Jon Bon Jovi heartbroken Richie Sambora walked…
It’s his life.
Jon Bon Jovi revealed his true emotions about Richie Sambora leaving Bon Jovi, admitting he’s still “heartbroken” over how it all went down more than 10 years in the past.
The rocker, 63, opened up about Sambora’s exit from the band and revealed where they stand today.
Jon Bon Jovi on Bunnie Xo’s “Dumb Blonde” podcast.
Jon Bon Jovi on Bunnie Xo’s “Dumb Blonde” podcast.
Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora. Getty Images
“The great thing that I have said about him 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. Couldn’t ask for more,” he told Bunnie Xo on Monday’s episode of her “Dumb Blonde” podcast.
Sambora left the Grammy-winning band in the center of their 2013 world tour to focus on co-parenting his daughter with ex-wife Heather Locklear following their 2007 divorce.
Bon Jovi shared that he’s still upset about Sambora’s departure.
Jon Bon Jovi on Bunnie Xo’s “Dumb Blonde” podcast.
Richie Sambora and Jon Bon Jovi attend the ‘Amnesty International Presents ‘Human Rights Now!’ Concert’, held at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles, California, twenty first September 1988. Getty Images
Richie Sambora and Jon Bon Jovi at summer time rock competition ‘Super Rock 84’ on their first go to to Japan, Naogoya Baseball Stadium. Getty Images
“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 explained.
The “Livin’ on a Prayer” singer also said that he just needed the reality.
He famous, “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.’”
Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora of Bon Jovi carry out during the thirty third Annual Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony at Public Auditorium on April 14, 2018 in Cleveland, Ohio. FilmMagic
Bon Jovi pose for a group portrait in Nagoya Kanko Hotel, Aichi, Japan, in August 1984. Getty Images
He continued, “So for whatever reason, he walked out, and then that was that. But I can’t defend or or accuse in any … and it’s just not worth it anymore. 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.”
The Post reached out to Sambora’s rep for remark.
Sambora was changed by Bon Jovi’s current guitarist Phil X.
Richie Sambora in “Thank you, Goodnight: The Bon Jovi Story.” ©Hulu/Courtesy Everett Collection
Tom Keiger, Klaus Meine, Alexei Belov, Ozzy Osbourne, Jon Bon Jovi, and Richie Sambora arriving at Moscow Music Peace Festival 1989. Getty Images
Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora of Bon Jovi carry out during the thirty third Annual Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony at Public Auditorium on April 14, 2018 in Cleveland, Ohio. FilmMagic
In 2024, the well-known rock star obtained to say his piece and apologized to his bandmates.
“I don’t regret leaving the situation, but I regret how I did it, so I want to apologize fully right now to the fans, especially, and also to the guys because my feet and my spirit were just not letting me walk out the door,” Sambora said in the documentary “Thank You, Goodnight: The Bon Jovi Story.”
While answering questions about the 2024 movie, Bon Jovi insisted “there was never a fight” that pressured Sambora to abruptly depart the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame group.
(L-R) Jon Bon Jovi, Richie Sambora, Tico Torres and David Bryan of Bon Jovi pose for a portrait to announce the band as the first headliner for the Barclaycard British Summertime competition to be held in Hyde Park in July at Hyde Park Corner on January 23, 2013 in London, England. Getty Images
“There was substance abuse, there was anxiety, there was being a single parent, there was a lot of personal issues he was going through. But never to this day did any of us, me or him or David [Bryan] or Tico [Torres], ever have a fight,” the singer said.
“He had some issues that he just couldn’t wrap his head around and he wanted to be home more than he wanted to be on the road, but you got to show up for work. So there’s no animosity. An integral part of my story for three of the four chapters was my right-hand man, asked to join my band and I was lucky to have met him. But life went on.”
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