--- title: Chris Christie 2016 Presidential Announcement: Bon Jovi Gave Approval description: "My friendships are apolitical," the Democrat rocker says. canonical: https://time.com/3941934/jon-bon-jovi-chris-christie-songs/ author: Eliana Dockterman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-06-30T18:42:45.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-19T07:47:14.602Z article:section: Politics og:title: Here's How Jon Bon Jovi Felt About Chris Christie Using His Music og:description: Republican blasted 'We Weren't Born to Follow' at campaign launch og:url: https://time.com/3941934/jon-bon-jovi-chris-christie-songs/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Here's How Jon Bon Jovi Felt About Chris Christie Using His Music twitter:description: Republican blasted 'We Weren't Born to Follow' at campaign launch twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Jon Bon Jovi Happy for Chris Christie to Use Songs in Campaign Launch  by [Eliana Dockterman](https://time.com/author/eliana-dockterman/)  ## Eliana Dockterman Correspondent Jun 30, 2015 6:42 PM UTC  by [Eliana Dockterman](https://time.com/author/eliana-dockterman/)  ## Eliana Dockterman Correspondent Jun 30, 2015 6:42 PM UTC Though Governor Chris Christie has been a lifelong Bruce Springsteen fan, the presidential hopeful [used](http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2015/06/christie-bon-jovi) the music of another New Jersey native Tuesday when he announced his bid for the Republican ticket: Jon Bon Jovi. Christie likely opted not use a Springsteen song fearing that the lifelong Democrat and critic of the Bridgegate scandal might disavow him as [Neil Young did to Donald Trump](http://time.com/3923708/donald-trump-neil-young-song/) earlier in June. But Bon Jovi is also an avowed Democrat; his wife even hosted a fundraiser for Hillary Clinton on Monday night, during which the rocker sang his biggest hit, “Livin’ on a Prayer.” However, despite their political differences, Bon Jovi gave Christie his blessing to use songs like “We Weren’t Born to Follow” for his campaign, _Mother Jones_ reports. The two met while Bon Jovi was helping with Hurricane Sandy relief. “My friendships are apolitical. And, yes, I absolutely gave him permission to use my songs,” he said. \[[_Mother Jones_](http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2015/06/christie-bon-jovi)\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3941934/jon-bon-jovi-chris-christie-songs/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3941934/jon-bon-jovi-chris-christie-songs/"},"headline":"Jon Bon Jovi Happy for Chris Christie to Use Songs in Campaign Launch","datePublished":"2015-06-30T18:42:45.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-19T07:47:14.602Z","description":"\"My friendships are apolitical,\" the Democrat rocker says.","url":"https://time.com/3941934/jon-bon-jovi-chris-christie-songs/","keywords":["2016 Election","Hillary Clinton","2016 Election","Chris Christie","2016"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Eliana Dockterman","jobTitle":"Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/eliana-dockterman/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/2016-election/","name":"2016 Election"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3941934/jon-bon-jovi-chris-christie-songs/","name":"Jon Bon Jovi Happy for Chris Christie to Use Songs in Campaign Launch"}}]}] ```