Hugh Mcdonald Wiki: 5 Facts To Know About 'Bon Jovi' Bass Guitarist

Stardom comes easily to some people while for some it takes years of hard work and toil before they finally get their due acclaim and recognition. Such was the fate of the bass guitarist Hugh McDonald who was recently inducted into the American rock band Bon Jovi after having played for them for many years. The musician does not have any regrets and is actually happy about his musical career. In this article, we shall first give you a brief info on his birth and early childhood and then we'll tell you about Hugh McDonald's reflection on his musical career. Born in 1950, the American musician shot to fame after becoming the current bass guitarist for the rock band Bon Jovi. He has been playing as an unofficial member since November 1994, but he didn't gain the status of an official member until 2016. Before he collaborated with Bon Jovi, the musician made his recording debut with the band 'The Deirdre Wilson Tabac' for their self-titled album in 1969. McDonald has performed with several other artists, both live and in the studio, and he's recorded several songs with various big artists. Hugh McDonald also toured for a few dates with Shania Twain during her 'Me TV' tour. His collaboration with Bon Jovi dates back to 1994 after their original bass guitarist Alec John Such quit the band. McDonald has been playing unofficially with them since then. Because of his unofficial status with the band, he was even left out of most publicity shoots and album covers although he did appear in some of the bands' promo videos. The band members clarified that they never agreed officially to replace Alec John Such. However, in 2016, McDonald gained the official member status along with guitarist Phil X. In spite of that, his work with the band won him a 1995 Metal Edge Readers' Choice Award for "Best Bassist". The song 'Runaway' was the first debut recording of the band which was recorded in the presence of McDonald and it became a local hit but surprisingly, Jon Bon Jovi assembled his band without McDonald. Hugh McDonald has also appeared on Jon Bon Jovi's solo album 'Destination Anywhere' and was also a part of Jon Bon Jovi's backing group, 'The Big Dogs'. In 2004, McDonald married Kelli who is a horse trainer and jewelry designer and the two currently live near Park City, Utah. In 2018, McDonald was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Bon Jovi and that according to him was the biggest achievement of his life.

The net worth of the musician is currently unknown.

Hugh Mcdonald had been present with the band Bon Jovi when they recorded their hit songs including 'It's My Life', 'Always', 'Thank You for Loving Me' and 'Bounce'. 'It's My Life' was from the album 'Crush' released in 2000. The song, 'Always' was from the album, 'Live from London' released in 1995. 'Live from London' is a live concert video which was the band's first concert video too. 'Thank You for Loving Me' song was from the album 'Crush' released in 2000. The album 'This House is Not for Sale' was their 13th studio album recently released in 2016. 'This House is Not for Sale' is the famous title track of this album. Their 8th studio album, 'Bounce' was released in 2002.

In a candid interview with the musician, we got a sneak peak into his life and also his opinions. He understands the need to do good things with music and does his best to help contribute to music. He revealed that he was inspired to get into music because of the band 'Beatles'. "I saw them on the ‘Ed Sullivan Show’ because I’m that old," Mcdonald said, "I saw them and that did it, and for me, Paul McCartney is 100 percent the reason why I play bass to this day. "I don’t even know if you can call music a hobby for me then, because our neighborhood kids just did it," he said. "We put bands together or played music, and everything grew from that." Growing up in Philadelphia also was one of the reasons, he was inspired by music. His first, big-time music session was with singer and songwriter Steve Goodman, who wrote the song "City of New Orleans". On his first recording, Mcdonald reflected saying, "Steve needed a bassist and the guitarist who was working with him played in the same band as me in Philadelphia," McDonald said. "They called me and it was right after my father died. So I left straight from the funeral and went to New York to start the album." That project really started McDonald’s career, and after that, he got to perform with Ringo Starr, Cher, and many such big artists. When McDonald replaced Bon Jovi’s long-time bassist Alec John Such in 1994 and the rest then is history. "Jon was sweeping floors and making coffee at the time and he had this song," McDonald said. "The producer [Lance Quinn] was in a band with one of my friends Obie O’Brien who I had known from Philadelphia. At this stage of his career, he feels that he has had a good musical journey and is happy with his career in music of 40 years.