Jon Bon Jovi Posts Loving Tribute to Late Mother Carol: ‘We Carry You with Us’

A day after his mother’s death, the Bon Jovi frontman shared a snippet from the band’s “Story of Love” music video, which features intimate home videos

Jon Bon Jovi and Carol Bongiovi

 

Jon Bon Jovi and Carol Bongiovi. PHOTO: RON GALELLA/RON GALELLA COLLECTION VIA GETTY

 

Jon Bon Jovi is mourning the death of his late mother, Carol Bongiovi.

On Wednesday, July 10, the Bon Jovi frontman, 62, shared a snippet from the band’s “Story of Love” music video, which features some of his intimate home videos.

“Momma, We carry you with us Always ❤️❤️,” the musician wrote next to the touching Instagram clip. In it, Bon Jovi is singing and playing his guitar in front of a wall filled with family photos.

The track, off the band’s 2020 album, features moving lyrics, with Bon Jovi singing in the chorus, “Fathers love daughters like mothers love sons / They’ve been writing our story before there was one / From the day you arrive, ’til you walk, ’til you run / There is nothing but pride, there is nothing but love.”

The rock icon’s social media tribute comes a day after his mother died on Tuesday, July 9 — three days short of her 84th birthday, at Monmouth Medical Center, Long Branch, N.J.

“Our mother was a force to be reckoned with, her spirit and can-do attitude shaped this family. She will be greatly missed,” he told PEOPLE in a statement on behalf of the family.

Jon Bon Jovi and his mother Carol Sharkey

Jon Bon Jovi with his mother at an event in 2008.MARC SEROTA/GETTY

Carol was the founder of his eponymous band’s fan club. She was also a former Playboy bunny and entrepreneur who ran several businesses.

She met her future husband, John Bongiovi, Sr., Bon Jovi’s father, after enlisting in the U.S. Marine Corps in 1959. They raised their family in Sayreville, N.J., and later settled in Holmdel, N.J., where she resided until her death.

Bon Jovi credited his parents as being an influential part of his success in a conversation with The Big Issue published in 2020.

Jon Bon Jovi

Jon Bon Jovi in the ‘Story Of Love’ music video.BON JOVI/YOUTUBE

“Even if you truly weren’t any good at your craft, if you believed you were, you could work on it,” he said. “As I got older I realized that was a great gift that I got from my folks.”

“They truly believed in the John Kennedy mantra of going to the moon. ‘Yeah, of course you can go to the moon. Just go, Johnny.’ And there I went,” he continued.