Substance abuse issues. Problems with the law. A rift with his former bandmate. Richie
Sambora might have lived large, but his personal life had its struggles.
Keep watching to stay ahead of the curve in Sambora’s life!
Richie Sambora got lucky in 1983 when
he got the chance to become a part of Bon Jovi. He told The Independent that it all started with
fellow musician Alec John Such, who worked with Sambora before joining Bon Jovi as its bassist.
After Sambora's audition for Kiss didn't pan out as expected,
Alec John Such told him to attend a Bon Jovi performance. Sambora took him up on this offer
and this decision changed everything for the musician. Sambora recalled to The Independent:
"I went there and I thought Jon was so charismatic. It was just magic. I went backstage
and gave him a verbal resume. I had certainly never done anything like that before — gone
down on my knee and said, 'Here I am!' — so it was quite interesting, that power he had."
While Jon was initially confused, he decided to reach out to Sambora a week
later and offered him a spot in the band after watching him perform at a rehearsal.
Sambora noted that they got to work almost immediately and jammed together, coming up
with tracks like "Burning For Love" and "Come Back." As Sambora shared with The Independent:
"We knew there was a good chemistry. We were both
sincere about being good people and about being successful."
Richie Sambora was heavily inspired by popular musician Johnny Cash and wanted to be like him.
According to the book, Bon Jovi Encyclopaedia by Neil Daniels,
well-known designer Ray Brown stated that Sambora wanted to look like iconic musicians
Johnny Cash and Stevie Ray Vaughan when he was performing onstage in front of his fans.
Sambora found a statement look for his performances that he stuck to which
meant donning long leather jackets and simple hats. Brown recalled in the book:
"Back then all [Sambora's] coats were always long; they were always three-quarter length.
Johnny Cash was one of the ways he would describe how he wanted to look."
Brown also said that he enjoyed Sambora's music and was full of
praise for his solo album, Stranger In This Town.
One of the most difficult experiences that Richie Sambora had to live through was losing his dad to
cancer in 2007. According to People, the musician described it as the "toughest" year of his life.
That year also included other personal setbacks for Sambora,
but the toughest challenge was for him to come to terms with his dad's passing
After his father died, Sambora was determined to do his bit for those affected by cancer and worked
with Bon Jovi on a concert series called "Stand Up For A Cure" in a bid to collect funds for
cancer research at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer where his father received medical care.
Richie Sambora spoke about his struggles with alcohol addiction on The Today Show
in 2007 and said that he went on a "detox" to feel better. He also
mentioned that while he didn't have to go to a rehabilitation facility
he sought treatment at the UCLA Medical Center to cope with his symptoms, adding:
"Instead of me heading into
a place — I was just drinking too much and I needed to get my life together."
Meanwhile, the guitarist's bandmate, Jon Bon Jovi,
said that the entire band was supporting the musician through the difficult journey, adding:
"We've been through everything together and there was no way that we were not
going to be supporting Richie right now — and that's what we're doing."
According to a piece by USA Today, Sambora also struggled with drugs,
particularly an addiction to painkillers. The musician lost some of his friends to
addiction and knew that he was "lucky" enough to have lived to tell the tale.
In 2006, Richie Sambora was in for a huge surprise when he found out that his wife,
actress Heather Locklear, had decided to end their marriage. According to ABC News,
the couple had been together for 11 years before their split was announced.
Sambora didn't know what was going on and even mentioned in an interview with
ABC News Radio that everything was okay between him and his wife. He declared,
"It's completely untrue,” when asked about the separation
and said that he intended to celebrate Valentine's Day with Locklear. Meanwhile,
things worsened for the guitarist as Locklear's spokeswoman released a statement that read:
"After 10 years of marriage, Heather Locklear has filed for divorce from Richie Sambora."
She refused to release any more details, insisting that it was a "private matter."
Sambora remained in denial and kept saying that he was "going home."
Unfortunately, the divorce was not fake news: It was finalized in April 2007.
Locklear cited "irreconcilable differences" as the reason for wanting a divorce. Meanwhile,
Sambora wanted to be granted joint custody of their daughter,
Ava, and requested the court to consider their prenuptial contract.
After his divorce, Richie Sambora found love again in the arms of actress Denise Richards.
According to US Magazine, they started seeing each other at some point in 2006 and saw a few
highs and lows in their relationship before getting back together in 2011.
Sadly, Richards declared a year later that their relationship was over on The Talk.
She also gave some context to her fans and explained:
"We went through a lot. Years ago we both lost our parents at the same time and were going through
other stuff, so we'll always have a bond with each other and we will stay good friends forever."
In her book, The Real Girl Next Door, Denise Richards clarified that she had
been friends with Heather Locklear for a short while before she ended up in a
relationship with Sambora. She went on to add,
"I did not break up a marriage. It was already over. Had she and I still been friends,
I never would have crossed that line with him. Ever."
