Before Sebastian Bach became one of rock’s most recognizable frontmen, he was a teen singer looking to get his big break. By the time Skid Row’s “18 and Life” hit big in 1989, Bach was 21 and a star—and the fame came with an assist from Jon Bon Jovi.
In an interview with MTV’s Alan Hunter, Bach looked back on early days in the metal band and recalled how his bandmate Dave Sabo’s famous friend helped him out.
“When I joined the band Skid Row [in 1987], [Jon] Bon Jovi took us under his wing, and he’s, like, ‘Sebastian, sometimes you sing like Vince Neil. Sometimes you sing like [Ronnie James] Dio. Sometimes you sing like [Rob] Halford. You have to find your own sound right now,’” Bach recalled in the interview, per Blabbermouth.net. “And when somebody says that to you, it’s, like, ‘Oh my Lord.’ But that’s the way it was then.”
The Canadian singer also shared that Bon Jovi gave him advice that he still uses to this day.
“Back when I first joined Skid Row in 1987, you know, I was just a little kid,” Bach told Ultimate Classic Rock in 2024. “I had a good-sounding voice, but as far as doing a two-hour show, I was so young that I didn’t really have the muscles for that. When I joined Skid Row, we’d rehearse all day, every day. My voice wasn’t ready [for that]. It was like a learning crash course of singing. Jon Bon Jovi just said, ‘Forget about everything in the world except the lyrics.’ He said, ‘Just tell the story of what the lyrics are saying.’”
Bach noted that he had originally been trying to sing as high as he could.
“Back in the ‘80s, that seemed to be what all of the singers [were doing],” he explained. “But [Jon] goes, ‘Just tell the story of the lyrics.’ That changed my way of looking at being a singer. Because I had to be great right then. … I just totally shifted my focus from trying to shatter glass, which I did once, in Baltimore. I shifted it from that to telling the story of the words, and that’s been the way it’s been ever since. I get into telling the story.”
Bach’s breakthrough with Skid Row was “Youth Gone Wild,” followed by the massively successful single, “18 and Life.”
Written by Sabo and Rachel Bolan, the song about a troubled teen whose life spirals out of control perfectly showcases Bach’s vocal range, with soaring high notes in all the right places.
“18 and Life” reached No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 in July 1989 and remains Skid Row’s highest-charting song 37 years later.
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Jon Bon Jovi wasn’t the only Bon Jovi family member to have a hand in Bach’s career. In an interview with Classic Rock, the legendary Skid Row frontman revealed Bon Jovi’s parents first spotted him singing at rock photographer Mark Weiss’s wedding in the late 1980s and told him about a new New Jersey band that needed a singer.
“Someone came up to me and said: ‘Sebastian, Jon Bon Jovi’s parents want you to join them at their table,’” Bach revealed. “So I sat next to Jon’s dad, and we had a great time together. Skid Row were looking for a singer at that point, and I think they were partly responsible for suggesting me for it.”
Not only did Skid Row sign with Bon Jovi manager Doc McGhee ahead of their self-titled debut album, but they opened for Bon Jovi on tour in 1989 and 1990 just as “their hit single “18 and Life” was taking off.
“We were not happy with the contract we signed for the first record,” Bach admitted. “But looking back, we probably would have never made it without his help. It wouldn’t have been possible.”
Bach parted ways with Skid Row in 1996. Nearly 40 years after finding fame as a frontman, Bach continues to perform and record new music as a solo artist. The rock icon is currently performing dates on his The Party Never Ends Tour.
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