Jon Bon Jovi recalled the terrifying moment every parent dreads, when he picked up the phone to his daughter in the middle of the night to find out she was in hospital.
The rock legend’s heart dropped when he answered his ringing phone, to find his teenager was calling him from hospital. Although Jon Bon Jovi’s daughter’s first words were “I’m alright”, the conversation they had thereafter was the ‘worst moment’ he’s had as a dad. The music legend said the ‘horrible’ moment finding out his daughter had overdosed on heroin was a problem he didn’t realize was more common than people think.
Jon Bon Jovi’s daughter called him from hospital
The 61-year-old previously opened up over the devastating moment with The Mirror, where he explained he was asleep when he heard the phone ringing.
When Jon Bon Jovi heard it ring by his bed, tragic thoughts would have crossed his mind, like any other parent. His daughter Stephanie, who was 19 at the time, was ringing from hospital. She calmly told him she was fine, but explained she was being treated after taking heroin.
Bon Jovi admitted: “It was horrible, a horrible moment. It was my worst moment as a father.
“The first thing she said, ‘I’m alright’, but then she said ‘this is what happened’. You wake up, you shake it off and put your shoes on and say ‘OK, I am on the way home”.
Cops were called to her dorm at her university, Hamilton College, when Jon Bon Jovi’s daughter was found unconscious. Based in Kirkland, New York, a small amount of heroin was also found in her room at the liberal arts college that had a $55,000 yearly tuition fee at the time.
Thankfully she recovered, and charges that were set against her and friend Ian Grant, 21, were dropped. This is because of a local law prohibiting prosecuting anyone who has had a drugs overdose.
‘A terrible, tragic lesson of life’
However, the incident opened the songwriter’s eyes. Jon Bon Jovi said he had no idea his daughter was using drugs.
The celebrity confessed: “We went through something that a lot of parents do, many more than I thought. Many more people who have been in my life that I had no idea they had been through it with their own children at one point or another.
“There’s a lot of pressure on this generation. They have a lot easier access to things than yours or my generation had.”
He went on to explain she wasn’t ‘using needles’ but there was a lot of “temptation” in the world, with more pressure on the younger generations parents may not understand.
Bon Jovi said he “wasn’t aware of it”. Not because he traveled with his music career, but because it’s a “different world” out there now.
Despite the near call, he called the entire situation a “terrible, tragic lesson” of life, but thanks God every day she survived and has her health.
He added: “It happened and it has gone. I know personally people whose sons and daughters, where it was a lot, lot worse. That could have been Stephanie.”
Rock star ‘knows nothing’ about that part of the world
Even though he’s one of the legends in the industry, which can sometimes entice rockers to use drugs, drink and smoke themselves, Jon Bon Jovi never “did a thing”, so it was a big shock for his daughter.
The Livin’ On A Prayer singer admitted: “I didn’t even do anything that could open the cover of the book. I was never attracted to it.”
And considering the life the celebrity has lived so far, he doesn’t know if he’ll be doing it forever.
The group has been making music for four decades, and celebrated the anniversary in January.
If you’ve been affected by this story you can contact American Addiction Centers on (877) 686-7688 or Talk To Frank on 0300 123 6600 in the UK.
Jon Bon Jovi’s family
Jon Bon Jovi has four children, daughter Stephanie, now 30, and sons Jesse, 29, Jake 21 and Romeo, 19. He shares them with his wife, Dorothea Bongiovi.
Stephanie, born in 1993, works as a camera operator on TV shows. She was seen with her parents at the MusiCares Person of the Year Gala last month. Her father was honored for his philanthropic work.
Second-eldest Jesse graduated from the University of Notre Dame where he studied political science and government. He launched a rose company with Jon Bon Jovi, called Hampton Water. It was named the best rose in 2018 by Wine Spectator. Jesse proposed to his girlfriend with the same name, Jesse Light, in 2022.
Jake Bongiovi is engaged to Netflix star Millie Bobby Brown. They had been dating for two years before he dropped down on one knee.
Youngest, Romeo, appears to stay out of the limelight and off social media. Although he has been seen attending events with his parents, including an event at Kensington Palace in 2013. Bon Jovi was being inducted into the National Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
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