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Former Bon Jovi guitarist Richie Sambora excited fans by sharing news of a possible reunion with the band. While this would be epic, his loose lips about Jon Bon Jovi’s voice troubles have some music fans thinking it’ll never happen. 

Richie Sambora talked to Jon Bon Jovi about a reunion

After wrapping up his appearance on The Masked Singer, Sambora talked about his comeback in an interview on Absolute Radio. The musician shared that he and Jon Bon Jovi discussed an upcoming reunion and possibly recording new material. 

“We’re talking about it,” he said when asked if he had plans to rejoin Bon Jovi. “I don’t think there’s any reason not to at this point… we have to get out there and do it for the fans, really. I feel a second obligation.” 

Sambora played with Bon Jovi from 1983 to 2013, when he resigned during the band’s tour. While he claimed to leave for family reasons, evidence suggests otherwise. 

Richie Sambora left Bon Jovi to care for his daughter

In a 2020 Zoom interview with People, Sambora explained that he left Bon Jovi to reconnect with his daughter Ava. At the time, the band had a heavy tour schedule that kept them on the road for months. 

richie sambora bon jovi
Richie Sambora of Bon Jovi performs at HP Pavilion on April 12, 2003 in San Jose, California. | Tim Mosenfelder/Getty Images

“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]… 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.”

Sambora has dealt with alcohol and drug addiction since 2007, making him reportedly difficult to work with. While his reasoning for leaving the band may be partly valid, his bandmates told a different version of events.

Jon Bon Jovi claimed Richie Sambora ‘didn’t show up’ 

In 2016, Jon Bon Jovi came clean about Sambora’s exit while appearing on CBS This Morning. According to The Wrap, the frontman claimed Sambora stopped showing up partway through the band’s tour.

“I haven’t seen him in over three years. He just didn’t show up for work anymore. And that’s the truth of the matter.”

Several years later, Jon Bon Jovi doubled down on his explanation for Sambora’s departure. In a 2020 interview with the German outlet Rock Antenne, the singer said:

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“Some things happened that were the catalyst for why other good things happened, you know? There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t wish that Richie had his life together and was still in the band. And yet, in a weird way, it’s because of his inability to get it together anymore that we went on and wrote This House Is Not for Sale, and it was a very strong record.”

According to Richie Sambora ‘there’s no malice’ between him and Bon Jovi

Five years after his departure, Sambora reunited with Bon Jovi when the band got inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In the same Absolute Radio interview in February, he claimed there are no hard feelings between him and his former bandmates. 

“You know what, there’s no malice,” he said. “I mean, we did something… there’s not a lot of bands that did what we did.”

However, he did take the opportunity to get in a dig, echoing Bon Jovi’s comment about him not having his life together. 

“Jon [Bon Jovi] was having a hard time with his voice a little bit there, and he needed to take a little bit of a breather. I don’t know when Jon’s going to get his voice together and [when the reunion is] going to happen.”

Bon Jovi never publically announced he had problems with his voice or mentioned taking a break from singing. 

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