Bon Jovi will kick off their Forever tour in New York City on July 7
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Key Takeaways
- In a new PEOPLE cover story, Jon Bon Jovi talks about becoming a grandfather of two
- “No one prepares you for those things,” the rock icon says of watching two of his sons become dads
- Bon Jovi will launch the Forever tour — their first in four years — on July 7 in N.Y.C.
Jon Bon Jovi is opening up about his growing family.
In a new PEOPLE cover story, the rock icon, 64, discusses settling into grandfatherhood.
"It's awesome, it's absolutely awesome," Bon Jovi — whose band will launch their Forever tour at Madison Square Garden on July 7 — says of becoming a grandpa last year.
Credit: Michael Schwartz
His middle son, Jake, 24, and daughter-in-law, Stranger Things actress Millie Bobby Brown, 22, announced last summer that they had adopted a baby girl, before oldest son Jesse, 31, and his wife, Jesse, 32, also welcomed a daughter in November.
At his cover shoot, Bon Jovi (born Jon Francis Bongiovi Jr.) wore two beaded friendship bracelets, one bearing his new nickname since becoming a grandpa twice over: "Papa Jon."
"Papa’s a giddy, goofy grandfather,” a beaming Bon Jovi says of settling into his new role.
 Credit: Michael Buckner/Getty |
 Credit: John Angelillo/UPI/Shutterstock |
 Credit: Kevin Mazur/Getty |
Before kicking off for his first tour in four years, the Grammy winner is relishing his family's new chapter with the next generation of baby Bongiovis.
“No one prepares you for those things,” he says with pride of watching his sons become parents, “and then you see it, and it’s an extension of you and then them with their spouses, and then it becomes a whole ’nother part of a family—the magic of a baby and just wanting the best for them, praying for their health, praying for their future and hoping for the best.”
Bon Jovi and his wife, Dorothea Bongiovi, 63, are also parents to daughter Stephanie, 33, and son Romeo, 22. With Romeo's college graduated in May, Bon Jovi's kids “are all in the real world now," he notes, "in the blink of an eye.”
Credit: Michael Schwartz
Adds the rocker: "No one warns you about these chapters in life because then they have their own schedules and the process and you're no longer the boss of anything, but you get them together when you can and we have as much time whenever, wherever we can, but they're all grown now."
With the Forever tour, Bon Jovi will tour for the first time since undergoing vocal cord surgery in 2022. In a 2024 cover story, he told PEOPLE he wasn't sure if he'd be able to tour again — but now, "I'm fully recovered," he says. “It was longer than I’d ever expected, but it had to be right. We never lost faith.”
As he counts down the days to the tour (which includes a nine-date residency at MSG before heading to England and Ireland), Bon Jovi is grateful for his reclaimed voice. "I think that this is a rebirth,” he says of touring again.
Adds Bon Jovi: “It’s a very short tour because I just wanted to go out and have joy again. Then, in ’27, if we want to do more, we’ll do more.”
For more on Jon Bon Jovi, pick up the new issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands everywhere Friday.
Read the full article here
