"Sold out"?

Please. They were "sell outs" back when Jon was on the Today Show to promote the Moscow Festival in 1989. The Today Show? How UNrockandroll can you get? Or maybe it was before that--back when Jon first smiled for a camera. Then they started writing songs for crappy acts like CHER and LOVERBOY. I mean.... ewwww. They're not rock and roll. And THEN.... Jon had the damn audacity to go and write a song for a soundtrack and get himself on the Oscars. Rock guys don't do the Academy Awards. After that, he cut his hair. OMG. You can't be a rock star without long hair! Keep the Faith? What kind of title is that? They should have called that comeback CD: I'll Kick Your Mother****ing Ass. Now THAT would have been cool rock and roll. After that, they put an accordian in a song. Then they went off and did more solo projects. Jon and Richie and Dave have all been in movies. Sell outs. They tried marketing themselves by setting up webcams in the studio. That's selling out, right? QVC? (Yeah, okay, no sarcasm in those three letters). Gone country?

Point is... if Bon Jovi "sold out" whatever that means to you, they did it long before American Idol.

This is the music BUSINESS. Having 9 songs in the itunes Top 100 and a a top 10 CD based on presales shows that being on AI was a good business move. People ought to be glad that Bon Jovi are smart enough to market themselves. If they weren't, they wouldn't be selling out that new arena in a minute or playing 10 nights in New Jersey this fall.