"It's My Life" is a song by American rock band

Bon Jovi Bon Jovi is an American rock band formed in 1983 in Sayreville, New Jersey. It consists of singer Jon Bon Jovi, keyboardist David Bryan, drummer Tico Torres, guitarist Phil X, and bassist Hugh McDonald. Original bassist Alec John such qu ...

. It was released on May 8, 2000, as the

lead single A lead single (also known as a debut single) is the first single to be released from a studio album by an artist or a band, usually before the album itself is released and also occasionally on the same day of the album's release date. Release s ...

from their seventh studio album, '' Crush'' (2000). It was written by

Jon Bon Jovi John Francis Bongiovi Jr. (born March 2, 1962), known professionally as Jon Bon Jovi, is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, and actor. He is best known as the founder and frontman of the rock band Bon Jovi, which was formed in 1983. He ...

Richie Sambora Richard Stephen Sambora (born July 11, 1959) is an American rock guitarist, singer, songwriter and producer, best known as the lead guitarist of the rock band Bon Jovi from 1983 to 2013. He and lead singer Jon Bon Jovi formed the main songwri ...

, and Max Martin, and co-produced by Luke Ebbin. The song peaked at number one in Austria,

Flanders Flanders (, ; Dutch: ''Vlaanderen'' ) is the Flemish-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to cultu ...

, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Romania, Spain, and Switzerland while charting within the top 10 across several other countries and peaking at number 33 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100. "It's My Life" is Bon Jovi's most well-known post-1980s hit single and helped introduce the band to a new, younger fanbase.

Background

The song has many classic Bon Jovi features, such as Sambora's use of the talk box, and a line in the second verse "For Tommy and Gina, who never backed down" refers to Tommy and Gina, a fictional

working class The working class (or labouring class) comprises those engaged in manual-labour occupations or industrial work, who are remunerated via waged or salaried contracts. Working-class occupations (see also " Designation of workers by collar colou ...

couple that Bon Jovi and Sambora first wrote about in their 1986 hit " Livin' on a Prayer". "It's My Life" is also notable for its line referencing fellow New Jerseyan

Frank Sinatra Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Nicknamed the " Chairman of the Board" and later called "Ol' Blue Eyes", Sinatra was one of the most popular entertainers of the 1940s, 1950s, and ...

: "My heart is like an open highway / Like Frankie said / I did it ' My Way'."

and

apparently had a disagreement over those lines, with Bon Jovi recalling: In

Paul Anka Paul Albert Anka (born July 30, 1941) is a Canadian-American singer, songwriter and actor. He is best known for his signature hit songs including " Diana", " Lonely Boy", " Put Your Head on My Shoulder", and "(You're) Having My Baby". Anka also ...

's cover of the song for his 2005 album ''

Rock Swings ''Rock Swings'' is an album by Paul Anka. Recorded in November 2004 and released on May 31, 2005 in Canada and June 7, 2005 in the United States, it contains swing jazz covers of popular rock and pop songs from the 1980s and 1990s. The idea of ...

'', he sings the second line as "Frankie said ''he did it my way''", since Anka wrote the English lyrics for "My Way".

Response from fans

"Nobody had anticipated the song 'It's My Life'," noted Jon Bon Jovi in 2007. "Except us. We knew we had a hit." The song became an anthem that appealed to many fans. As Bon Jovi later stated: "I thought I was writing very self-indulgently about my own life and where I was in it. I didn't realize that the phrase 'It's My Life' would be taken as being about everyone – by teenagers, by older guys, mechanics, whatever. 'It's my life, and I'm taking control.' Everyone kind of feels that way from time to time."

Music video

The music video was directed by Wayne Isham. Will Estes (as Tommy) and

Shiri Appleby Shiri Freda Appleby (born December 7, 1978) is an American actress and television director. She is best known for her leading roles as Liz Parker in the WB/UPN science fiction drama series '' Roswell'' (1999–2002) and Rachel Goldberg in the Li ...

(as Gina) are the two main characters. At the beginning, Tommy is watching a video of a Bon Jovi concert on his computer when he is ordered by his mother to take out the trash. Suddenly, Gina calls and tells him to immediately come to the tunnel as the live concert has already started. Tommy starts running down to his apartment and obediently takes out the trash. He then runs through the streets of

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

up to the concert, getting chased by dogs, running a

marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of , usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There are also wheelchair div ...

