"I recently heard that on the Ukraine war front, the soldiers were resting at night, and they were playing Living On A Prayer," the song's writer, Desmond Child, tells Classic Rock. "The song ended, and then they could hear it being played on the other [Russian] side. It's like they were communicating with each other, and it was a levelling. It's very moving to hear that."
Desmond is extremely good at writing songs that move people. With huge, euphoric choruses, they frequently ferried the musicians he co-wrote with into unfamiliar territory in the upper echelons of the charts. Those bands needed his help; the songs struck a chord, and they sold millions.
