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The Joizy Boys: Comparing Frankie Valli and Jon Bon Jovi

With "Jersey Boys" and Bon Jovi coming to town this week, we compare their Garden State frontmen.

By Jon Bream

April 22, 2018 at 11:30PM
"I'm the king of the world!": Jon Bon Jovi at the Xcel last Spring.
"I'm the king of the world!": Jon Bon Jovi at the Xcel last Spring. (Keith Harris — Star Tribune/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

Yo, they're both Italian guys from Joizy, capisce? Frankie Valli's story with the Four Seasons has become a hugely successful musical. The latest tour of "Jersey Boys" lands at the Orpheum Tuesday with mob and music hits, including "Sherry" and "Walk Like a Man." Plus, Valli and his latest Seasons will appear May 27 at Treasure Island Casino in Red Wing. On Saturday, Jon Bon Jovi, Joizy's biggest rocker not named Springsteen, returns to Xcel Energy Center to play the songs that landed Bon Jovi in the Rock Hall of Fame this month, including "Livin' on a Prayer" and "You Give Love a Bad Name." Frankie and Jon have more in common than ethnicity and birth states. Or do they?

Birth name

Francesco Stephen Castelluccio

JBJ: John Francis Bongiovi

Birth city

FV: Newark, N.J.

JBJ: Perth Amboy, N.J.

Parents' occupations

FV: Barber; homemaker

JBJ: Barber; Playboy Bunny-turned-florist

First job

FV: Barber

JBJ: Recording-studio custodian

Marriages

FV: Three — all ended in divorce

JBJ: One — still married to his high school sweetheart (29th anniversary on April 29)

Height

FV: 5 feet 4

JBJ: 5 feet 9

No. 1 singles

FV: 7

JBJ: 4

Weirdest hit

FV: "Grease," from the movie of the same name, which went to No. 1 in 1978

JBJ: "Who Says You Can't Go Home," a No. 1 country duet with Jennifer Nettles in 2006

Famous friend

FV: Joe Pesci

JBJ: Barack Obama

Notorious band defection

FV: Nick Massi went to jail

JBJ: Richie Sambora went his own way

Grammys

FV: 0

JBJ: 1

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

FV: Inducted in 1990

JBJ: Inducted in 2018

Acting highlight

FV: 7 episodes of "The Sopranos"

JBJ: 10 episodes of "Ally McBeal"

The Four Seasons, music group. Shown left to right are Bob Gaudio, Tommy deVito, Frankie Valli, and Joe Long. Approx. 1967 handout photo courtesy of Philips Records. ORG XMIT: MIN2018041911511431
Frankie Valli, center, with Four Seasons bandmates circa 1967. (The Minnesota Star Tribune)
Bon Jovi, from left, Tico Torres, Richie Sambora, David Bryan and Jon Bon Jovi ORG XMIT: MIN2018041911514232
Jon Bon Jovi, right, with Bon Jovi in 2001. (The Minnesota Star Tribune)
Richie Sambora, left, and Jon Bon Jovi perform together at the 2018 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony at Cleveland Public Auditorium on April 14, 2018, in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Michael Zorn/Invision/AP)
Richie Sambora, left, and Jon Bon Jovi perform together at the 2018 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony at Cleveland Public Auditorium on April 14, 2018, in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Michael Zorn/Invision/AP) (The Minnesota Star Tribune)
about the writer

about the writer

Jon Bream

Critic / Reporter

Jon Bream has been a music critic at the Star Tribune since 1975, making him the longest tenured pop critic at a U.S. daily newspaper. He has attended more than 8,000 concerts and written four books (on Prince, Led Zeppelin, Neil Diamond and Bob Dylan). Thus far, he has ignored readers’ suggestions that he take a music-appreciation class.

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