John Travolta pens emotional 33rd birthday tribute message to late son

14 April 2025, 10:13 | Updated: 23 April 2025, 17:42

The award-winning actor’s son Jett tragically passed away while on a family holiday in 2009.

John Travolta has penned a moving message to his late son Jett on what would have been his 33rd birthday.

The Saturday Night Fever actor’s oldest child died aged just 16 as a result of a seizure which he suffered while the family were on a Christmas holiday in The Bahamas.

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Taking to Instagram on Sunday (Jett's birthday – April 13), John wrote alongside a photo of him cradling a young Jett in his arms: “Happy birthday Jett – I miss you so much.”

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“Love you forever!” he concluded the post.

Jett was the oldest of John’s three children, who he shared with his wife, actress Kelly Preston.

The pair’s daughter Ella Bleu is now 25, meanwhile their second son Benjamin is now 14.

Kelly died in July 2020 after being diagnosed with breast cancer two years in 2018.

Over the years, John has opened up about his grief in the wake of his young son and his wife’s deaths.

Speaking about Jett’s passing in 2014, the actor described his death as “the worst thing that’s ever happened” in his life.

“The truth is, I didn’t know if I was going to make it,” he continued, speaking at an event at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane in London, the BBC reported at the time.

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“Life was no longer interesting to me, so it took a lot to get me better,” he continued, crediting his religion Scientology for supporting him “Monday through Sunday” through the first few years of his grief.

Reflecting on going through grief again following the loss of his wife, John told Esquire Mexico in 2021: “The most important thing you can do to help people going through grief is allow them the space to live it and not complicate their journey with your own.

“Like, imagine if you lose someone and you're very sad at the funeral, and another person comes up to you who is feeling even sadder and then doesn't leave space for you to feel your grief,” he continued.

“It becomes two ships plummeting to the bottom together. That's my experience.

“Because, although it's nice to have company, sometimes it turns you into someone helping the other person instead of putting in the work of overcoming the sense of loss and grief.”

In 2024, the 71-year-old Pulp Fiction star remembered Jett and Kelly on April 13 when he posted a photo of the three together in 1997 in order to wish his late son a happy 32nd.