Rock-and-roll mom Carol Bongiovi, lovingly known as ‘Mom Bon Jovi’, has passed away at the age of 83.
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On July 9, just 3 days shy of her 84th birthday, Jon Bon Jovi’s mother Carol Bongiovi died at hospital Monmouth Medical Center in New Jersey. “Our mother was a force to be reckoned with,” Bon Jovi said in a statement. “Her spirit and can-do attitude shaped this family. She will be greatly missed.” No further details have been released.
Believe it or not, being the mother to one of America’s biggest rockstars was only one fascinating part of Carol’s life. Carol Sharkey grew up in Erie, Pennsylvania, and would become a small business owner, a model, an original Playboy bunny, and a U.S. Marine Corps member. After serving honorably and being discharged in 1959, Carol married fellow Marine John Bongiovi Sr. The two then moved to New Jersey and had a family of three young boys. She gave birth to her eldest son in 1962, and the couple named him Jon.
“Tough woman. Strong woman. Independent woman,” Jon said of his mother in 2010. “My parents were firm believers that anything you want to have, you can have. That was one great gift they gave us—a sense of optimism.”
Jon has repeatedly credited his upbringing as the foundation for his massive success in the music industry. From his parent’s marriage of 63 years to their belief in the “Just go, Johnny” mantra, the rockstar says that it was their morals that gave him, “the ability to make the dream reality.” And for a while, he brought his mom into that dream too. Carol was featured in the occasional music video, tagged along to different award shows, and is a mainstay character in fan lore. She was, after all, the Bon Jovi fan club’s founder and its very first member.
Carol is survived by her husband, sons Jon, Anthony, and Matthew, and eight grandchildren. Funeral services will be private, however, condolences may be left on this obituary webpage.