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"Wanted Dead or Alive"
Single by Bon Jovi from the album Slippery When Wet
B-side	"Never Say Goodbye"/"I'd Die For You"
Released	1987
Format	CD Single
Recorded	1986
Genre	Rock
Length	5:08
Label	Mercury Records
Writer	Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora
Producer	Bruce Fairbairn
Bon Jovi singles chronology
"Livin' on a Prayer" (1987) "Wanted Dead Or Alive" (1987) "Never Say Goodbye" (1987)
Alternate cover
Japanese Cover
Audio sample
Image:Wanted Dead Or Alive (Bon Jovi song).oggInfo (help·info)

"Wanted Dead or Alive" is a song from Bon Jovi's 1986 album Slippery When Wet. The song was written by Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora and was released in 1987 as the album's third single. The song peaked at #7 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, making it the third single from the album to reach the Top 10 of the Hot 100. Slippery When Wet was the first Hard Rock / Heavy Metal album ever to have 3 top 10 hits on it. It is now also notable for being the theme song for Discovery Channel's Alaskan crab fishing reality series, Deadliest Catch, though the theme song version contains few lyrics, the music is mostly the same. The song is featured as a playable track in the video game Rock Band.

The song's title pays homage to Jon's admiration for Old West heroes, and how he identifies with them as being hated (wanted dead or alive). Also, it had the 'Wanted' lyc in it.^{[citation needed]} On the band's Behind the Music special on VH1, it is even revealed that the band had originally planned to do an Old West-themed album in the 1980s, but scrapped the idea.

Wanted Dead Or Alive

30 second sample from Wanted Dead Or Alive by Bon Jovi

Problems listening to the file? See media help.

The video for the song is black and white and features footage from the band's massive 1986-1987 world tour, including shots from Chicago's UIC Pavilion, Rochester, MN's Mayo Civic Center, and other venues. The video strongly captures the grueling life-on-the-road feeling, with several shots of the exhausted band members on their mammoth 1986-87 Slippery When Wet World Tour.

Most recently, Chris Richardson performed the song in the sixth season of American Idol. In 2005, the song was covered by Chris Daughtry in the fifth season and later by Daughtry on American Idol Season 5: Encores CD. His version went to #43 on the Billboard Hot 100 the first week of its release. He had also managed to beat out Taylor Hicks' version of "Takin' It to the Streets" which debuted at #69 that same week.

The Discovery show Deadliest Catch uses part of the song during the opening.

Chris Cagle also performed a cover of the song on his 2005 album Anywhere But Here.

Montgomery Gentry covered the song on the 2001 album "Dancin' With Thunder: The Official Music of the PBR".

In 2004, Beanie Sigel sampled the song for the track of his album, The B. Coming. The song was moderately successful in the underground scene.^{[citation needed]}