Richie Sambora: ‘There’s A Demand’ For Him to Return to Bon Jovi

Richie Sambora is once again talking about a potential return to Bon Jovi.

The guitarist was asked by Foo Fighters' Chris Shiflett on his podcast Shred with Shifty about the possibility of him rejoining the band. Sambora said he and Jon Bon Jovi have spoken on the phone about it. He added, "There's a demand out there for it, you know -- especially outside of the USA."

While Sambora said in November 2021 that his role in Bon Jovi was "to shut the f--- up," he certainly has been more vocal lately about rejoining the band in recent years. In November 2022, Sambora told U.K. outlet Metro that it was a possibility a reunion could take place at the 2023 installment of Glastonbury. (Obviously, that didn't happen.)

In February, Sambora said when asked about rejoining the band in light of his performance with Bon Jovi following their 2018 Rock Hall induction, "We're talking about it. I don't think there's any reason not to at this point."

He added, "Jon [Bon Jovi] was having a hard time with his voice a little bit there and he needed to take a little bit of a breather." Whether Sambora meant to shade JBJ with that comment is up for interpretation. However, he added, "I don't know when Jon’s going to get his voice together and (when the Bon Jovi reunion is) going to happen, but we have to get out there and do it for the fans really. I feel a second obligation."

In June, Sambora said in another interview, "Nah! No, not even close. Nobody asked me yet -- but I could do it tomorrow if they asked me."

Jon Bon Jovi has also addressed Sambora's exit on multiple occasions in the press. In December 2019, JBJ told The Asbury Park Press, "I wish he was here, too, because we were a formidable duo. Our voices were the magic and he’s a great guy and all that kind of stuff but his choices have led him astray." In October 2020, he told Rock Antenne, "There's not a day that goes by that I don't wish that Richie had his life together and was still in the band."

Sambora, of course, left Bon Jovi suddenly in 2013, citing wanting to spend more time with his daughter, Ava, who is now 25.

Bon Jovi has been active for over four decades, and they aren't showing signs of slowing down.

Their Rock and Roll Hall of Fame career has netted them over 130 million albums sold worldwide and legions of fans spanning generations.

Narrowing down their catalog to a select number of songs and ranking them is a daunting task, but here are Bon Jovi's 35 best songs, ranked.

A new docuseries about Bon Jovi is set to premiere on Hulu on April 26. The docuseries is titled Thank You, Goodnight: The Bon Jovi Story.

The docuseries also has the cooperation of all Bon Jovi members, both past and present. A teaser trailer of the docuseries offers a supercut of the band's wild career, including the exit of guitarist Richie Sambora.

Additionally, the teaser trailer shows Jon Bon Jovi in a hospital bed. He's holding a dry-erase board that simply says, "I'm good." Meanwhile, an unidentified voiceover says, "Jon's going through his challenges." It then cuts to JBJ saying, "It almost killed us."

The "challenges" appear to be about Bon Jovi's recent vocal issues, which he discussed during the Pollstar Live! conference in February 2024.

Per Ultimate Classic Rock, Bon Jovi said, "It's become public knowledge now, but I've had major reconstructive surgery in my vocal cords, and I never had anything like this, ever. So it's been a difficult road, but I found a doctor in Philadelphia who did something called a medialization, because one of my cords was literally atrophied."

A description of Thank You, Goodnight from Hulu also promises it will delve into the band's "most public moments of friction." Of course, this is likely a reference to the 2013 exit of Sambora, who has often talked about the potential of rejoining the band.