Jon Bon Jovi - Blaze Of Glory

JUL 01 1990 · 12:00

Jon Bon Jovi - Blaze Of Glory (1990) Director: Wayne Isham Era: Post-Glam Arena Rock / New Hollywood Western Revival (1990) - Era of solo crossover projects, film-soundtrack integration, and cinematic location-based music video production at peak MTV influence High curatorial value as a documented intersection of MTV-era arena rock and Hollywood Western revival. The video represents a rare case where production logistics (helicopter-only access, multi-day on-site filming) directly shaped visual identity, yielding one of the most geographically iconic rock videos of 1990. Its Golden Globe-winning song and confirmed IMDb-documented production details make it a reliable primary artifact for both music video history and early-1990s film-soundtrack culture research. Context: Released in July 1990 as Jon Bon Jovi's debut solo single, 'Blaze of Glory' emerged during a deliberate hiatus from Bon Jovi following the exhausting New Jersey Syndicate world tour. The song was written specifically for the Young Guns II (1990) soundtrack after Emilio Estevez requested 'Wanted Dead or Alive,' which Bon Jovi felt was thematically misaligned with the Western film. The video's remote Utah mesa setting, logistically demanding enough to require helicopter supply runs, signaled a cinematic ambition that mirrored the song's Golden Globe-winning cultural status. The single reached No. 1 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and topped charts in Australia, Canada, and New Zealand, cementing the era's appetite for rock-meets-Hollywood crossover spectacle. Director notes: Isham directed this video on location atop thousand-foot cliffs near Moab, Utah. All equipment and crew had to be flown in by helicopter due to the remote mesa location. The production incorporated archive footage from the film Young Guns II. The shoot required multi-day on-site camping between takes. Cinematography was handled by Daniel Pearl (per IMDb full credits). The video's Western aesthetic directly complemented the song's origin as the lead single and soundtrack centerpiece for Young Guns II (1990). Isham was already established as the primary visual collaborator for Bon Jovi by this point in his career.