Rest assured, Jon Bon Jovi is still livin’ on a prayer, no matter what the internet says.
Put the emphasis on “livin’.”
A rumor of Bon Jovi’s passing is making the rounds with faux headlines of Bon Jovi’s death seemingly related to the death of album cover artist Ioannis Vasilopoulos, who’s credited with working on a Bon Jovi cover.
“Bon Jovi legend dead,” reads a Daily Mail headline for the Vasilopoulos story from April 10.
Jon Bon Jovi says it was his idea to do a documentary to commemorate Bon Jovi’s 40th anniversary. “Thank You, Goodnight: The Bon Jovi Story,” arrived on Hulu April 26, 2024.
The click-bait Bon Jovi death headlines and memes have been popping up since, especially on Facebook.
“Bon Jovi Legend Dead as Tributes Pour In,” reads one. Another one has a Bon Jovi portrait with “RIP.”
“Bon Jovi death” was a Google tending term for Friday, April 18.
A request comment from Bon Jovi’s rep was not replied to as of press time, nor was a request for more info on Vasilopoulos’ relationship to Bon Jovi, including which Bon Jovi album cover he designed.
Vasilopoulos is credited with designing more than 350 album and record covers for Deep Purple, Allman Brothers, Uriah Heep, Styx, Blue Oyster Cult and more in his obituary.
Bon Jovi death rumors seem to pop up every few years or so. A frustrated musician from Pennsylvania posted a faux Bon Jovi obituary in 2011, which led to reports of his death. The obit stated that Bon Jovi, then 49, was found in a coma at the Empress Hotel in Asbury Park, and then died.
Bon Jovi took to social media in 2011 at the Count Basie Center for the Arts in Red Bank to debunk the rumor with a pic of him holding a sign that said: “Heaven looks a lot like New Jersey.”
Bon Jovi’s name was also invoked multiple times during the TikTok celebrity death prank trend of 2022.
Jon Bon Jovi, 63, has been battling vocal issues, but a rare band show is scheduled at an undisclosed location in Nashville from June 13 to 15 as part of a Runway Tours tour package.
In related news, Toms River Mayor Daniel Rodrick has criticized the Bon Jovi Soul Kitchen pop-up location in the city branch of the Ocean County Library, stating it “draws large gangs of intoxicated and mentally ill men” to the location.
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Chris Jordan, a Jersey Shore native, covers entertainment and features for the USA Today Network New Jersey. Contact him at [email protected]
This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Did Bon Jovi die? Death rumor false despite what internet says
