The “Livin’ on a Prayer” singer got his start singing on a ‘Star Wars’ Christmas album

Cindy Ord/WireImage; Jon Bon Jovi/Instagram

Jon Bon Jovi (left); Jon Bon Jovi’s first contract

NEED TO KNOW

Jon Bon Jovi shared his first-ever music contract in a post on Instagram

Signed in 1980, the contract was for the Star Wars holiday album Christmas in the Stars

Bon Jovi previously revealed that his gig singing on the album came about purely by chance

Jon Bon Jovi’s music career began in a galaxy far, far away.

On Tuesday, Dec. 9, the rock star, 63, posted a photo of his first-ever music contract on Instagram — and revealed how much he was paid.

The contract, signed by famed music producer Meco Monardo, was for “services in connection with a Christmas album tentatively entitled ‘Christmas In The Stars’ produced by the undersigned on behalf of RSO Records Inc. and based on the characters of the motion picture entitled ‘Stars Wars’ and ‘The Empire Strikes Back’ ‘LP,’ ” per the text.

According to the contract, Bon Jovi was paid just $180 and waived his right to any royalties for the album. The “Livin’ on a Prayer” singer captioned his post, “First ever contract back in 1980, always fun finding these … No doubt it’s online somewhere.”

Christmas in the Stars: Star Wars Christmas Album was released in 1980, and primarily featured C-3PO actor Anthony Daniels both singing and narrating. However, the album is also notable for featuring Bon Jovi’s first professional recording — thanks to his vocals on “R2-D2 We Wish You a Merry Christmas.”

The Grammy winner previously shared how he unexpectedly ended up being part of the Star Wars Christmas album during an April 2024 appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live. Host Jimmy Kimmel asked Bon Jovi how he ended up on the album, and he revealed, “I was a gopher in a recording studio from the fall of 1980 until ’83, when we did the first record.”

He continued, “There was a guy named Meco Monardo, who was doing these kind of tribute records taking advantage of the Star Wars craze, he was pretending to be a young boy singing the song. It sounded like an old man pretending to be a young boy, and he says, ‘Young boy, can you sing?’ And I said, ‘That’s what you know… yeah, I think I can. He says, ‘Go in there and if you want to do this it pays $183,’ and I got $183 to sing.”

Paul Natkin/WireImage

Bon Jovi in 1984

Kimmel then asked the rock legend if he remembered the title of the song, to which, Bon Jovi replied, “Hell yeah. ‘R2-D2 We Wish You a Merry Christmas.’ ”

While his first professional recording was on the Star Wars holiday album, the song that made Bon Jovi and his band famous was “Runaway,” which he hand-delivered to a DJ on cassette. In the same interview, he told Kimmel that both he and the DJ were certain the song would be a hit.

“Runaway” went on to become the band’s first top 40 song, and properly launched Bon Jovi’s career. Over 40 years later, the band Bon Jovi is one of the most famed rock groups of all time, having sold over 130 million albums. They’re still going strong, as their 16th studio album came out in 2024.

Read the original article on People