NEED TO KNOW
- Jon Bon Jovi spoke to Bunnie Xo about his life and career journey from the latest episode of her Dumb Blonde podcast
- Bon Jovi recalled his parents meeting in the Marines and living an unconventional life for a married couple at the time
- Part of mom Carol Bongiovi’s story was her time as a Playboy bunny at New York’s Playboy Club, which opened the year the singer was born
Jon Bon Jovi is proud of his mother’s unique and trailblazing past.
Appearing on the latest episode of the Dumb Blonde podcast, Bon Jovi, 63, chatted about his family history with host Bunnie Xo.
“My mother and father met in the Marines… they met as Marines and she ran away. Well, didn’t run away, but she couldn’t wait to enlist, and said that the Marine Corps was nothing compared to her childhood. So she went and joined the Marines and meets my pop,” he shared of mom Carol Bongiovi and dad John Bongiovi, Sr.
Bunnie noted that Carol had spent some time as a Playboy bunny, which the singer also admired.
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“So she’s married. I don’t think I’m born yet, or I was just born. And with Lauren Hutton and Diane Lane, the actress’s mother, and a woman whose husband was Scott Muni, who’s a legendary DJ in New York from back in the day, they were all the original Playboy Bunnies in the club on 57th Street in Manhattan.”
Bongiovi was 21 in 1962, when she welcomed her son. The Playboy Club in Manhattan opened later that year.
He continued, “It’s cool. I’ve seen pictures of her with Sinatra, and the whole thing with my dad there, and my uncle’s there, all hanging out in the Playboy Club.”
The couple later moved to Sayreville, N.J., where she and her husband raised their family. They later settled in Holmdel, N.J., where she resided until her death in July 2024 at 83.
While speaking with The Big Issue in November 2020, Bon Jovi credited his parents with giving him “the ability to make the dream reality.”
“They were always supportive of me, which, in retrospect, was incredible. Because I could get home at one or two in the morning, and have to still be in school by eight o’clock. They just said, show up on time for school, you know that is your responsibility, but pursue your dream.”
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