Jon Bon Jovi‘s mother, Carol Bongiovi, died Tuesday of unspecified causes at age 83, three days shy of her 84th birthday.
The singer confirmed the news in a statement sent on behalf of his family to People magazine: “Our mother was a force to be reckoned with, her spirit and can-do attitude shaped this family. She will be greatly missed.”
Born Carol Sharkey in Erie, Pennsylvania in 1940, Carol Bongiovi moved to Sayreville, NJ with her husband John Francis Bongiovi, who she met when both were in the Marines. There future rock star son Jon was born in 1962. Carol was a florist and also one of the first Playboy bunnies.
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According to Laura Jackson’s 2004 book Jon Bon Jovi: The Biography, Carol bought Jon his first guitar at age seven and encouraged him to follow his musical dreams. She also later founded the band’s fan club, earning herself the nickname “Mom Jovi.”
“What I got from my parents was the ability to make the dream reality,” Bon Jovi explained to The Big Issue in 2020. “Even if you truly weren’t any good at your craft, if you believed you were, you could work on it. As I got older I realized that was a great gift that I got from my folks. They truly believed in the John Kennedy mantra of going to the moon. ‘Yeah, of course you can go to the moon. Just go, Johnny.’ And there I went.”
Bon Jovi can be seen performing in front of a large photograph of his young parents in the video for 2021’s “Story of Love.”
Watch Bon Jovi Perform ‘Story of Love’
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