Richie Sambora opens up about abruptly leaving Bon Jovi: ‘I regret how I did it’

Warning: This post contains spoilers for “Thank You, Goodnight: The Bon Jovi Story.”

In the new documentary "Thank You, Goodnight: The Bon Jovi Story," fans get an inside look into the famed rock band members' lives today — and where things stand between them.

The Hulu series, which came out April 26, explores untold truths and stories about the legendary band through accounts from most of its original band members: frontman Jon Bon Jovi, keyboardist David Bryan, drummer Tico Torres and guitarist Richie Sambora.

While Bon Jovi, Bryan and Torres remain rooted in the band's legacy today, Sambora left the band 11 years ago after a 30-year run. Since then, fans have been left with a number of burning questions regarding the former lead guitarist's sudden exit, which happened during the band's "Because We Can" tour in 2013.

Over a decade later, those fans are finally getting answers, as the documentary addresses the events leading up to Sambora's shocking departure. The series also addresses the effects that it had on a decades-long friendship between the leader singer and his right-hand man.

Here's all you need to know about why Sambora made the call to officially leave the band and what his relationship with Bon Jovi looks like now.

How did Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora meet?

Back in the 1980s, when Bon Jovi was putting his band together, he was still looking for a guitarist.

According to “Thank You, Goodnight,” the band’s founding bassist, Alec John Such, who was a member of the band until 1994 and died in 2022, introduced Sambora to Bon Jovi. He officially joined the band in 1983.

In Episode One of the documentary, a flashback shows the band being interviewed by Dick Clark. When asked about how he met Sambora, Bon Jovi said, “Richie was in the audience one night at a show when the four of us (Bon Jovi, Bryan, Torres and Such) were playing, and he came up to me and says, 'I want to be your lead guitar player.'"

Fast-forward to present day, Bon Jovi recounts what it was like finding the former lead guitarist.

“Alec, who was also in an original band with Richie, said, 'You gotta see this guy. There’s something about this guy,'” he recalls.

The series then shows a flashback with Sambora in an interview, recalling the events leading up to him joining the rock group.

"Alec had called me up and said 'I'm playing with this new band, you know, "John Bongiovi & The Wild Ones." Come down and see the band,'" Sambora said in the interview. "I said, 'Yeah, sure."

In another flashback, Bon Jovi said that after hearing Sambora "play and talking a bit, we found that we were really on the same track."

Torres then is seen in a flashback interview, teasing Sambora for blatantly telling Bon Jovi, "I'm your new guitar player." Sambora countered in the interview and jokingly quipped that he was "very cocky."

Bon Jovi mentioned that he and Sambora "immediately hit it off."

"I knew that this guy was incredibly talented, he could play, he could sing, he could write, and I thought, he would be an incredible complement," he continues.

Torres acknowledges the "magic" that Bon Jovi and Sambora's voices had with each other, saying that their "vocal styles together made its own style."

What has Sambora said about leaving the band?

Bon Jovi and Sambora, who co-wrote several of the band's hit songs, have been through a lot over their decades-long relationship — including, of course, Sambora's sudden exit from the band.

In Episode Three, Sambora starts opening up about his departure from the band, saying that it was "amalgamation" of things, including "deep family problems."

"I spent so much time being on the road, and at that time unfortunately, my ex-wife (Heather Locklear) was having some mental health issues, and my daughter coming to an age where she could understand," he says.

He continues, "She needed me and I needed her, truthfully, we didn't have enough time."

Sambora also addresses his struggles not only related to his family life, but with "being part of one of the biggest bands in the world" while gearing up for their "Because We Can" tour in 2013 after the release of their twelfth studio album, "What About Now."

Bryan notes in Episode Three that there was "tension" when the band was recording the album, and spoke about the creative limitations Sambora had, given his personal struggles and continued absence during studio sessions.

He also talks about how John Shanks — the band's producer and back-up guitarist when creating that album — was filling in for Sambora on the tracks.

Songwriter Desmond Child then recalls that Sambora would "come to the studio and everything was done."

From Sambora's account, he felt the band was "stale" at that point, and his "job was to say that." However, in the end, Sambora notes that the time leading up to his departure got "sour."

"Jon wanted it done good, he got in a strange mood about time," Sambora says of making the album

Bon Jovi and Shanks ended up writing "What About Now" without Sambora, and the frontman notes he was "just pushing to keep going."

He also believes that Sambora was "really upset that on a song (Bon Jovi) had written called 'The Fighter,' he didn't play this one part on an acoustic guitar ... and that caused a problem."

"After all those records, people know how I play, and I went, 'Have at it,'" Sambora recalls.

Shanks was able to record Sambora’s parts on the track, and Bon Jovi recounts that this led to Sambora feeling “crushed that he was replaced.”

“John Shanks and Jon had 30 songs and they said they felt like they had the record, and I said, ‘Let me hear it.' I go, ‘Don’t sound like Bon Jovi.' It just didn’t sound like us because I wasn’t there," Sambora explains.

“He had the whole thing kind of planned out, which basically was telling me, 'I can do it without you,' and I was getting treated kind of like I didn’t write and do all that stuff, and I wasn’t the guy they talked to anymore," Sambora says.

When Sambora suddenly left the band in 2013, Bon Jovi brought Canadian guitarist Phil X on as a temporarily replacement for Sambora. However, after Sambora's continued absence, Phil X officially became a permanent member of the band in 2016.

In Episode Four, Bon Jovi was asked when he realized Sambora’s departure was permanent. The frontman's response at the time of filming was that even “10 years later, I still haven’t."

Where do they stand now?

Despite multiple articles claiming that there is bad blood, Bon Jovi said in an April interview with People that "there's never animosity" between the former bandmates.

Bon Jovi also told the outlet that Sambora "came over and watched three parts of the docuseries at (his) house."

Prior to this, all five original members of Bon Jovi came back together in 2018 for a performance at the band’s Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony in Cleveland, Ohio.

In Episode Four of the documentary, Sambora says, “I don’t regret leaving the situation, but I regret how I did it, so I want to apologize fully right now to the fans, especially, and also to the guys, because my feet and my spirit were just not letting me walk out the door.”

Bon Jovi also addresses the "void" he has felt since Sambora's exit in that same episode.

"The true magic of our live performance was when we sang together, and when we sang together, that was our unique spot," Bon Jovi says of performing with his former bandmate. "It was as identifiable as any great combination that made one and one three, and I don't think that’s been replaced."

This article was originally published on TODAY.com