During a recent Audacy Check In interview discussing BON JOVI‘s forthcoming album Forever and the Hulu series Thank You, Goodnight: The Bon Jovi Story, Jon Bon Jovi was asked about the potential for a one-time concert featuring the band’s previous guitarist Richie Sambora.
“Hey, the door would always be open,” he responded. “It’s not that. But 11 years ago, for reasons that were certainly nothing to do with the band, he walked out. There was no animosity, there’s nothing but love. But we had a show that night, and subsequently had one the next night, and for 11 years, I’ve been making records and doing shows. So everyone knows where the bus stops. You show up at work… But there’s nothing but love. And so Richie‘s gone off on his own and he raised his daughter. So if he wanted to show up and play sometime, he knows the songs. Absolutely no animosity, I can promise you that.”
During a previous interview with Ultimate Classic Rock, Jon mentioned that he hadn’t communicated with Richie regarding the documentary, despite Richie being interviewed for the series.
“Not a word,” Jon said “That was [director] Gotham Chopra. This wasn’t a puff piece and this was no bulls**t. This is not us behind the scenes pulling strings. Oh, no, no, no. They interviewed Richie in London. I wasn’t there. I had nothing to do with it. No, I still haven’t seen the [finished] product.”
“We’re not in contact because he’s not in the organization any longer,” Bon Jovi continued. “Doesn’t mean that there’s not love forever, but it’s 11 years ago that he just didn’t show up anymore. And there were emotional issues that he was dealing with as a single dad, and there were substance abuse issues that, you know … [Current BON JOVI guitarist] Phil X had to show up one time, and then Phil X had to show up another time. And then, again, there’s a show that night. What are we gonna do?”
Back in 2020, Sambora discussed his contentious departure from BON JOVI in 2013 during an interview with People magazine, expressing his desire to dedicate more time to his daughter Ava, who is now 26 years old.
“It wasn’t a popular decision by any means, obviously, but there was really almost no choice about it. I had a lot of conscious work to do around [my personal life],” Sambora said at the time.
“We’ve been through a lot of things together. That was a time of psychological maintenance for the family. You know, I ain’t no angel. But I realized, Ava needed me to be around at that point in time. Family had to come first, and that’s what happened.”
