Jon Bon Jovi wishes Richie Sambora was still in the band: 'We were a formidable duo'

The Richie Sambora factor.

Jon Bon Jovi spoke about departed Bon Jovi guitarist Richie Sambora in a new interview with Pollstar, and he stated he would prefer to have Richie still in the band. As he's not in the band, it's like Jon has “one arm tied behind my back.”

Richie exited the band in the middle of the “Because We Can” tour in 2013.

“It wouldn’t be fair to Tico (Torres) or David (Bryan) or to me, to have let it falter because of Richie’s … problems, his issues,” Jon said. “So there was no way that I was going to ... the name of the band is Bon Jovi, it’s not anything else. This isn’t a band that is dependent on the guitar player like Van Halen or U2 or something, it was about the songs and it was about me. We got it. I wish he was here, too, because we were a formidable duo. Our voices were the magic and he’s a great guy and all that kind of stuff but his choices have led him astray.”

Richie is the co-writer of most of the Bon Jovi classics, including “Livin' on a Prayer,” “Wanted Dead or Alive,” and “It's My Life.”

Still, Bon Jovi without Richie did rack up a gross of $868.8 million in concert ticket sales from 2010 to 2019 to finish fifth in Pollstar's decade concert tally.

Richie leaving the band did not help things, Jon said.

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“I didn’t expect the Richie debacle to have happened, so that threw a wrench in the works,” Jon said. “So we accomplished all of this with one arm tied behind my back, so it’s all good. It’s all good. It’s better than all good.”

Ironically, one of the reasons Richie said he left was because of the band's excessive touring. That's been toned down, Jon said.

“I know even more now, that I have even less desire to spend a year at a time on the road,” Jon said. “Touring has always been my second love, writing and recording being first. Touring to support the record was always in the back seat to (writing and recording). Of course, we made our living and our legacy and reputation on being a live band but, as I’ve gotten older and there’s been other things to do in our lives, it’s taken a back seat. So I’m not as much of a journeyman as some of my peers, or even my heroes. I don’t desire to be on the road for a year at a time. It’s not what fuels me any longer.”

The band has adopted an extended three year write-record, release, and tour cycle.

“Instead of doing 100 show tours and then you’re tired into year two, and then in year three you write and record a record and start the cycle again, why not do the same 100 shows over the course of the same three years, but everything is much more civilized, and therefore you could be writing and recording simultaneously, never missing out on the home stuff, if we scheduled it properly,” Jon said. “And then, I also thought if, using the three-year model, year one would be in the U.S., year two would be in Europe, and then year three could be rest of world. So then you could go out every year and not wear out your touring markets, because every third year, that market would be ready for you again.”

Sambora has cited the band's previous 18-month touring scheduled as part of his reasons for leaving in 2013.

“The last tour I did with the band was 18-and-a-half months,” said Sambora to Rolling Stone when the band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in April of 2018. “You miss a lot of life, man. You come home: (Blank) changed. Divorce, birth, death, this. Normal life’s ups and downs. Little tragedies. Love, joy. You miss all those things a lot of times in your incubation mode. Like I said, we weren’t a band that took a lot of time off. My daughter needed me at that time; my dad’s dying of cancer. I was in the middle of a (blank) divorce, and I busted my shoulder up … And it was like, ‘You know, I think the universe is telling me to take a break for a while.’ “

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Sambora also missed time with Bon Jovi because of substance abuse issues. He and guitarist Orianthi, as "RSO," released the album "Radio Free America" in May of 2018. The collaboration, both professionally and personally, ended soon after the release.

Phil X and and Bon Jovi producer John Shanks are the now the guitarists in the band. Long-time touring guitarist Bobby Bandiera also exited in 2013. Sambora, and original bassist Alec John Such, rejoined the band for several songs when they were inducted into the Rock Hall.

Jon is a native of Sayreville and Richie grew up in nearby Woodbridge in Central Jersey.

Bon Jovi, without Richie, will release a new album called “2020” in 2020. A request for comment from Richie was not replied to as of press time.

Chris Jordan, a Jersey Shore native, covers entertainment and features for the USA Today Network New Jersey. His multiple awards include recognition for stories on Bruce Springsteen and Snooki. Contact him at @chrisfhjordan; cjordan@app.com. Stay with app.com or consider a subscription today.

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Jon Bon Jovi wishes Richie Sambora was still in the band