Jack Ponti, Producer, Songwriter and Early Jon Bon Jovi Collaborator, Dies

Share This:

Jack Ponti, a guitarist in a late ’70s New Jersey band that featured a teenaged Jon Bon Jovi as vocalist, who later became a producer, songwriter and music business entrepreneur, died October 7, 2024, at his home in Shrewsbury, NJ. Ponti, born Giacomo Pontoriero in Newark, NJ, was just 66. The death notice from a Red Bank, NJ, funeral home did not indicate the cause of death.

Ponti explained the evolution of his early collaboration with the “ambitious” future star in a 2009 interview. “The Rest was initially my band. Jon was in Atlantic City Expressway. We were introduced and the original plan was I was going to help him write some songs and get a demo together. One thing led to another and he joined the band. We had a very tough time trying to get a record deal. We had a tough time in general, but we also had a lot of fun. Jon was very ambitious, very determined and was willing to work hard. I knew I wanted to write and produce and that is what led to the break up of the band, not these silly rumors I’ve heard.”

Jack Ponti has sadly passed away at the age of 66.

Jack was the guy who put Jon in the band ‘The Rest’ and was a songwriter and producer for many other rock bands after this band folded.

‘Shot Through the Heart’ from the album ‘Bon Jovi’ is co-written with Jack Ponti too! pic.twitter.com/DOsGqCVT3f

— BonJoviTalk (@BonJoviTalk) October 9, 2024

“Jon loved the road and performing, I loved the studio,” Ponti continued. “It was pretty easy to figure out who should be doing what. The Rest was extremely important to both Jon and me in terms of development as writers, performers, getting to understand the business, etc. I don’t think either of us would have had careers if not for that band.”

Though that Jersey band The Rest did not secure a recording contract, a song that Ponti co-wrote with Jon Bon Jovi, “Shot Through the Heart,” made it onto the band Bon Jovi’s 1984 self-titled debut album.

Over the next several years, Ponti co-wrote songs for albums by Alice Cooper (“Hey Stoopid,” “Love’s a Loaded Gun”), Nelson, Glen Burtnik, and others. Atlantic Records’ co-founder Ahmet Ertegun “gave me my first break as a producer,” he told The Aquarian in a 2013 interview. “To sit at the feet of greatness was a remarkable privilege.” He produced and wrote several songs for the debut album, Shake Your Soul, by the rock band Baton Rouge for the label.

Though he left the music business for a while, he returned in the mid ’90s in a variety of roles including artist management and owner of a record label. He managed singer India.Arie as her 2001 debut album, Acoustic Soul, went 2x Platinum and earned seven Grammy Award nominations.

“One of my producers kept badgering me to listen to her,” he told The Aquarian. “I finally did and was floored. It was a tough, tough thing the entire journey. Getting that record to connect was a 10-month marketing plan combined with an artist who fought against being famous. It was a daily war between me and her label CEO, which I think benefited her, as me and him tried to outdo each other. Crossing her over into mainstream was a task unto itself. Fortunately, we were able to do so via a duet with John Mellencamp. It was the hardest thing I ever had to do in this business, but the results shocked even us.”

The news of his artist’s Grammy nominations was a pleasant surprise. “I was tipped off we were getting a nomination, but we had no idea we were getting a record-setting seven Grammy nominations for a debut artist. U2 got six, Alicia Keys got six, and we got seven. It was a jaw-dropper.”

Related: Musicians we’ve lost in 2024