Jon Bon Jovi’s ex bandmate Jack Ponti dead at 66: Guitarist and producer also wrote for Alice Cooper

Jack Ponti, the guitarist for 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 Home, located in his hometown of Red Bank, New Jersey.

His cause of death was not specified.

In addition to play with Jon Bon Jovi in his early days, Ponti also worked as a producer and songwriter, most prominently with artists including Alice Cooper, Nelson and Skid Row.

Ponti (born Giacomo Pontoriero) began his lengthy music career playing guitar in the New Jersey–based band The Rest in the 1970s, with a young Bon Jovi handling lead vocals.

Ponti played guitar in the New Jersey–based band The Rest in the late 1970s. The band featured a young Bon Jovi (pictured in NYC in 2020) on lead vocals

But even with the endorsement of members of Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band and fellow New Jersey rock icon Southside Johnny, The Rest failed to earn 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, writing tunes for his former colleague 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 A.D. Baton Rouge and Doro.

Ponti also found time to perform again when he formed the band Surgin’ in 1985. 

Ponti took a temporary break from the music business beginning in 1991, when he focused on his passion for martial arts. 

But he returned to the fold in 1996 as a talent manager, taking on acts including India.Arie, Boyz II Men and Scarface, among others.

After The Rest split, Bon Jovi went on to found his iconic eponymous band (pictured in 1984 in LA) while Ponti focused on songwriting and producing

He continued to write songs for Bon Jovi, as well as Alice Cooper (pictured September 14 in Austin, Texas), in the late 1980s and early ’90s

In 2004, he expanded his portfolio by founding the label Bardic records, and he later became CEO of the label Merovingian Music. 

Despite his successes in the music industry, Ponti considered his family one of his greatest assets.

His obituary calls his family his ‘true legacy,’ adding that ‘his love for them was palpable in every conversation, every meal he cooked, and every smile he shared.’

Ponti is survived by his wife Tatyana, his daughter Neva, his granddaughter Jordyn and his sister Nikki.