Jon Bon Jovi’s ex bandmate Jack Ponti dead at 66: Guitarist and producer also wrote for Alice Cooper
- Ponti played guitar in Bon Jovi’s early band The Rest
- He later worked as a songwriter, producer and record executive
- In the 1990s he became a manager representing India.Arie and Boyz II Men
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Jack Ponti, the guitarist of one of Jon Bon Jovi’s early pre-fame bands, has died at the age of 66.
Ponti died on October 7, according to his obituary posted by Thompson Memorial Houselocated in his hometown of Red Bank, New Jersey.
His cause of death was not specified.
In addition to playing with Jon Bon Jovi in his early days, Ponti also worked as a producer and songwriter, most notably with artists such as Alice Cooper, Nelson and Skid Row.
Ponti (born Giacomo Pontoriero) began his long music career playing guitar in the New Jersey-based band The Rest in the 1970s, with a young Bon Jovi handling lead vocals.
Jack Ponti, the guitarist of one of Jon Bon Jovi’s early pre-fame bands and later songwriter, producer and record executive, has died at the age of 66.
Ponti played guitar in the New Jersey band The Rest in the late 1970s. The band featured a young Bon Jovi (pictured in New York in 2020) on lead vocals
But even with the support of members of Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band and fellow New Jersey rock icon Southside Johnny, The Rest failed to land a recording contract.
Ponti and Bon Jovi went their separate ways, with the latter starting a new band that would become his iconic eponymous group.
Ponti instead took a more behind-the-scenes position in the music industry. He continued to focus on songwriting, penning tunes for his former colleagues Bon Jovi and Alice Cooper in the ’80s and ’90s, as well as for Nelson, Joe Lynn Turner and other glam metal bands in vogue at the time.
He went on to work as a music producer for the rock groups Babylon AD Baton Rouge and Doro.
Ponti also found time to perform again when he founded the band Surgin’ in 1985.
After The Rest broke up, Bon Jovi formed his iconic eponymous band (pictured in 1984 in LA) while Ponti focused on songwriting and production.