Things between Jon Bon Jovi and former bandmate Richie Sambora have been shaky since Sambora exited the band in 2013 and now the tension is mounting following recent remarks Bon Jovi made about his ex-guitarist leaving the band because he "didn't have his life together."
Sambora laughed the comments off in an interview with Daily Mail published on Friday.
"When people say I don't have my life together - are you kidding me? I'm the happiest dude on the block," he said.
Things escalated between the two when, in an interview earlier this month with German outlet Rock Antenne, Bon Jovi said he regretted Sambora's exit from the band, but added that it was a "catalyst for why other good things happened" in the years that ensued.
"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," he said via USA Today. "In a weird way, it's because of his inability to get it together anymore that we went on and wrote (the 2016 album) 'This House Is Not For Sale,'"
Commenting on his decision to leave the band, Sambora said he had to make his family a priority.
"I was in a dire situation with my family and I had to make a tough decision and I did and I'm sure people weren't happy about it," he told Daily Mail.
At the time of his departure, Sambora's ex-wife, Heather Locklear, who he divorced in 2009, was struggling with mental health issues. The situation was taking its toll on their daughter, Ava, and Sambora said he needed to be there for her.
"Jon and I spent more time together than we spent with our families because him and I wrote the songs," he explained. "But as you see now, my daughter just graduated on the dean's list from LSU as a psychology major and she's gone on to grad school now. And so and it's just, you know, she and I have just been really fantastic and we just have a great relationship."
Bon Jovi and Sambora have been arguing on and off for years. Bon Jovi previously hinted that his former guitarist's departure from the band was due to drug addiction. Sambora slammed Bon Jovi for talking "trash" about him.
"I don't have any major problems in life right now, I love my fans and I feel bad for them at the moment. Bottom line," he said, according to Daily Mail. "My opinion is Jon wants to see if he can pull off stadiums by himself. He is making it very difficult for me to come back," he added. "Jon needs to stop talking about me publicly."
Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
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