Singer Jon Bon Jovi’s mother was 83

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Carol Bongiovi, mother of Jon Bon Jovi and a familiar face to fans as the founder of the Bon Jovi fan club, died Tuesday at the age of 83.

The woman known to some fans as “Mom Jovi” died three days before her 84th birthday at Monmouth Medical Center in Long Branch, New Jersey. No cause of death has been given.

“Our mother was a force to be reckoned with; her spirit and positive attitude shaped this family,” Jon Bon Jovi said in a statement announcing the news. “She will be greatly missed.”

After decades of figuring prominently in the family’s — and thus the band’s — history, Carol Bongiovi made an appearance in one of her son’s final music videos, as did her husband of 63 years, John Bongiovi, Sr., who survives her. For his 2021 video “Story of Love,” the rocker sang in front of a large black-and-white portrait of his parents in their youth, reinforcing the duration of their relationship — while also hinting at his own longtime union with his high school sweetheart, Dorothea Bongiovi.

“What I inherited from my parents was the ability to make my dreams come true,” Bon Jovi told the Big Issue in 2020. “Even if you weren’t really good at what you did, if you believed you were good at it, you could work at it. As I grew up, I realised that was a great gift I got from my parents. They really believed in John Kennedy’s mantra about going to the moon. ‘Yeah, of course you can go to the moon. Go for it, Johnny.’ And that’s when I went.”

One reason Carol stood out to the band’s fans, beyond her noted support of her son’s musical endeavors, is that very few rockers can tell the story of being the son of two Marines. His parents met while both were in the Marine Corps in the 1950s, and married shortly afterward.

But few of them can claim to be the son of one of the first Playboy bunnies, a fact Carol also had on her resume in addition to her military service. She was also a florist before enlisting.

Carol Sharkey was born and raised in Erie, Pennsylvania. After leaving the Marines with her husband, they moved to Sayreville, New Jersey, where their son Jon was born in 1962.

According to Laura Jackson’s biography of Jon Bon Jovi, Carol encouraged her son’s budding talent for performing and “would line up with her older son in front of a full-length mirror (where) they would have fun watching each other perform songs.” When he was just 7 years old, she brought home an acoustic guitar and encouraged him to learn to play, although it wasn’t until he was a teenager that he began to take a serious interest in music.

In addition to her husband, musician son and his wife, Carol is also survived by two other sons and their spouses – Anthony and Nina Yang Bongiovi of Los Angeles, and Matthew and Desiree Bongiovi of Holmdel, N.J. – and eight grandchildren.

The funeral will be held privately. Holmdel Funeral Home, which is in charge of arrangements, has set up a tribute page for sending messages of condolences at www.holmdelfuneralhome.com.