NEW YORK — Alec John Such, the bassist and a founding member of the iconic rock band Bon Jovi, has died. He was 70.
The group on Sunday announced the death of Such, the New Jersey band’s bassist from 1983 to 1994. We are not able to provide any details about the death or when it occurred. A publicist for singer-songwriter Jon Bon Jovi didn’t immediately respond to messages.
“He was an original,” Bon Jovi wrote in a postTweet. “As a founding member of Bon Jovi, Alec was integral to the formation of the band.”
Bon Jovi gave credit to Such for creating the group, noting that such was a childhood friend and drummer Tico Torres’ childhood friend. He also brought Richie Sambora (songwriter and guitarist) along to the show. Sambora had previously played in a band called Message with Such.
On March 19, 1993, Alec John Such and Richie Sambora of Bon Jovi performed at the Target Center Minneapolis in Minnesota.
Jim Steinfeldt/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
Born in Yonkers New York, Such was an experienced figure in New Jersey’s music scene. He helped to create Bon Jovi. As manager of the Hunka Bunka Ballroom in Sayreville, New Jersey, Such booked Jon Bon Jovi & The Wild Ones before joining the singer-songwriter’s band. He played with Bon Jovi through the group’s heyday in the 1980s.
In 1994, such left the band and was replaced by Hugh McDonald. He later rejoined the band for its induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2018.
“When Jon Bon Jovi called me up and asked me to be in his band many years ago, I soon realized how serious he was and he had a vision that he wanted to bring us to,” said Such at the Hall of Fame induction. “And I am only too happy to have been a part of that vision.”
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