Jack Ponti, a New Jersey-based songwriter and record producer known for collaborations with artists like Bon Jovi and Alice Cooper, has died at age 66.
He passed away on Monday, according to an online obituary. A cause of death was not given.
Born Giacomo Pontoriero in Newark in 1958, Ponti’s early years including playing with a young Jon Bon Jovi in a band called The Rest in the 1970s. While the band split, Ponti stayed in touch with the Perth Amboy rocker, even co-writing “Shot Through the Heart” from Bon Jovi’s self-titled debut album in 1984.
“Jon and me really laid the nucleus for both of our careers playing in that band together,” he said in a 2012 with Legendary Rock Interviews. “It was a very important time. We had big dreams, good times, a learned a lot together. … It changed all of our lives and I am eternally grateful.”
Ponti went on to work with Alice Cooper, Nelson, Skid Row, India.Arie (who he managed), Boyz II Men and many others.
In that same 2012 interview, Ponti detailed how he retired from writing and producing music in 1991 to start the management company and record label MRV Music.
“I had a [bad] manager early on, so that inspired me to be a better manager when I went that route,” he said. “I took people’s dreams very seriously, I still do.”
Though he was “widely recognized for his musical genius, it was his boundless love for his family, generosity of spirit, and fierce loyalty that truly defined him,” reads an obituary in the Asbury Park Press.
Ponti is survived by his wife, Tatyana, daughter Neva, granddaughter Jordyn and his sister, Nikki.
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