Richie Sambora talks Bon Jovi, new music and Stevie Wonder

With the Bon Jovi tour wrapping up in a few days, Richie Sambora has spoken to The Hollywood Reporter about his reasons for leaving. He mentions the family reasons he cited previously. But this bit is probably more telling:

As for looking ahead to 2014, the looming question for Bon Jovi fans remains: Will Sambora rejoin the group? “Yes, I would think about it for sure,” he says. "There’s no malice here. You get along for 30 years, that’s a damn good marriage. ... I was coming out of something a little bit different with my solo record, Aftermath of the Lowdown, and it just didn’t go in the right direction for me artistically, which is not to say it’s a bad thing."

Solo ambitions aside, months on tour and in the studio simply took away from his other life. "I did 14 cycles for 30 years, so I missed a lot," he explains. "A lot of life happened. And I also had three solo albums and tours, wrote songs for other people. ... Burnt isn’t the right word, but I almost fell out of love with music and I needed to fall in love with it again.”

Sambora insists that reports of a rift concerning money are “baloney," adding, "You look at your bank account, and you see the currency of love and happiness is more important than the currency of money."

In other words, he just didn't want to be there. Which is fair enough... There were plenty of burnt out fans who felt, and still do, that this album and tour cycle had been rushed or forced. And had Richie done something before the tour or maybe even during the break between the first and second legs -- instead of leaving the band with no lead guitarist on the day of a show -- I don't think many people would have been upset with him.

As for any upcoming solo music, Richie had this to say:

For now, Sambora is content just to play music and hinted that there is more on the way -- two albums' worth, but it won't be coming out via his Aftermath of the Lowdown label, Dangerbird.

“They blew me off the second week of my album," he says. "I put that single out and then the president [Jeff Castelaz] left and went to work for Elektra,” he says. “I want to get together with people that I like, who I have relationships with, and try to build a brand. Go out and gig on my own and make a living."

So he was probably already disillusioned heading out onto the road with Bon Jovi. But once again, had he not suddenly left Bon Jovi without a guitarist in Calgary, he'd have a lot more support (beyond his pocket of most ardent fans) than he currently does.

Richie also talked about performing with Stevie Wonder on December 1:

The duet, of Christmas classic "Silent Night," happened organically. Says Sambora: "I've been involved with Toys for Tots, the Boys and Girls Club and Joe DiMaggio’s Children’s Hospital in Miami over the last seven or eight years. ... When they asked me to play and said LeAnn Rimes, the Goo Goo Dolls and Stevie Wonder [were on the bill], I said, ‘Wouldn’t it be cool if I could play with Stevie Wonder?’”

The two had met before -- briefly in London at a show with Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page, but had never shared the stage. Luckily, Sambora knew some of the guys in Wonder’s band, who vouched for him.

Nearly two weeks later, Sambora is still pinching himself. “It is almost beyond words," he says. "He was the guy that I emulated when I was a boy, and he taught me how to sing. It was an honor to meet your teacher. The first thing I did was whisper in his ear, 'I’m sure you get this a lot, but you were my inspiration as a singer.' The first thing he said is, 'You do the first verse!'”

Read the full article here.

Check out the duet:

Richie Sambora and Stevie Wonder Perform at Hollywood Christmas Parade


I usually find performances of Christmas songs quite naff, but that was a bit different and I enjoyed it... What did you think?