Jon Bon Jovi recently opened up about his complicated relationship with former bandmate Richie Sambora. He shared his feelings about the guitarist’s departure from the band in an interview on the Dumb Blonde Podcast.
Jon Bon Jovi opens up on Richie Sambora
Jon Bon Jovi opened up about Richie Sambora with a mix of admiration and lingering sadness. He spoke warmly of Sambora’s immense talent — not just as a guitarist, but also as a singer and collaborator — calling him the kind of friend anyone would be lucky to have.
Bon Jovi emphasized how invaluable Sambora was to the band and to him personally, describing him as his “right-hand man” and someone he couldn’t have asked more from. At the same time, his words carried a sense of unresolved pain, as he admitted the way Sambora left the band still weighs heavily on him.
“The great thing that I have said about him [Richie Sambora], throughout our lives was you would be lucky to call him your friend, and I mean that — talented beyond, beyond as a guitar player, as a singer, as a collaborator, wonderful, right-hand man, awesome,” Bon Jovi said. “Couldn’t ask for more.”
However, the frontman revealed the source of his ongoing disappointment with the guitarist’s exit from the band.
“My heartbreak with him is the way he walked out on us, compounded by the fact that it took him years to come back in the room just to have a meal with Tico and David and I and say, ‘I’m sorry,’” he continued.
Bon Jovi emphasized that he had always supported his bandmates’ individual pursuits. He believed they would benefit the group as a whole.
“But if what he wanted was to be just Richie Sambora, not a member of Bon Jovi, do it right? I always encourage all of my guys, because my attitude was, ‘Bring the information back that you learn outside. It’ll only help us,’” he explained.
The singer concluded with a mix of resignation and enduring affection for his former collaborator.
“So for whatever reason, he walked out, and then that was that. But I can’t defend or accuse in any … and it’s just not worth it anymore,” Bon Jovi said. “After so many years, I just … if you can’t figure [it out] or get it together, then it’s not on us, right? I love the man, heartbroken that he walked out on us.”
