He hasn´t got the market cache that Slash has, and I am not a fan of Slash. I know you mentioned marketing, but how is Richie going to market himself realistically? Slash does have a following outside of Guns, and it is enough for him to have a decent solo career. Richie´s following outside of Bon Jovi is tiny (read non existent).

In my opinion Richie pisses all over Slash in any criteria I would look for, but he simply wouldn´t be as big as Slash in Europe, which isn´t very big anyway. For a start, he wouldn´t get the respect Slash would at most festivals, which is nonsense but true.

I agree with you to an extent that if Richie gigs to his potential, non-fans who see him will be inspired to seek his music out. However, most of the people going to see him are there because they know him from Bon Jovi. And I doubt many are racing to buy his records from the festival he did last week.

Loads of people are happy because he is showing that there is more to him than just Bon Jovi. great, but there is so much more to Sambora than what we are seeing here, he is or has been so much better at this in almost every aspect of what he is doing at the moment, whether it is gigging, recording, or media.

Edit: I am not disputing that Richie could have a solo career, I just don´t think he could have one at a level that his ego needs, at least long term.