“Jon and I became friends. He came to L.A. when he was looking for musicians to join his band, but a couple of things happened...”: Why session legend Tim Pierce never joined Bon Jovi – despite recording their earliest hit

Tim Pierce.

Tim Pierce is a highly celebrated session electric guitar player who’s played with everyone from Alice Cooper to Meat Loaf and Shakira. But his career nearly saw a dramatic change when, early into his session days, he “missed out on being in one of the biggest rock bands in the world”.

Working on Bon Jovi’s debut single, Runaway, in the early 1980s provided him one of his first ever credits. The song, which saw Jon Bon Jovi flanked by session musicians, was a surprise hit, and prompted the singer to assemble a band proper.