Like a Prayer (song) demo of "Like a Prayer" in his car, and directed the choir accordingly. The choir was recorded separately, and Leonard wanted it to be added during post-production. Recording took more time than usual since Madonna and Leonard fought "tooth and nail" in the studio. According to author Lucy O'Brien, the singer wanted to prove that her second chance as a record producer (following her previous album "True Blue") was not a fluke. Leonard started working on the chord changes for the verses and the chorus. He had hired guitarist Bruce Gaitsch and bass guitar player Guy Pratt to work on
Livin' on a Prayer second-hardest hit state after New York, suffering hundreds of casualties among both WTC workers and first responders – the band performed an acoustic version of this song for New York. Bon Jovi performed a similar version as part of the special "". In 2006, online voters rated "Livin' on a Prayer" No. 1 on VH1's list of The 100 Greatest Songs of the '80s. More recently, in New Zealand, "Livin' on a Prayer" was No. 1 on the C4 music channel's show "U Choose 40", on the 80's Icons list. It was also No. 1 on the "Sing-a-long Classics List".