ɪn bˈɑːn dʒˈoʊviz slˈɪpɚɹi wɛn wˈɛt spˈɛʃəl ᵻdˈɪʃən, dʒˈɑːn ænd ɹˈɪtʃi pɚfˈɔːɹm ðɪ ɐkˈuːstɪk vˈɜːʒən ʌv "wˈɔntᵻd dˈɛd ɔːɹ ɐlˈaɪv" lˈaɪv, ænd bᵻfˌoːɹ sˈɪŋɪŋ ðeɪ mˈɛnʃən ðeɪ ɹˈoʊt ðə sˈɔŋ ɪn ɹˈɪtʃiz mˈʌðɚz bˈeɪsmənt ɐ jˈɪɹ ɐɡˈoʊ nˈaɪntiːnhˈʌndɹɪd ˈeɪɾi fˈaɪv ɔːɹ nˈaɪntiːnhˈʌndɹɪd ˈeɪɾi sˈɪks ænd ɹˈɪtʃi sˈɛz "mˈɑːm, ðɪs ɪz fɔːɹ juː" ænd dʒˈɑːn θˈæŋks hɜː baɪ sˈeɪɪŋ "θˈæŋks fɔːɹ ɹˈɪtʃiz mˈɑːm fɔːɹ nˌɑːt dˌuːɪŋ ðə lˈɔːndɹi ðə dˈeɪ wiː ɹˈoʊt ðɪs sˈɔŋ, ɪts kˈɔːld wˈɔntᵻd dˈɛd ɔːɹ ɐlˈaɪv".
In Bon Jovi's Slippery When Wet Special Edition, Jon and Richie perform the acoustic version of "Wanted Dead or Alive" live, and before singing they mention they wrote the song in Richie's mother's basement a year ago (1985 or 1986) and Richie says "Mom, this is for you" and Jon thanks her by saying "Thanks for Richie's mom for not doing the laundry the day we wrote this song, it's called 'Wanted Dead or Alive'".