"Whole Lot of Leavin'" 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 written by Jon Bon Jovi and

John Shanks John Matthew Shanks (born December 18, 1964) is an American songwriter, record producer and guitarist. Early life and education John Matthew Shanks was born in New York City. Shanks moved to Los Angeles when he was 17 years old. He was in a ban ...

and it was released only in

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as the fourth single from the band's album '' Lost Highway''.

Lyrical content

The song talks about difficult times that Bon Jovi lead guitarist Richie Sambora was going through. Sambora's father died after a long battle with cancer. Just a month before, he divorced his wife

Heather Locklear Heather Deen Locklear (born September 25, 1961) is an American actress famous for her role as Amanda Woodward on ''Melrose Place'' (1993–1999), for which she received four consecutive Golden Globe nominations for Best Actress – Television ...

after ten years of marriage, and was going through a custody battle, while battling alcohol addiction. Jon Bon Jovi has said that he wrote the song about Sambora: "You see your best friend going through this hell, and it was an emotion that was right there to be had."

Music video

The music video for the song "Whole Lot of Leavin'" was directed by Phil Griffin. It was recorded in black and white, and features Jon Bon Jovi sitting in a hotel room singing and playing acoustic guitar. During the video, we see photos of Jon and Richie Sambora shot during a live performance and also couple of shots of concert setlists. During the solo, we see photos of Sambora playing guitar, and at the end of the video, we see a picture of the whole band. Just like in a music video for the song " (You Want to) Make a Memory", Jon's vocals from a live performance of the song were used over the original album version.

Live performances

The song has proved popular with many fans and has been performed at many promotional events for the band including live on the ''Today'' show and for ''

MTV Unplugged ''MTV Unplugged'' is an American television series on MTV showcasing musical artists usually playing acoustic instruments. The show aired regularly from 1989 to 1999 and less frequently from 2000 to 2009, when it was usually billed as ''MTV Un ...

''. It was performed in the middle of all concerts during the

Lost Highway Tour The Lost Highway Tour was a worldwide concert tour by American rock band Bon Jovi in support of their 10th studio album, '' Lost Highway''. It took place from October 2007 to July 2008. Originally planned as a 2008 greatest hits tour, the tour wa ...

, and has been played regularly early in the set during

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 ...

. Live performance of that song is also featured on the '' Lost Highway: The Concert'' DVD.

Track listings and formats

Charts

Covers

The song was covered by South African singer Ray Dylan on volume 3 of his album ''Goeie Ou Country''

References

{{BonJovi Bon Jovi songs 2008 singles Songs written by Jon Bon Jovi Songs written by John Shanks 2007 songs Song recordings produced by John Shanks Island Records singles Country rock songs