Jon Bon Jovi has played down rumours that former guitarist Richie Sambora could re-join the band.
Last November, Richie Sambora had said that "it's time" for Bon Jovi to organise a reunion. More on this story from Nova here.
Sambora co-founded the band alongside Dave Bryan, Tico Torres, Alec John Such, alongside Jon Bon Jovi.
Sambora left the band before a show in Calgary, Canada in April 2013, and Bon Jovi has now revealed that he has only spoken to his former bandmate twice in the time which has elapsed since.
“I’ve talked to him twice,” he explained. “He. Quit. The. Band. I swear to Christ there was never a fight, nothing… He wasn’t kicked out, he quit. And he hasn’t made any great overtures about coming back".
In a fresh interview, Jon Bon Jovi spoke about a number of issues, including addressing Sambora's sudden departure from the band in 2013.
“It was a shock", said Bon Jovi.
“Nobody anticipated it, no one saw it coming. I talked to him the day before, I remember it so well. It was Easter Sunday, 2013, and I was driving through the Lincoln Tunnel as I was talking to him, because I was living in New York, and I was like: ‘Yeah, I’m feeling great, the album [2013’s What About Now] is gonna come in at Number One, see you up there".
He also added: “He said: ‘Can I stay home one more day?’ ‘Of course. You want to fly private tomorrow? Sure. Do it. I don’t care. See you up there.’ And then the next day the phone rings at three in the afternoon, and, you know… ‘I can’t go on".
Elsewhere, Jon Bon Jovi also refuted suggestions made by Sambora that his exit was partly down to the band getting "stale".
Bon Jovi said: “I didn’t think so, and the collective, we didn’t think so,” he tells Classic Rock. “I personally thought that everything was going incredibly fucking well. And it was never brought up in the room, or in the writing, or in the recording, or during the first 20 shows of that tour".
Following Sambora's departure, Bon Jovi recruited guitarist Phil X for the show in Canada and their tour. Bon Jovi confirmed a year later that Sambora had left the band permanently.
As for Jon, the singer had revealed that he had to be "talked off the ledge" ahead of his vocal chord surgery in 2022. More on that here.
The band's new album, 'Legendary' arrives in June,
