Cross Road

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Lore & Background

Cross Road arrived in 1994 as a career-spanning retrospective, pulling together hits from every album Bon Jovi had released up to that point—from their 1984 debut through 1992's Keep the Faith. The album included two brand-new tracks: "Always" and "Someday I'll Be Saturday Night." For North American fans, there was also "Prayer '94," a re-recorded version of "Livin' on a Prayer." Notably, a planned "Runaway '94" was never recorded, and "Runaway" itself had never been recorded with the current band lineup. The cover photo features the Roadside Diner in Wall Township, New Jersey, located near the crossroads of Route 33 and Route 34. The album's first single, "Always," went top five in many countries, spent six months in the top ten of the Billboard Hot 100, and became Bon Jovi's biggest selling single in the United States. Its international success helped the album peak at number one in 13 countries and made it Polygram Records' best-selling album of 1994. Cross Road has sold over 21.5 million copies worldwide, making it one of the best-selling albums of all time.

In Their Own Story

In the United States, Cross Road debuted and peaked at number 8 on the Billboard 200 the week of November 5, 1994. It was certified 7× platinum by the RIAA in 2024, ten years after release, and has sold over seven million copies in the US. In the United Kingdom, the album debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart and spent a total of five non-consecutive weeks atop the chart, later becoming the best-selling album of 1994. It was certified 6× platinum by the BPI. Across Europe, the album topped charts in Austria, Denmark, Germany, Italy, Portugal, and Switzerland. In 2007, it was certified 8× platinum by the IFPI for selling 8 million copies across Europe. Cross Road became Bon Jovi's first number-one set in Japan, where it has sold more than 1.1 million copies. It spent two weeks at number one in Australia and in 2022 was certified 13× platinum by the ARIA for shipments exceeding 910,000 copies. The album debuted at number three on the New Zealand Albums Chart, peaking at number one in its second week and later being certified 6× platinum by the RIANZ. The album won Metal Edge's 1994 Readers' Choice Awards for "Album of the Year" and "Best Hits or Compilation Album." Its namesake home video was voted "Best Video Cassette," and the single "Always" was voted "Song of the Year" and "Best Video Clip." In 2005, Cross Road was re-issued as a 3-disc box set under the name "Deluxe Sound & Vision," which included the original remastered album, a bonus CD containing B-sides, rarities and fan favourites, and the Live from London DVD. The original remastered album had been released in 1998. A video, also entitled Cross Road, was simultaneously released with the album, containing 16 of the band's music videos.

Reader's Guide

Cross Road is a single-disc greatest hits album, originally released on October 11, 1994, by Mercury Records. It compiles hits from all of Bon Jovi's studio albums from their 1984 debut through 1992's Keep the Faith. The album includes two new tracks: "Always" and "Someday I'll Be Saturday Night." North American versions also feature "Prayer '94," a new version of "Livin' on a Prayer." A planned "Runaway '94" was never recorded. The album's cover shows the Roadside Diner in Wall Township, New Jersey, at the crossroads of Route 33 and Route 34. In 1998, the album was remastered. In 2005, it was re-issued as a 3-disc box set called "Deluxe Sound & Vision," which included the remastered album, a bonus CD of B-sides, rarities and fan favourites, and the Live from London DVD. A companion video, also titled Cross Road, was released simultaneously with the album and contains 16 of the band's music videos.

Did You Know?

• The album's first single "Always" spent six months in the top ten of the Billboard Hot 100 and became Bon Jovi's biggest selling single in the United States.
• Cross Road peaked at number one in 13 countries and became Polygram Records' best-selling album of 1994.
• The album has sold over 21.5 million copies worldwide, making it one of the best-selling albums of all time.
• In the United Kingdom, Cross Road debuted at number one and became the best-selling album of 1994.
• The diner on the cover is the Roadside Diner in Wall Township, NJ, near the crossroads of Route 33 and Route 34.