Bon Jovi Star Richie Sambora Sheds Light on Leaving Band Audio Ink Radio

Bon Jovi Star Richie Sambora Sheds Light on Leaving Band

2025-04-16

Former Bon Jovi guitarist Richie Sambora is opening up about his decision to leave the band in 2013 and what led to it. – Author: Cat Badra, Photo via Ken Settle

It’s never an easy decision for a band member to leave a band they’ve been with for a long time. Such was the case with Richie Sambora, the longtime lead guitarist in Bon Jovi.

Sambora famously parted ways with the band in 2013. So, why did he split with Jon Bon Jovi and company? As he describes in a new interview, he felt like he and Bon Jovi were going in separate directions and getting further apart, not closer. It’s almost akin to how some people feel at the end of a romantic relationship.

Richie Sambora Talks Leaving Bon Jovi

During an April 2 appearance on the Magnificent Others podcast, hosted by Smashing Pumpkins vocalist Billy Corgan, Sambora talked about his final days with Bon Jovi and what ultimately led to him to think that the two were musically not as close anymore.

“I felt like Jon was changing his focus and he often wanted to be a solo artist,” Sambora said on the show. “And I go, ‘Go make a solo [album]’… He was definitely changing directions.”

“[Jon Bon Jovi] said, all of a sudden, ‘Nah, you don’t have to worry about [songwriting],” Sambora recalled. “‘[Session guitarist] John Shanks and I wrote like 30 songs.'”

Of course, Sambora and Bon Jovi have a history of decades of making great music together. As a team, the two wrote such longstanding hits as “Livin’ on a Prayer,” “I’ll Be There for You,” “Wanted Dead or Alive” and more.

With that in mind, it was difficult, at first, for Sambora to imagine Bon Jovi writing with someone else. So, he made the admission that it “shook me a little bit,” but in the end, “I said, ‘Alright. What do you got?'”

Sambora listened to the songs Bon Jovi and guitarist Shanks had written together. After hearing those songs, it made sense. These songs sounded nothing like what he and Jon would have written for Bon Jovi.

“It didn’t sound like Bon Jovi,” Sambora said. “It didn’t sound like the band. It sounded like every song that I didn’t want to write.”

Sambora left the band shortly after that exchange, and the move enabled him to have more of a personal life and be with his family. Bon Jovi’s next album, 2015’s “Burning Bridges,” consisted almost exclusively of songs written by Jon, Shanks and producer Billy Falcon. But, Sambora did have a songwriting credit on the album for “Saturday Night Gave Me Sunday Morning,” which he started writing with the band before he left. Bon Jovi’s latest studio album in 2024’s “Legendary.”

There’s no denying that Bon Jovi isn’t the same without Sambora, but it doesn’t appear he’s giving fans much hope of reuniting with the band.

The Time Richie Sambora Shocked Jon Bon Jovi

In the end, there doesn’t seem to be hard feelings. Speaking on The Howard Stern Show back in spring 2024, Bon Jovi said he wasn’t surprised by Sambora’s decision to apologize for leaving the band in Hulu’s docuseries, “Thank You, Goodnight: The Bon Jovi Story.”

When asked if he was “shocked” by that final episode, where Sambora talks about regretting how he left the band, Bon Jovi said he wasn’t.

“I don’t know if it was a shock or not,” the singer replied. “It was 11 years ago now, and it was not easy. The shock was when he didn’t show up, and the issues that he was having again. That was the shock, and then that was the disappointment.”

Author
Recent Posts

Cat Badra

Meet the expert - Cat Badra is a music writer for Audio Ink Radio and a range of other music, sports and lifestyle publications. She's a graduate of Michigan State University with a master's degree in theater and speech. Contact her at cat@audioinkradio.com.

Search