Richie Sambora recently joined Absolute Radio and discussed what was next for him, if he had plans to reunite with his former Bon Jovi bandmates, and was up for future shows. The guitarist then couldn’t help but make a few remarks about the band’s dynamics, disclosing why Jon Bon Jovi needed to get his voice together and how the frontman wasn’t the primary songwriter.
Sambora had previously replied to Jovi’s harsh criticisms regarding his departure, stating how Richie needed to get his life together. The guitarist seemed to return the favor, saying that the frontman was required to take a little bit of a ‘breather’ to get his voice back together since he had challenging times with his vocals.
The rocker then emphasized that he didn’t know when Jon would fix his vocal problems and they would be back together on stage. Yet, he believes that they owe it to their fans, and it feels like an obligation to give the audience what they want to see.
The guitarist’s statements regarding Jon Bon Jovi’s vocal problems:
“Jon [Bon Jovi] was having a hard time with his voice a little bit there, and he needed to take a little bit of a breather. I don’t know when Jon’s going to get his voice together and [when the Bon Jovi reunion is] going to happen, but we have to get out there and do it for the fans, really. I feel a second obligation.”
The former Bon Jovi member then further got into the act’s dynamics, recalling fun times with them and stating how he and Jon shared the songwriting duties. However, since the frontman’s last name was eponymous with the act, people tended to think that Jon Bon Jovi was the primary songwriter.
The musician remarked that the audiences often thought he would only come up with guitar riffs and help with the musical direction of the act. Still, for the rocker, songwriting was a concept that was all about telling a story, and by far, Richie was the one with the most colorful stories during his run with the band. So, he contributed a lot to songwriting.
His words on Bon Jovi’s songwriting process:
“Actually, I did write that other [Bon Jovi] stuff, too. It’s a misnomer when people go just because his name [Jon Bon Jovi] is on [the band] that’s the name. People think that I just come up with the guitar parts and something like that. But songwriting is conceptual.
You have to have a concept. It’s a story. And it can sometimes just come from looking out the window and observing, and a lot of times it comes from your own life, and for the most part of Bon Jovi, my life was a lot [more] colorful than everybody else’s in the band.”
So, Richie Sambora wanted to point out that even though the band was eponymous with Jon’s last name, this didn’t mean he contributed any less to the songwriting part. The former Bon Jovi icon wasn’t just responsible for coming up with guitar riffs but also helped put out pieces inspired by the stories of his colorful life and shared the lyrical duties with Jon.
