One of the True 'Stand Up Guys'

From The Hollywood Reporter
(Scott Feinberg)

Not many musicians have stood before audiences of tens -- sometimes hundreds -- of thousands of people and heard words that they had written recited back to them by heart. Not many have inspired hundreds of cover bands, drunken karaoke exhibitions, and the undying affection of an entire state (amongst many others). And not many have had the same wife, same band, and same record deal, or sustained their popularity, relevance, and output, for 30-plus years. Suffice it to say, Jon Bon Jovi is not like many other musicians. Recently, I had the opportunity to pick Bon Jovi's brain over dinner following the Chicago International Film Festival world premiere screening of Stand-Up Guys -- the first film for which he has composed original songs in 22 years -- and then again the following morning during an exclusive 35-minute on-camera interview.

Not many people remember this, but 22 years ago Bon Jovi -- the man, not the band -- wrote the song "Blaze of Glory" specifically for the 1990 western Young Guns II. The song was part of his first solo album (of the same title), and it became a phenomenal success, placing #1 on the Billboard charts, winning the best original song Golden Globe, and earning a nomination for the best original song Oscar. It lost at the Academy Awards to Stephen Sondheim's "Sooner or Later (I Always Get My Man)" from the film Dick Tracy.

In the time since, Bon Jovi has done only one other solo project, largely because he has been so busy with his band. But, during his "streak of writing" over the past year-plus, it occurred to him that he might attempt another if the right project came along. He recalls, "I called my manager and I said, 'I'd forgotten, but a long time ago I wrote this movie soundtrack. Do you have any great scripts out there?' And he mentioned one called Stand Up Guys, and he said that it hadn't begun shooting yet, but they had high hopes for the picture [which recounts the story of several former partners in crime -- played by Pacino, Walken, and Arkin -- who reunite for one last night together years later], and he thought that, thematically, it was something that would like an original song and that I could feel comfortable writing. And so he sent it to me. That was a Monday that I called him. I received the script on a Tuesday. Wednesday I wrote it [the end-title song 'Old Habits Die Hard']. And Thursday he had it to play for the director Fisher Stevens and for [producer] Tom Rosenberg -- I sung it into my iPhone on my acoustic guitar." Stevens and Rosenberg, who were still over a month-and-a-half away from commencing production on the film, were ecstatic.

The article's a great read. You can read the whole thing here.

~ Hath