Richie Sambora Reveals Surprising Conversations Before Leaving Bon Jovi

Former guitarist Bon Jovi, Richie Sambora (Instagram @allisonhagendorf)

JAKARTA - Former guitarist Bon Jovi, Richie Sambora, who left the band in 2013, revealed the conversation he went through at the end of his term at Bon Jovi.

The guitarist said his last conversation with other personnel was very surprising, with the relationship between himself and Jon (vocals) looking to get away.

"I feel like Jon is changing his focus and he often wants to be a solo artist," said Sambora when she was present on the Magnificent Others podcast hosted by Billy Corgan of Smashing Allahs.

"And I said, 'Make a solo album'... He's clearly changing course," he continued.

A solo project is nothing foreign to Bon Jovi. At that time, Sambora herself had just returned from a tour to support her 2012 solo album, Aftermath of the Lowdown.

When the guitarist returns to work with Bon Jovi to work on the band's next album, Sambora assumes that he and the vocalist will handle most of the songwriting tasks, as they have done in most of their successful careers.

However, said Sambora, he immediately realized that something had changed from Bon Jovi's process.

(Jon Bon Jovi) suddenly said, No, you don't have to worry about (songwriting), recalls Sambora. '(Setel guitar) John Shaks and I wrote about 30 songs.'

Sambora was clearly surprised by Jon's statement. The reason is, their cooperation has proven successful for 30 years, with many hit songs, such as You Give Love a Bad Name, Livin' on a Prayer, Wanted Dead or Alive to I'll Be There for You

The change in dynamics, where Jon chooses someone else to work on album material, has come as a shock to the guitarist.

'It shook me a little bit,' said Sambora. 'But I said, 'OK. What do you have?'

Trying to be open, Sambora listened to songs Bon Jovi and Ranks have ever worked on. He said, 'And it doesn't sound like Bon Jovi. It sounds like every song I don't want to write.'

The incident made Richie Sambora solid with his decision to leave Bon Jovi. He chose to focus on his family life.

The next Bon Jovi album, Burning Bridges in 2015, consists mostly of material written with Ranks and producer Billy Falcon.

Sambora received a song-writing credit at the LP for Saturday Night Cave Me Sunday Morning, a song that started before his departure. This House Is Not for Sale, which was released in 2016, marks the first Bon Jovi album without credit for Sambora's songwriting.