She said that she definitely couldn't predict that she would end up dating Sambora, but when
it happened, the couple did their best to avoid the press and keep their relationship a secret.
Richie Sambora's ex-wife, Heather Locklear, got involved in an unexpected controversy in 2018
after she allegedly attacked a police official and a paramedic inside her home.
As reported by People, experts suspected that the actress had
experienced an overdose and was rushed to the hospital.
She later chose to seek treatment for substance abuse at a "long-term facility" and spent time
focusing on her mental health. Sambora spoke up in support of his ex-wife and told The Daily Mail:
"I will of course always be there for Heather and especially Ava. I am very
proud of my daughter for her composure and strength during this difficult time."
Sambora showcased his support for Locklear in more ways than one:
he rode a fighter plane that had his ex-wife's initials on it and hired
several doctors and experts to make sure that Locklear was in good hands.
In 2008, Sambora got into serious trouble after he was arrested in Laguna Beach, California.
"You know I aint' no angel. I've been around the block."
He wasn’t just ‘around the block’, police officials noticed that he was
"weaving on the road." A police sergeant told People that Sambora, his girlfriend,
the musician's daughter, Ava, and another girl were in the car at the time of the incident.
Cops decided to administer a blood alcohol test at the time and the sergeant noted
that the musician was quote, "quiet and cooperative and he didn’t cause any problems."
Sambora was taken into police custody but allowed to leave early in the morning.
A friend who knew Locklear and Sambora couldn't believe that the incident actually took place,
especially considering the fact that Ava was in the car. The friend said:
"He adores her and is very protective [of]
her. All I can think is that he made a stupid miscalculation."
Richie Sambora doesn't shy away from expressing his love for guitars. In fact,
he told Guitar World in 2010 that he had managed to collect over 135 guitars. He was so protective
about his vintage guitars that he refused to travel with them when he was away on tours
because he was scared that someone may try to steal them. As Sambora said to Guitar World:
"Leave a 1959 sunburst Les Paul in a hotel room? I don't think so!"
He revealed that he used his "ESP Richie Sambora signature model" to produce versatile sounds and
also bought Strats, Teles, Les Pauls, and Les Paul Juniors. Plus, the vintage
guitars were especially useful when Sambora was working on creating new music in the studio.
He emphasized that traveling with some of his prized equipment was out of the question, adding:
"There's certain pieces I'll never take on tour. Why take the risk?"
Richie Sambora made a surprise announcement in 2013 and said that he was leaving Bon Jovi to
look after his family. According to People, he only spoke at length about leaving the
band several years later and stated that he didn't regret it. Sambora told People:
"It wasn't a popular decision by any means,
obviously, but at the end of it there wasn't really a choice."
He had come to the conclusion that he needed to focus on his
daughter's needs instead of going away on tours for extended periods.
The guitarist acknowledged that he was privileged even in those times and said,
"Luckily I was making enough money to be able to have a private plane,
get my [butt] home and see my kid even if it was only for one day."
Ava later said that she was really grateful for the fact that Sambora
made it a point to attend all those dance recitals and school performances. The two
now share a great connection and Sambora is very proud of his kid, telling People:
"She's turned out to be an amazing young woman with a bright future."
Losing Richie Sambora was a huge blow for Bon Jovi.
In an interview with Rock Antenne, the band's frontman, Jon Bon Jovi,
said that there were times when he wished Sambora was still a part of the band.
"There's not a day that goes by that I don't wish that Richie
had his life together and was still in the band."
However, there were conflicting accounts:
while Jon Bon Jovi said that the guitarist made a few bad choices that "led him astray,"
the latter claimed that he wasn't having a great time with the band and wasn't happy.
According to a Mirror piece, Jon Bon Jovi felt "blindsided" after Sambora chose to quit the
band and found himself struggling with his mental health. It didn't help that he had
an ugly disagreement with his record label and felt rather defeated. The musician remarked:
"There was a lot of darkness really. I was going through a difficult period
and it felt like the weight of the world was on my shoulders."
He added that his wife helped get through those difficult times and stood by his side like a rock.
In 2021, Richie Sambora made a surprising revelation and
said that he was expected to stay quiet when he was a band member.
He told Nile Rogers on Deep Hidden Meaning Radio that for some reason, most people believed that
it was Jon Bon Jovi who wrote and created the songs by himself, which wasn't the case.
However, Sambora wasn't really supposed to clarify anything. Sambora told Rogers:
"That was part of my deal, to shut the f--- up … and you know what? Guess what?
I did it. And it worked out because that's what he needed, for whatever reason."
While things have been topsy-turvy, Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora seem to be in
a relatively better place now. In fact, Sambora told Rolling Stone in 2017 that he'd exchanged
some messages with Jon Bon Jovi and things were cordial between them. Sambora told the outlet:
"There ain't no malice or anything like that … 31 years is 31 years. That's a long
time and being in a huge organization like Bon Jovi, it's all-consuming."
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