Richie Sambora has suggested that Bon Jovi aren’t the real McCoy without him. Although, he accepts that frontman Jon Bon Jovi doesn’t agree with that statement.
The guitarist says his departure from the band was his own decision. And he admits he’s found it frustrating being seen a less important member than the singer.
Long-standing tensions between the pair boiled over last April, when Sambora failed to appear for a string of tour dates and was replaced by Phil X, who’d covered for him while he was in rehab in 2011.
Neither side has fully discussed the reasons for the disagreement. But in the summer Sambora predicted it would all be over in a matter of months, which proved to be untrue.
He tells the Herald Sun, “It was an unpopular decision with the fans and the band, but sometimes a man’s got to do for his family. It certainly didn’t come down to money – it’s something I needed to do for my family and myself.”
Sambora says of his absence, “At the end of the day, if you’re going to buy a can of Coke you want the real thing. I know Mick Jagger wouldn’t tour without Keith Richards and call it the Rolling Stones. Jon just has a different mentality.”
Sambora remains disappointed at how his contribution has been viewed, saying: “For the longest time, even now, I’m considered Bon Jovi’s side-arm or something. Hey, I built this band too.”
But the door still isn’t closed on a reunion. “I’m not saying the band will not get back together at some point,” he states. “There will have to be a lot of communication, a lot of talking.”
additional source: classicrockmagazine.com
55 Responses
“Soccer mom band”, that is hilarious. They sell a monster amount of tickets, freaking huge even returning to the same places 8 months later. They are all great guys to meet, ’84 and ’14 , no egos though Jon wants to Bruce it. Jon runs a tight ship, he sees b.s. he cuts like Paul Anka & the late Buddy Rich: there’s the door……”see that name up there, that’s my name, give me what I expect from you”. Alec didn’t.
I saw Bon Jovi without Richie in front of 50,000 adoring fans in Adelaide, South Australia recently (Bon Jovi played to 50k plus stadiums throughout Australia). Be proud of your rock bands and don’t generalise about their appeal. Every enduring artist evolves, so unless we want to lose the opportunity to hear the music we love live, we need to respect the decisions that allow bands to survive.
I have been a working musician most of my life and this is such an interesting situation. There is prgression for success with a band. Richie made up a GREAT partof that. What Jon is doing is “riding the wave”, the wave that was built by a band JON choose the member for. He wanted Richie, which means he thought that Richie would add to its success. So there is no doubt Richie has enormous value.
Here’s my point. The only way a band can be successful is to stay together, all the members. In every band I have been in thats been successful, we have endured the strain of families, illnesses, cancelled shows and any other crazy thing you could imagine…but we stayed together. Jon had an “in” at the beginning and that got the door open. Now Jon has a cash cow attached to his name, and while his name is the main draw, hewill lose every ounce of respect for me by not working with Richie on this. Replacing him for the tour, eh…i feel 50/50. he could have cancelled and I would have respected him..why would he need $ at this point. I have heard every Bon Jovi record, Every Richie Sambora record and every solo record Jon has put out. Richie is the victor in talent, hands down, as a guitarist, songwriter and lyricist, but that is my personal opinion and wont be the popular one because the cash cow machine has a rigged voting meter.
You have to consider that Jon is riding the wave with the replacement guitarist, who is a very good guitar player, but Jon made fatal error if he doesnt invite him back.
I hope Richie moves on to better things. He is the genuine and superior talent in this situation..