MR

The band announced that Richie Sambora will not be on the next leg of the tour for personal reasons.

For those ticket prices , that's a tough pill to swallow.

who the hell's gonna sing??

I think "personal reasons" is code for Richie is off the wagon again.

kinda like seeing the stones without Keith.

Better change the tour name to the Jon Bon Jovi Tour.

and cut the ticket prices in half.

I really hope this isn't a case of Sambora reverting back to glass felatio...and more a case of JBJ being, well, JBJ.

It would really warm the heart if Sambora merely left just because he got sick of recording shitty albums for the past decade and was jettisoned by JBJ once Sambo asked him to stop sucking.....

....but those are some high hopes.

Well TMZ states Substance abuse is absolutely not the issue......


http://www.tmz.com/2013/04/03/richie-sa ... ess-money/

This really shouldn't come as much of a shock. Richie and Jon have had their spats over the years and Jon has usually been accused, and generally rightfully so, of taking all the credit and giving Richie little to none. At their age, the money they've all made, I am sure Richie is just tired of the sh*t and it's either you compromise or I'm outta here. JBJ has made no bones about the fact that BJ is basically a corporation and he's the CEO, he makes the decisions, he drives the bus, etc. The other members of the band (and I mean the other 3 originial, not Hugh and Bobby) are all technically employees of the company contractually and are treated and paid as such. I don't think it was ever as widely known until the past 5-10 years that that is the situation, or nobody cared. I can say as someone who's seen them live... you get your monies worth live, they put on a long set. That being said, it seems that JBJ has been mellowing for a long time, with more ballads in the set list more often, and add that to the other "issues," Richie probably said enough is enough. I think the other 2 guys, Tico and David have laid back enough personalities that whether they are happy or not, they go for the ride. Richie definitely seems like the one who's going to stand up, fight, and get in JBJ's face.

I still wonder if the fighting is BS. Maybe it really is a personal issue Richie is dealing with. After all, you would never consider the term "unprofessional" when discussing this band. And to drop out of the tour (or a leg of it) without much notice would be unprofessional if it is over something like money or hurt feelings.