Sad news from one of the greatest rock bands of all time.
Bon Jovi has announced that Alec John Such, their former bassist and one of the band’s founding members, has passed away.
“We are heartbroken to hear the news of the passing of our dear friend Alec John Such.
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 each other tru him – He was a childhood friend of Tico and brought Richie to see us perform. Alec was always wild and full of life. Today those special memories bring a smile to my face and a tear to my eye.
We’ll miss him dearly.”
No details about his death were immediately released.
While serving as manager of the Hunka Hunka Ballroom in Sayreville, New Jersey, Such booked Jon Bon Jovi & the Wild Ones before eventually joining the band as the group skyrocketed in popularity, becoming the oldest member of the band. Such explained in a 2000 interview:
“The record company used to lie about my age. 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.”
Such left Bon Jovi in 1994, saying that it was starting to feel too much like work:
“When I was 43, I started to get burned out. 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.”
But he would join his former bandmates for the group’s induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2018, saying at the time:
“When Jon Bon Jovi called me up and asked me to be in his band many years ago, I soon realized how serious he was and he had a vision that he wanted to bring us to. And I am only too happy to have been a part of that vision.”
Rest in peace to a rock legend.
