R u for real ? You are a fu$king clown .

All I'm gonna say is this:
If Richie leaves Bon Jovi for good, then I'm leaving Bon Jovi for good. He is pretty much the only reason I'm still hanging on... :(

Not the kind of news I wanted to wake up to this morning.

If it was legal/Richie just throwing the towel Jon had better get him back cos Jovi aren't selling out stadiums without him.

If it was medical to do with him I think they'd have put out a generic statement. They were pretty open about him being in rehab the last time and I think if he'd had a heart attack they'd want to reassure fans that at the very least he was stable.

Hopefully its something private to do with his family and he's asked for it remain out of the public eye.

2 hours ago Ava was on Twitter and what she was posting then suggest that Richie is quite ok, at least in medical terms... I supposed that if it was about her grandmother, she wouldn't be in good mood, too, so... who knows what's going on.

BTW, if Richie leaves Bon Jovi, it isn't Bon Jovi anymore, the band should then be renamed to Jon Bon Jovi & Friends...

You'd think, given the reasons Richie was absent in the past, they'd be quick to quell any rumour that he has relapsed if that absolutely isn't the case this time... but they haven't, so if I was a betting man, I'd have to say that's where my money is.

I hope it's not the case obviously but its fair to assume that whatever it is, it's serious enough for him to bail on shows. Just hope it's all resolved quickly for everyone involved. :(

http://www.nj.com/entertainment/inde...vi_missin.html

Heavily moderated... Lol

Y'all who already bought tickets should demand a partial refund.

Very inadequate information. This leg? Does that mean just Canada? Europe? Summer?

Something tells me, all is not good in Joviland.

this leg end on April 25th

I would assume it means until the next 'break' -- so all the North American shows this month before they head to South Africa.

They play for three weeks until their next break. I am presuming they mean this part of the tour.

If he's not 'in hospital' as they claim in the statement (if this term includes rehab and any other type of medical/mental health treatment) then maybe this is simply a precursor for Richie leaving the band for good, and to go on do his own thing which we all know how much he enjoys. And in a few months from now the official decision will be announced? But it all seems very sudden :/

He's still working on his solo stuff as his recent tweeting has told us, maybe he just wasn't feeling the Bon Jovi vibe in the big machine with such a long tour ahead of him (this is certainly the vibe I get a lot when I hear interviews with him).

Saying all that, maybe it's a family thing. And if that's the case, then it's none of my business really, and I wish him all the best.

Andi

I think "this leg" translates to "Until South African/European tour kicks off".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Because_We_Can:_The_Tour

I don't see it as he's leaving the band. If so, I bet he would do it after the tour or before rocording WAN.

I think ir could be some severe family problem, I thought that with Ava but someone said she tweeted something, so who knows. It must be serious, he didn't skip concerts for any reasons (health, family) only because of rehab.

They better let us know soon to stop the speculations.

All conjecture really but here's my scenario, for what it's worth...

Richie has spent 30 years dealing with Jon, he knows he's a spoilt child at times, he knows it's his job to keep things light and keep the energy positive. Even with how much he enjoyed his solo stuff, Jon is the meal-ticket and the only way any of this band are playing big venues, to masses of people is together. Richie knows that.

Richie is also NOT Noel f*cking Gallagher. Personally, I can't see him jacking in a tour because he and Jon have fallen out or he's had enough. See the reasons above and add this to them... He wouldn't let the fans down... his career would be over and he just isn't the type. To leave at such short notice, to tell Jon by phone, this is a true family emergency. He has been taking his mother with him a lot since Sandy hit and she's popped up in the audience of some talk shows... even Jon showed her some love on live TV.

If I had to predict anything, I would say she's really not well at all and Richie told Jon he had to go and was told 'Go, don't worry about this leg, do what you've got to do.' This band had no problem telling the world that Richie had fallen off the wagon but they always keep the details as scant as possible when it's about their immediate family; it's not our business, after all.

If this was an issue between Jon and Richie, it would hardly matter. They don't share cars, they don't room together, they hardly see each other unless it's a press day. Richie would stand on stage for 2 hours, then leave and not have to see JBJ again til the next gig. I have faith in the man, he'd see out the tour and then leave the band. I think, unfortunately, this is something much more testing for Richie than a spat with Jon or a tumble off of the wagon.

i also agree that richie wouldnt leave the band high and dry like this...its either a family issue or in rehab...addictions are really really hard to overcome but richie would dissapoint a lot of people if this is the case again...helooked and sounded great though

Wow

Can see any of the potential explanations being true although would be surprised if it's rehab and they haven't just said that. To me, a familiy emergency seems the most likely although I wouldn't be surprised if he has left the band.

Fair play to Jon and the others for pulling last night out of the bag. I understand they donated 100k to a shelter in the area as a gesture to fans which is great if true.

If Richie has left, he's completely washed up. AOTL tanked spectacularly. Bon Jovi is the only way he will perform to any decent sized crowd.

Either way, it's all only music and I hope him and his family are okay.

Where can one see that?

