NJ Rock Legend To Play Special Role In Super Bowl

SANTA CLARA, CA — Rock & Roll Hall of Famer and New Jersey icon Jon Bon Jovi will introduce the New England Patriots ahead of their matchup with the Seattle Seahawks in the Super Bowl on Sunday.

Bon Jovi, the frontman of the globally successful rock band and Garden State native, is a longtime fan of the team. Over the last four decades, he has built friendships with owner Robert Kraft and former coaches Bill Parcells and Bill Belichick.

Both Belichick and Parcells had also coached the New York Jets, who call Metlife Stadium in East Rutherford home.

"Wherever Parcells and Belichick went, I went," Bon Jovi told "The Rich Eisen Show" in 2025.

Bon Jovi, born in Perth Amboy, attended St. Joseph High School in Metuchen and then graduated from Sayreville Memorial High School in Parlin.

After forming his first band at age 12, he would front a number of bands singing and playing guitar around local clubs in New Jersey under multiple groups that included "Atlantic City Expressway" and "John Bongiovi & the Wild Ones."

In 1983, he joined with guitarist Richie Sambora, drummer Tico Torres, bassist Alec John Such, and keyboard player David Bryan to form "Bon Jovi" and release the band's first three albums over three consecutive years.

While the first two were not huge commercial successes, the third, "Slippery When Wet," went on to top the Billboard charts and sell more than 10 million copies worldwide.

What followed was decades of global success touring and on the charts, ultimately leading to the band's induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2018.

Then Governor Phil Murphy declared April 14 "Bon Jovi Day" in recognition of the honor.

Super Bowl LX will kick off on NBC beginning at 6:30 p.m. on Sunday.

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