Richie Sambora wished he hadn’t encouraged Jon Bon Jovi to form a band.
In a new conversation with Ultimate Classic Rock, the guitarist talked about what Jon musically wanted when they first met:
“When we first met, he was thriving to be a kind of a solo artist in a Bruce [Springsteen] way or a Rick Springfield way. And quite frankly, it was an ultimatum for me when I just before ‘Slippery [When Wet]’ [was made]. I went, ‘Come on, man. Let me in. We have to do this. We have to make this a band situation if we want to invade the planet and have people accept it.’”
He also admitted he should have quit Bon Jovi earlier:
“I probably would have left earlier. I might have left a couple of albums before because I think Jon [Bon Jovi] was moving into a place where he wanted to not really be a band.”
What Did Sambora Earlier Say About His Departure?
Previously, in the trailer for ‘Thank You, Goodnight: The Bon Jovi Story,’ Sambora again discussed his departure from the band. He said:
“I don’t regret leaving, but I regret how I did it.”
One of the band members also noted:
“Nobody expected Richie to quit in the middle of the night, it was heartbreaking. It was taking a toll.”
Richie added:
“I went out of here, and what I meant was out of Bon Jovi.”
Jon And Richie Might Reunite
Still, the rocker is open to working with Bon Jovi again. During a new appearance on The Allison Hagendorf Show, he revealed:
“The fans would just love it. It’s not finance. It has nothing to do with that. The world could use it. But, as Jon said, he’s been having problems with his voice. And now he had that operation with some plastic thing in his larynx. And it’s an iffy thing at best.”
Jon talked about recovering from surgery 19 months after it but also said it’s too soon to talk about touring. Recently, fans criticized his performances because of his voice quality. Sambora recently said Jon should have stopped singing and talking for about six months to let his voice recover.