Katie Couric interview

Just seen someone on Facebook post that Bon Jovi will release a statment today. Not sure if it is true, I have not seen anything else anywhere.

I saw that too.

This is getting tedious now... Richie is as much Bon Jovi as Jon for me and the sound isnt complete without him. I would be pissed if he wasnt playing at a show I was attending... I know that sounds selfish but there you go. I hope he is back soon.

If this were the case, he's far from 'washed up.' It's nothing to do with the size of the crowds you play to but the quality of them and Richie's solo shows proved he has a better reception in theatre-sized venues than Jovi get playing anything other than classics in a stadium.

I sincerely doubt he'd walk away from the band mid-tour though. It's family stuff or he's in rehab again. If it's family stuff, I only hope it doesn't then become the latter.

If he left the band, I'd like to see the guy have a successful career but he won't. His solo shows were a car crash (in terms of organisation) and turned some of his already small fan base off him.

Bon Jovi without Sambora is dry sh!t.

As opposed to erm..wet sh!t?

Your posts never make any sense, you are either the worlds worst troll (congrats!) or just a pleb.


Andi

Yeah i dont think so. Thats the case for hard fans. I think that 80% from all the fans are there for Jon. Most people still thinks that Bon Jovi are Jon.
Now lets pray for Richie. Hope he is ok!

Richie Sambora will be absent for Bon Jovi’s current run of gigs, the band have said.

In a brief statement they explain the guitarist has “personal issues” and as a result will not appear. They add: “All shows will go on as scheduled.”

The band’s show last night in Calgary started 45 minutes late, after which Jon Bon Jovi told fans: “Richie Sambora won’t be performing for a while. I had two choices – pack up and go home or give you everything I got.”

Local radio station Q107 reported that the singer also said the guitarist was not in jail or hospital, and that the decision was taken to appear without him just a few hours before the gig was set to start.

Sambora seemed intent on appearing as planned last Thursday, when he tweeted: “Happy holiday weekend to all….the tour resumes on Tues… On the move again…”

He missed a run of shows in 2011 after checking himself into rehab to deal with his alcohol and drug problems. He later told Classic Rock that bandmate Jon Bon Jovi hadn’t visited him during his stay, but added: “Everybody was very supportive – my band, my family, my kid. It was like, ‘Hey, go get better, man. Do what you gotta do.’”

Bon Jovi himself said of Sambora: “It was great for Richie to go and take care of himself, knowing full well he was not being fired or punished. He needed and wanted to seek help.

“But the show goes on. I’m not beholden to anyone. To be honest about it, we’ve got to pay a road crew, who are dependent on that paycheck to put food on the table and shoes on their kids’ feet. You can’t put them out of work.”

Time to replace him.....full time

Making music you care about is much more important than commercial success. Richie doesn't need to work in order to put food on his table. He is already rich enough so he is free to do whatever he wants. He admitted he enjoyed making Aftermath more than anything else he has done in years. So I won't blame him if he decides he doesn't want to be in the band anymore. Bon Jovi is not a life sentence.

Man, sad news. I hope its nothing permanent. As much as its Jon I want to see the most, Richie is part of Bon Jovi.

That's funny, a lot of ppl here criticizes the band for being too much commercial, Jon The CEO, et cetera. Now, there's a chance that Richie is doing what artistically makes him happier, and a chance to leave this behind for a while and people criticizes him for playing in small theaters.

I really don't know what happened to the guy, but if he decides to go solo this year I'll go with him. His solo album is WAY better than WAN IMHO and it's not his fault that the CEO "wanted to work" in the start of his tour and still, the guy never got the chance to release his second single.

Let's wait and see.

No one is criticising him for playing small theatres.

What the hell does this mean??


...I hope he run away. Their new album sucks. It's a total Jon-album. I would be pissed too playing that bullshit.

Most rock stars have an ego. My guess is that Richie would probably find it hard cope without playing for good sized crowds. It must also be very hard to write songs as great as tracks 7-10 on AOTL and realise that no one, or very few people, gives a shit.

Hopefully it won't come to that and this is temporary.

I agree with everything you said.

I have thought for a while that Richie seemed more excited about his solo projects than anything the band was doing.
I hope whatever is going on with him, that Richie is healthy and happy. If he decides to leave, so be it. If he is ill, I hope he gets better soon.

I doubt if I will buy tickets for Australian dates if he is not with the band.

Didn't he cancel a bunch of shows? 4 if I'm not mistaken.

There was one person on here who had bought a bunch of tickets for these shows and every one thay they had tickets for was cancelled. IIRC that person said they were done with Richie at that point.

You can bet there were more who were stung and who were massively pissed off at him. I would have been especially when he used a fairly weak excuse.

I don't know if you were able to see Richie on his solo tour, but he was coping just fine with theater sized crowds. Better than fine... I have never seen him enjoy himself so much onstage.

Unfortunately not. If he can make a career out of it and was happy doing it then I'd be delighted for him. Would love to see him, Jon or the band in a small venue. Nothing wrong with that at all.