"Lay Your Hands on Me" is a song by American

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

band Bon Jovi. It was released on August 1, 1989 as the fourth single from the band's 1988 album ''

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

''. It peaked at #7 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, becoming the band's fourth single from ''New Jersey'' to chart in the Top 10 and it also charted at #20 on the

Mainstream rock Mainstream rock (also known as heritage rock) is a radio format used by many commercial radio stations in the United States and Canada. Format background Mainstream rock stations represent the middle ground between classic rock and active rock ...

charts.

Music video

The video for this song was culled from performances at the Tacoma Dome in

Tacoma, WA Tacoma ( ) is the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. A port city, it is situated along Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, northeast of the state capital, Olympia, and northwest of Mount Rainier National Par ...

and the Memorial Coliseum in

Portland, OR Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous coun ...

during The Jersey Syndicate Tour. It was also released to home video on '' New Jersey: The Videos'' and ''Cross Road: The Videos''. The MTV video for "Lay Your Hands On Me" was shot in Salt Lake in May 1989.

In concert

For live performances through the 80s and 90s, Sambora would use a double neck guitar with one neck tuned to

drop D Guitar tunings are the assignment of pitch (music), pitches to the open string (music), open strings of guitars, including acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and classical guitars. Musical tuning, Tunings are described by the particular pitc ...

and the other tuned to

Standard tuning In music, standard tuning refers to the typical tuning of a string instrument. This notion is contrary to that of scordatura, i.e. an alternate tuning designated to modify either the timbre or technical capabilities of the desired instrument. Viol ...

. Examples of this can be seen in the official video clip, as well as in the '' Live From London'' DVD. During the 2000s he began using a single-necked guitar, as can be seen in ''

The Crush Tour ''The Crush Tour'' is a third concert video by American band Bon Jovi from the European leg of their Crush Tour. It was recorded on August 30, 2000 in Zurich, Switzerland. It was directed by Anthony Bongiovi. It was released on DVD in 2001. Tr ...

'' DVD. The song was performed a few times on the Lost Highway Tour. During performances on

The Circle Tour The Circle Tour is a worldwide concert tour by American rock band Bon Jovi. The tour supported the band's 11th studio album '' The Circle'' (2009). Starting in North America in early 2010, the tour progressed to Europe, South America, Asia and ...

, the song was performed with Sambora on lead vocals. Since then it has been played regularly on the "This House Is Not For Sale" tour.

''This Left Feels Right'' version

"Lay Your Hands on Me" was re-recorded for 2003's '' This Left Feels Right'' album. The new version is in a laid-back acoustic style, featuring Sambora playing the

Mandocello The mandocello ( it, mandoloncello, Liuto cantabile, liuto moderno) is a plucked string instrument of the mandolin family. It is larger than the mandolin, and is the baritone instrument of the mandolin family. Its eight strings are in four paire ...

as the primary instrument. This version was performed at several concerts on the

Have a Nice Day Tour The Have a Nice Day Tour was a worldwide concert tour by American rock band Bon Jovi. It took place between November 2005 and July 2006. The tour supported their ninth studio album '' Have a Nice Day''. The tour was a significant commercial suc ...

. Though the first acoustic performance of this song was in 1992, from the concert An Evening With Bon Jovi Live in New York.

Cover versions

After hearing the song and thinking it would be a good Gospel song, country singer

Dolly Parton Dolly Rebecca Parton (born January 19, 1946) is an American singer-songwriter, actress, philanthropist, and businesswoman, known primarily for her work in country music. After achieving success as a songwriter for others, Parton made her album d ...

called Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora and got permission to turn the song into a Gospel tune for her 2014 album, '' Blue Smoke''. Dolly and Richie performed this cover at Glastonbury on 29 June 2014.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

{{authority control Bon Jovi songs 1989 singles Songs written by Richie Sambora Songs written by Jon Bon Jovi Song recordings produced by Bruce Fairbairn Mercury Records singles 1988 songs Music videos directed by Wayne Isham Dolly Parton songs