Who says you can’t go down to Florida in the winter? 

Not Jon Bon Jovi, who was joined by Jimmy Buffett on stage at the Everglades Foundation’s “ForEverglades” benefit to restore the great Florida wetlands, Saturday, Feb. 16 at the Breakers Palm Beach Resort.

Bon Jovi fronted his solo acoustic band, Jon Bon Jovi and Friends, which included Carl Gentry, Lorenza Ponce and touring Bon Jovi band member Everett Bradley, at the benefit. Their set was heavy on the Bon Jovi hits.

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Bon Jovi also talked about becoming a part-time Florida resident at the show.  

“It’s only a matter of time before all the New Jersey guys come down to Florida,” Bon Jovi said, referring to Billy Joel and Bruce Springsteen, according to bloomberg.com. “We’re coming down and chasing the sun.”

He then performed the Beatles’ “Here Comes the Sun.” Springsteen has a house in Wellington, Fla. and Joel, a native of Long Island, recently purchased a ranch near Wellington.   

Bon Jovi is set to become a part-time Palm Beach resident as he builds a second home there. His seasonal neighbors will include Howard Stern, who inducted Bon Jovi into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft. They both live within a mile of Bon Jovi’s new spot.

More: Jon Bon Jovi’s new $10 million Palm Beach home near Howard Stern, Robert Kraft retreats

Kraft, who was recently charged with soliciting prostitution at a massage parlor in Jupiter, Fla., was at the benefit, as was former Trump administration member Gary Cohn and Mick Mulvaney, who is the acting White House chief of staff.

Mulvaney put on a Bon Jovi T-shirt, seemingly not minding that the rocker campaigned for Trump opponent Hillary Clinton during the 2016 presidential election.

Bon Jovi and his other backing outfit, the Kings of Suburbia, had previously performed a Valentine’s Day private concert with Bryan Adams on Mustique in the Caribbean a few days before the Everglades show.

The band Bon Jovi begins a series of 20 European dates on May 31 with a show in Moscow. The band then plays Tel Aviv in Israel on July 25 and Rock in Rio on Sept. 29.

Bon Jovi-themed boat cruises called  Runaway to Paradise will embark April 12 to 16 from Miami to Nassau and Aug. 26 to 30 from Barcelona to Palma de Mallorca, Spain. The centerpiece of the cruises will be concerts on the pool deck by Bon Jovi and the Kings of Suburbia.

Visit www.runawaytoparadise.com for more info.

Chris Jordan: cjordan@app.com. Twitter: @chrisfhjordan

 

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