Carol A. Bongiovi, Jon Bon Jovi's mother, died yesterday, July 9, at the Monmouth Medical Center in Long Branch, New Jersey. She was 83 years old.
In a statement, Bon Jovi said that his mother had died, but he didn't say why. She passed away just three days before she would have been 84 years old.
Our mom was a force to be reckoned with. Her spirit and will to do things shaped our family," Bon Jovi said. "We will miss her a lot."
Bongiovi was a big part of helping her son follow his singing dreams. Most people know her for starting the Bon Jovi fan club and running it out of the flower shop she owned in Woodbridge, NJ.
According to Laura Jackson's biography of Bon Jovi, she also supported his love of music and singing as a child by getting him his first acoustic guitar when he was only seven years old.
Cheryl Sharkey Bongiovi was born and raised in Erie, Pennsylvania. She joined the Marines in 1959 and met the man who would become her husband there.
They got married soon after and moved to Sayreville, New Jersey. Their three children were named Jon (real name John Francis Bongiovi Jr
They had their own little outfit, and my dad was cool because he was married to a Playboy bunny