You Give Love a Bad Name

Not to be confused with Shot Through the Heart (Bon Jovi song).
For the album by GG Allin, see You Give Love a Bad Name (album).

"You Give Love a Bad Name"
U.S. vinyl single picture sleeve (also used for the Slippery When Wet album)
Single by Bon Jovi
from the album Slippery When Wet
B-side"Raise Your Hands"
ReleasedJuly 23, 1986
Genre
Length3:42
LabelMercury
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)Bruce Fairbairn
Bon Jovi singles chronology
"Silent Night"
(1985) 		"You Give Love a Bad Name"
(1986) 		"Livin' on a Prayer"
(1986)
Music video
"You Give Love a Bad Name" on YouTube
Alternative cover

"You Give Love a Bad Name" is a song by American rock band Bon Jovi, released as the first single from their 1986 album Slippery When Wet. Written by Jon Bon Jovi, Richie Sambora, and Desmond Child about a woman who has jilted her lover, the song reached No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 on November 29, 1986, and became the band's first number-one hit. In 2007, the song re-entered the charts at No. 29 after Blake Lewis performed it on American Idol. Despite the lyrics of the chorus, the song should not be confused with "Shot Through the Heart", an unrelated song from Bon Jovi's 1984 self-titled debut album.[5]

  1. ^ Popoff, Martin (2014). The Big Book of Hair Metal: The Illustrated Oral History of Heavy Metal's Debauched Decade. Voyageur Press. p. 110. ISBN 978-0-7603-4546-7.
  2. ^ Huey, Steve. "You Give Love A Bad Name - Bon Jovi | Song Info". AllMusic. Retrieved July 14, 2021.
  3. ^ "Reviews > Singles > Pop > Recommended > Bon Jovi – You Give Love a Bad Name (3:53)". Billboard. Vol. 98, no. 35. August 30, 1986. p. 83. ISSN 0006-2510.
  4. ^ Stosuy, Brandon (January 5, 2009). "VH1's 100 Greatest Hard Rock Songs". Stereogum. Retrieved April 22, 2019.
  5. ^ Schonfeld, Zach (May 10, 2018). "Every Bon Jovi Album, Ranked: Celebrating 'Slippery When Wet,' 'New Jersey,' and All the Rest". Newsweek. IBT Media. Retrieved March 13, 2019.