Jon Bon Jovi says son Romeo is ‘no nepo baby’ as he launches own band

Jon Bon Jovi insists he has nothing to do with what his son Romeo does with his band, Lawn. Photo / Getty Images

Jon Bon Jovi insists his musician son Romeo Bongiovi is no nepo baby.

The 21-year-old aspiring singer is not letting his 63-year-old rock legend dad have anything to do with his band, Lawn.

Bon Jovi, who has Romeo with his 63-year-old wife Dorothea, told the Independent newspaper: “The first singles are great. That’s all I’ve heard.

“People talk about these nepo babies, blah blah blah, but I’m not in there at all. He’s got his own vision, which I really appreciate.”

In 2022, the Livin’ on a Prayer hitmaker, who also has daughter Stephanie Bongiovi, 32, Jesse Bongiovi, 30, and Jake Bongiovi, 23, with Dorothea, underwent “traumatising” vocal cord surgery to repair one of his vocal cords after it deteriorated at the end of the band Bon Jovi’s 2022 tour.

In 2024, the band released the docuseries Thank You, Goodnight: The Bon Jovi Story, which covered the lead singer’s disappointment that his voice does not sound like it did back in the 1980s.

And he found no difficulty in being so vulnerable in the four-part Disney+ show.

The It’s My Life singer said: “I don’t mind being vulnerable. I only ever wanted to tell the truth, no matter what phase of our lives we were in.

“But I didn’t anticipate the surgery, and I certainly didn’t anticipate the recovery.”

The docuseries was released alongside Bon Jovi’s 16th studio album, Forever, which marked his first return to the studio since he underwent vocal cord surgery.

However, the music legend could not promote the record because of still being in recovery, which he said “sucked” because he knew the “joyful” LP was “dead” without a promotional tour.

Bon Jovi said: “We were releasing the album along with the docuseries [Thank You, Goodnight], and we were going to do our 40th anniversary celebration and tour.

“But I had this traumatising throat surgery, and as we released [the album], I started to rehearse with the band and I said, ‘Guys, I’m sorry, but I’m just not up to it yet’.”

On numerous occasions, Bon Jovi told his bandmates he was ready to go – but he was met with a lot of “no’s”.

Asked if that was tricky to deal with, he said: “It’s tough, and there have been [other] days when I’ve said I’m done, and they said, ‘No, you’re not. Think of the progress you’ve made since last month and the month before’.”

And in an impressive turnaround, Bon Jovi will be back on the stage with the band performing their hits to fans in 2026, beginning with a nine-night residency at Madison Square Garden, New York, and ending with three nights at Wembley Stadium, London.

Although he cannot give much away, the singer said he can sing every song in the set list – as well as an alternative one.

“The only good news I can tell you is there’s nothing in the catalogue I can’t sing,” he said.

“So if we’re doing multiple nights and I want to play, I don’t know, 45 songs ... I’m capable.”