery When Wet so massive?
The short answer is Bruce Fairbairn, Desmond Child, and a band that was hungry enough to fly to Vancouver and spend the first half of 1986 getting it right.
Bon Jovi’s first two albums had made noise, but Slippery When Wet was the record where everything locked in at once. The band recorded at Little Mountain Sound Studios in Vancouver from January through July 1986 with producer Bruce Fairbairn and mixer Bob Rock. Songwriter Desmond Child co-wrote four of the ten tracks, including the two that went to number one: “You Give Love a Bad Name” and “Livin’ on a Prayer.” Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora wrote most of the rest.
The results speak in numbers. The album hit number one on the Billboard 200 and stayed there for eight weeks. It was the first glam metal album to place three singles in the Hot 100’s top ten: “You Give Love a Bad Name” at number one, “Livin’ on a Prayer” at number one, and “Wanted Dead or Alive” at number seven. A fourth single, “Never Say Goodbye,” followed in 1987. The RIAA has certified Slippery When Wet 15 times platinum in the United States, and it topped the charts in six countries outside the US, including Australia, Canada, and Switzerland.
We wrote a full deep dive into what Bon Jovi meant to the 80s and how this album conquered the world. If you want the longer version of how “Livin’ on a Prayer” nearly did not make the record, start there.
The album cover that almost was
The cover you know was not the cover they planned.
Photographer Mark Weiss shot the original concept at Bradley Beach, New Jersey, near Jon’s home: a woman in a wet T-shirt with the album title across the front. American stores refused to carry it, and the band needed a replacement fast.
Weiss recalled what happened next. Jon came to Weiss’s studio in New York and gave a two-word creative brief: “Garbage bag. Spray bottle.” Weiss propped up a black garbage bag, sprayed it with water, and Jon wrote the album title in the droplets. According to Weiss, Jon said, “That’s it, there’s the cover.” He did not even wait to see the Polaroid.
The garbage bag became one of the most recognizable album covers of the 1980s. The original T-shirt photo ended up in the album’s sleeve. Sometimes the best idea is the one that takes five minutes.
Where Bon Jovi is now, forty years later
Jon Bon Jovi underwent vocal cord surgery in 2022 and spent the following years in recovery. In the summer of 2026, the band launched the Forever Tour, their first extended run since 2022, opening a nine-night run at Madison Square Garden on July 7 in front of a sold-out crowd.
The current touring lineup includes original members David Bryan on keyboards and Tico Torres on drums, alongside Phil X on lead guitar, Hugh McDonald on bass, John Shanks on guitar, and Everett Bradley on percussion. The band that Slippery When Wet introduced to the world has changed shape over the decades, but it is still on stage, still playing these songs to full arenas, forty summers after the album dropped.
Original bassist Alec John Such, who played on Slippery When Wet, died on June 5, 2022, at the age of 70.
A deluxe edition of Slippery When Wet with seven bonus tracks, including four live recordings from the 1987 tour, was released in early 2025.
For the full picture of where the rest of the 80s rock world ended up, we tracked every major 80s hair band and where they are now.
The honest bottom line
The criticism has followed this album for four decades: it is pop in a leather jacket, engineered for arenas, Desmond Child doing what Desmond Child does, all chorus and no grit. Metal purists said it in 1986, and they are still saying it.
Here is the thing about that criticism. It has been making the same argument for 40 years, and the songs have not gotten any quieter. Fifteen million copies sold in the United States alone. It topped charts in seven countries. “Livin’ on a Prayer” still starts rooms full of people who have heard it a thousand times and will sing every word every single time.
Being that sticky for that long is not an accident. It is craftsmanship, and it is the hardest thing in music to pull off on purpose. Forty years is the only test that matters, and Slippery When Wet passed it. We know, because we were there when it dropped, and it has not let go since.
Bobby and Jason
Frequently asked questions
When was Slippery When Wet released?
Bon Jovi’s Slippery When Wet was released on August 18, 1986, on Mercury Records in North America and Vertigo Records internationally. Its 40th anniversary falls on August 18, 2026.
What were the biggest hits from Slippery When Wet?
The album produced two number-one singles on the Billboard Hot 100: “You Give Love a Bad Name” and “Livin’ on a Prayer.” A third single, “Wanted Dead or Alive,” reached number seven. It was the first glam metal album with three top-ten hits on the Hot 100.
How many copies did Slippery When Wet sell?
In the United States, the RIAA has certified the album 15 times platinum, representing 15 million units. It also reached number one in seven countries, the US included, and earned Diamond certification in Canada.
Is Bon Jovi still touring in 2026?
Yes. The band launched the Forever Tour in July 2026 with a residency at Madison Square Garden, their first extended tour since Jon Bon Jovi’s vocal cord surgery in 2022.