Bon Jovi, Jon

Born: Mar 2, 1962

Musician and actor.
Born in Perth Amboy, NJ, USA.

Jon Bon Jovi (born March 2, 1962) is an American singer, composer, musician (Guitar, Piano, Harmonica, Keyboard) of the rock band Bon Jovi, and Hollywood actor.

He was born John Francis Bongiovi, in Perth Amboy, New Jersey. His mother, Carol Sharkley, was a former playboy bunny and his father, John Bongiovi, a coiffeur of half Italian ancestry. He attended high school in Sayreville, and later adopted the stage name Jon Bon Jovi at the behest of the record company that Bon Jovi signed with. His early career was assisted by his cousin, Tony Bongiovi, a notable record producer who owned the Power Station recording studio. Jon worked as a janitor at the studio, and in periods of studio downtime recorded his own material, helped by his uncle. An album of these early recordings John Bongiovi: The Power Station Years was released in 1999.

Bon Jovi married Dorothea Hurley on April 29, 1989 in the Graceland Chapel in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA. He fathered one daughter, Stephanie Rose Bongiovi (May 31, 1993), and three sons, Jesse James Louis Bongiovi (February 19, 1995) Jacob Hurley Bongiovi (May 7, 2002) and Romeo Jon Bongiovi (March 29, 2004).

Jon Bon Jovi is a credited actor in the movies Moonlight and Valentino, The Leading Man, Destination Anywhere, Homegrown, Little City, No Looking Back, Row Your Boat, Vampires Los Muertos, U-571 and Cry Wolf. He also had a supporting role in the movie Pay It Forward, where he played Helen Hunt's abusive ex-husband. TV series appearances include Sex and the City and an extended stint on Ally McBeal.

Bon Jovi's first appearance in any musical production was in the 1980 Star Wars album, Christmas in the Stars. He was the lead in singing the song, "R2-D2 We Wish You A Merry Christmas."

Jon Bon Jovi has recorded two solo albums: Blaze of glory (1990) and Destination anywhere (1997) and sold over 100 million albums with the band Bon Jovi.

Jon Bon Jovi has worked on behalf of the Special Olympics, the American Red Cross, the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation and other groups.

On June 15, 2001, Jon Bon Jovi addressed the prestigious Oxford Union debate society.

An American football fan all of his life, in 2003 he became founder and owner of the Philadelphia Soul of the Arena Football League. He appeared in several television commercials for the league.

On September 21, 2005, during an appearance on her show, the Bon Jovi band donated $1,000,000 to Oprah Winfrey for her Angel Network foundation.

He currently lives in a wealthy part of Middletown, New Jersey along with Geraldo Rivera.

Taken from Wikipedia

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