Notre Dame football was “Livin’ on a Prayer” thanks to Jon Bon Jovi – not that they needed the help.

The Sayreville-born rocker was on the sidelines of the Fighting Irish’s big 52-3 win over Florida State on the evening of Saturday, Nov. 9 at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, Indiana.

Bon Jovi was introduced to the big crowd and the Notre Dame marching band performed a Bon Jovi tribute at halftime.

“Yo, Jon Bon Jovi here on the field!” said Bon Jovi on an X post shared by Fighting Irish football. “Notre Dame football – what can be better?”

Singer Jon Bon Jovi looks on during the first half between the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and the Florida State Seminoles at Notre Dame Stadium on November 09, 2024 in South Bend, Indiana.

Bon Jovi, and his family, are no strangers to South Bend. Son Jesse Bongiovi, Class of 2017, made the team as a walk on and played in two games. The Bon Jovi and Notre Dame teamed up for a special edition vinyl of the band’s 2022 album “Forever,” which included Notre Dame gold and blue splattered vinyl records.

 

Bon Jovi, who campaigned for Democratic candidate Kamala Harris in the recent presidential election, has been battling atrophied vocal chords that has kept him from touring for two years. The issue was delved in to on the recent Hulu documentary, “Thank You, Goodnight: The Bon Jovi Story.”

 

 

“I think — I’m going to stop saying I think — I am turning the last corner,” said Bon Jovi Oct. 26 at the Montclair Film Festival’s “A Conversation with Stephen Colbert and Jon Bon Jovi” on the stage of the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark. “We rehearse every month, we make the progress. I’m just not ever going out (on tour) unless its great … I work really hard, four days a week, two hours a day on therapy. Not till it’s right.”