, posing for pictures, and jackknifing a truck. The video was inspired by the film ''

Run Lola Run ''Run Lola Run'' (german: Lola rennt}, lit. "Lola Runs") is a 1998 German experimental thriller film written and directed by Tom Tykwer. The story follows a woman named Lola ( Franka Potente) who needs to obtain 100,000 Deutschmarks in twenty ...

''. Jon Bon Jovi met Estes on the set of ''U-571'' and chose him to be in the video. The music video features the

2nd Street Tunnel __NOTOC__ The 2nd Street Tunnel is a widely filmed and photographed tunnel on 2nd Street under Bunker Hill in Downtown Los Angeles, California. The ''Los Angeles Times'' described it as "the most recognizable city landmark most Americans have ...

as one of the main settings. It is the most viewed video for Bon Jovi on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...

, with over 1.1 billion views as of August 17, 2022.

Track listings

US 7-inch single :A. "It's My Life" :B. "Next 100 Years" Australian maxi-CD single # "It's My Life" # "Hush" (demo version) # "You Can't Lose at Love" (demo) # "I Don't Want to Live Forever" (demo) # "

Someday I'll Be Saturday Night "Someday I'll Be Saturday Night" is a song by American rock band Bon Jovi from their 1994 greatest hits album, '' Cross Road''. Released as a single on February 13, 1995, the song reached number seven on the UK Singles Chart and became a top-10 hi ...

" (enhanced video clip) * "Someday" was recorded live by Tony Bongiovi at the Sanctuary II, New Jersey Web Concert on February 10, 2000 UK CD1 # "It's My Life" # "Hush" (demo version) # "You Can't Lose at Love" (demo version) * Includes poster UK CD2 # "It's My Life" (Dave Bascombe mix) # "Temptation" (demo version) # "I Don't Want to Live Forever" (demo version) # "It's My Life" (enhanced video) European CD single # "It's My Life" # "Hush" (demo version) European enhanced CD single # "It's My Life" # "Hush" (demo version) # "You Can't Lose at Love" (demo version) # "Someday I'll Be Saturday Night" (live) * "Someday" was recorded live by Tony Bongiovi at the Sanctuary II, New Jersey Web Concert on February 10, 2000

Acoustic version

A much slower, acoustic

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French ''chanson balladée'' or '' ballade'', which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and ...

version of the song is featured on Bon Jovi's 2003 album ''

This Left Feels Right ''This Left Feels Right'' is an album featuring new versions of Bon Jovi songs from previous albums. It was released in 2003 and charted at No. 14 on The Billboard 200. It's a "trip down memory lane" as Jon Bon Jovi described the album. It featu ...

'', a collection of their greatest hits that were adapted into new formats. This version was also released as a single. A live performance was uploaded to YouTube in May 2020.

Awards

Won: *"Video of the Year" at the VH1 My Music Awards *Chosen as one of the greatest songs of the year at the

ASCAP The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) () is an American not-for-profit performance-rights organization (PRO) that collectively licenses the public performance rights of its members' musical works to venues, broadca ...

Pop Music Awards Nominated: *"Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal" at the

43rd Grammy Awards The 43rd Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 21, 2001, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. Several artists earned three awards on the night. Steely Dan's haul included Album of the Year for '' Two Against Nature''. U2 took ...

, but lost to U2's " Beautiful Day"

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Decade-end charts

Certifications

Release history

Notes

References

External links

Bon Jovi
— Official Website. {{DEFAULTSORT:It's My Life (Bon Jovi Song) 2000 songs 2000 singles Bon Jovi songs Dutch Top 40 number-one singles European Hot 100 Singles number-one singles Island Records singles Mercury Records singles Number-one singles in Austria Number-one singles in Italy Number-one singles in Portugal Number-one singles in Romania Number-one singles in Spain Number-one singles in Switzerland Music videos directed by Wayne Isham Song recordings produced by Max Martin Songs written by Jon Bon Jovi Songs written by Max Martin Songs written by Richie Sambora Ultratop 50 Singles (Flanders) number-one singles