Former Bon Jovi rocker Richie Sambora isn’t taking the blame for his former bandmate’s voice struggles.
The rocker took to X to reply to a fan comment about his time in the band. It started when the music journalist Mitch Lafon asked his followers about the one band they lost interest in as they grew old. Many people named Bon Jovi.
“I hate that so many are naming Bon Jovi as the band they’ve lost interest in, especially in the past years,” a fan said of the comments. “However, the truth is becoming more apparent. Something has changed and not for the better. Shows how much weight Richie Sambora held in the counterbalance in the band.”
The comment caused an argument. “Equally as sad that Ritchie bailed on the band and the fans. I personally feel the band never missed a step, proving while Ritchie was an important member, his absence didn’t end Bon Jovi,” wrote another fan.
“I never saw it as Richie bailing on the fans, he saw the writing on the wall and grew tired of his influence on stage and in the studio being diminished. He clearly wasn’t happy anymore and rightfully felt disrespected,” another added. “IMO live shows since he left speak for themselves because even though JBJ’s voice was still great for much of 2013, he had to over exert himself to try to make up for RS’s absence, causing long term damage (and still, the Richie void was noticeable).”
The other fan said the frontman’s voice issues didn’t have anything to do with it: “Jon’s voice issues have nothing to do with Richie not being there. This would have happened regardless as one of his chords was atrophying and the other one was thick as his pinky (Google). He had overuse but again not due to Ritchie not being there. More like work ethic.”
In response to the latest comment, Sambora wrote: “That would be correct.”
In 2022, the rocker had surgery on his vocal cords. One cord had shrunk to the size of a thumb, while the other had become as thin as a pinky finger. This made singing difficult because the stronger cord was overpowering the weaker one.
Even after the surgery and his struggles, Bon Jovi played a five-song set at the opening of their frontman’s new bar in Nashville in June this year.
