The Tragedy And Recovery Of Jon Bon Jovi's Daughter Stephanie Rose

Feb 03, 2022 by apost team

Jon Bon Jovi was born John Francis Bongiovi Jr. in 1962. He is the frontman and also the founder of the rock band Bon Jovi. Jon is a singer, guitarist, songwriter, and actor. In 2009, he was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. With his band, he has released 15 studio albums, as well as two solo albums. 

While celebrities aren't always known for their generosity, the rockstar seems to be a clear exception. Known for his philanthropic work through the Jon Bon Jovi Soul Foundation, Jon has been spotted multiple times while working in one of the foundation's community restaurants.
The restaurant also features a professionally trained chef who prepares the three-course meals. But what separates JBJ Soul Kitchen from other restaurants most of all is its priceless menu. 

Regardless of whether someone can donate or not, customers always have the option to eat for free. For those who want to give back, community members can also donate their time to the restaurant. The JBJ Soul Kitchen has served over 100,000 meals over the past decade. Around half of the meals were served completely free to those in need, whereas the other half paid with a donation.

Running the JBJ Soul Kitchen is even more special for Jon because he gets to do it with his wife, Dorthea Hurley. The singer even said that his wife does most of the work while he gets all the credit. The couple has four children, a daughter named Stephanie and three sons named Jesse, Jacob, and Romeo. Read on to learn more about Jon and Dorthea, as well as what tragic incident happened to Stephanie when she was 19.

From eloping to Las Vegas in 1989 to launching a charitable foundation together, Jon Bon Jovi and his wife Dorothea Hurley have defeated the odds stacked against them. Starting as high school sweethearts, and then when Jon was launched into incredible success, he wanted to marry Dorothea spur of the moment. He told Men's Health:

"I got an idea, why don't we go right now? She said, 'You're out of your mind.' I said, 'Come on. What's better than this, right now, this moment?'" 

Married at the hands of an Elvis Impersonator, the couple is still strong and more in love than ever 30 years later. "We make it work," Dorothea told People. Even though Jon has tons of female fans swooning over him, it doesn't seem to bother her. "I think it's great they love the music," she says. "They love the band and are so loyal."

"Looking back on it, the marriage was the greatest deal I ever made," the singer told The Mirror. However, at the time, it caused mass hysteria among Bon Jovi's female fans. 

"When I came back from Vegas my manager was furious. He was like, '­America's boy is now married… that's not a good career move'. The record company was also despondent," he told the tabloid. America's most desirable musician was unavailable, and everyone was being a poor sport about it.

But Dorothea and Jon's relationship hasn't always been easy. "I've been in one of the biggest rock bands in the world for 25 years, and I'm not a saint, and I have not been a saint," he told Men's Health.

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Jon also struggled with depression during his hey-day telling The Mirror how the band performed 240 shows, then went home to start writing and recording, and then immediately went back on the road to perform another 240. But Dorothea stayed through it all. Speaking to Men's Health, the rockstar said: "She's been in it the whole game. She understands what it means. It's my life, and it is what it is. But, really, I don't look at this week's hot starlet and think about trading in or trading up."

The couple shares four children together and manages to keep them out of the spotlight as much as possible. "We never really drag the kids to things," Dorothea told People. "I never pointed at the TV and said, 'There's Daddy!' We try hard just to give our kids a normal life."

However, when Stephanie was a freshman in college, she was found unconscious in her dorm room after overdosing on heroin. "It was my worst moment as a father," Jon said after it happened. "The first thing she said was, 'I'm all right', but then she said this is what happened. You wake up, you shake it off and put your shoes on and say okay, I am on the way home."

According to Jon, Stephanie recovered and received help. "She's good. She's getting through it. She's healthy," the father shared. "The greatest gift that I have is that I have her. We'll get through this. It was a shock for everybody, and hopefully, we learn from these life lessons. It wasn't what you see in the movies. It's a pill form that these kids have access to. It was the first and hopefully the last time."

Jon's faith in his daughter seems to have paid off. Now 30 years old, Stephanie is still clean and enjoying a successful career as a production assistant.

Are you a Bon Jovi fan? What is your favorite song by them? Let us know, and be sure to pass this along to your friends and family.