Former Bon Jovi member Richie Sambora reflected on his regrets over how he abruptly left the band during its Because We Can tour in 2013.
The 64-year-old musician, who joined Bon Jovi as the band’s lead guitarist in 1983, suddenly exited the group without warning hours before they were set to perform at a show in Calgary. In an Instagram post Thursday, Sambora shared a clip which he wrote was “from the cutting room floor” of the new Hulu docuseries, “Thank You, Goodnight: The Bon Jovi Story.”
In the video, Sambora wore a red shirt, black pants and a brown cowboy hat as he spoke to the camera from a living room.
“I heard everything, and I was the guy that really fought for this to be a band,” he said.
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“It’s really hard to be married to four guys,” Sambora continued with a laugh. “And be in close quarters the way we were. That coupled with my daughter coming of age, my wife’s mental health stuff was really acting up, and she needed me.
“And I needed her,” he added, referring to his ex-wife Heather Locklear, 62.
Sambora and Locklear tied the knot in December 1994 and welcomed daughter Ava, now 26, in October 1997. In 2006, the “Melrose Place” alum filed for divorce from Sambora, citing “irreconciable differences.” Their split was finalized in April 2007.
Locklear has publicly struggled with mental health and substance abuse problems over the years. In 2008, she entered rehab to be treated for anxiety and depression. The actress has since sought treatment in rehab several times and has dealt with a number of legal problems.
Despite their divorce, Sambora and Locklear have remained close, and the rocker previously told People magazine he “will always be there” for her and their daughter.
Sambora has also been open about his own battles with substance abuse. He entered rehab for alcoholism in 2007 and again in 2011.
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In the clip that he shared from the docuseries, Sambora apologized to Bon Jovi fans and his former bandmates.
“I don’t regret leaving the situation, but I regret how I did it,” he said. “So, I would like to apologize fully right now to the fans, especially also to the guys because my feet and my spirit were just not letting me walk out the door.”
However, Sambora noted that he felt he “didn’t receive a lot of compassion” regarding the circumstances he was dealing with at the time.
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“I was in this organization for 31½ years, and everybody has their personal tragedies and things like that, but I didn’t receive a lot of compassion coming back for what I was going through,” he said.
“I believe everybody had their own respective perspective on how fame and fortune …,” he continued. “Everybody experiences that at different speeds. That’s how life can get whacked from one guy from the next and blah blah blah.”
Sambora was one of frontman Jon Bon Jovi’s most frequent songwriting collaborators, and the pair penned some of the band’s biggest hits. In the video, Sambora reflected on his relationship with Jon during his time in the band.
“I was essential because I spent more time with Jon than even his wife and was more honest,” he said. “We spent a lot of time in a room with no windows even for the beginning stages of writing the material and recording it.
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“I think that I had a good view,” Sambora recalled. “I was a fan, too. I could be a fan of Jon and be like, ‘I don’t want to hear you sing that’ if I’m a fan in the audience. That kind of thing.
“I think that was one of my primary roles besides being his right hand and an accurate mirror, so to speak.”
During a recent interview with Fox News Digital, Jon Bon Jovi shared his view on Sambora’s exit from the band.
“If I can accept the blame for working too hard, then I will,” he said. “But it was never anything malicious, and we never had a fight. And there was never any animus.
“Richie had issues that he has now addressed publicly and privately with substance abuse and some anxieties and being a single dad. But we had to continue to do what we do, and he chose not to want to do it any longer.
“So, unfortunately, for him and for us — you know, being in a rock band is not a life sentence. And so he chose not to want to do it any longer.”
