Richie Sambora confirms plans to reunite with Bon Jovi

He has told Absolute Radio's Leona Graham

Richie Sambora and Jon Bon Jovi in 2018
Author: Scott ColothanPublished 14th Feb 2023
Last updated 23rd Feb 2023

Richie Sambora has told Absolute Radio he’s planning to reunite with Bon Jovi and hopefully record new music with the legendary band.

Fresh from being unveiled as Jacket Potato on ITV show The Masked Singer over the weekend, Richie Sambora dropped by Absolute Radio for a chat with our very own rock aficionado Leona Graham.

Richie Sambora unmasked as Jacket Potato

During the wide-ranging chat, the ever-genial Richie spoke to Leona about what it was like performing on The Masked Singer, why he chose the Jacket Potato costume, his legendary career with Bon Jovi, and the enduring appeal of the band’s timeless anthem ‘Livin’ On A Prayer’ and why the song more relevant than ever today.

Elsewhere in the interview, Leona asked Richie whether he plans to join forces with Bon Jovi again following his performance with them at their Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction in 2018.

Answering in the affirmative, Sambora said: “We're talking about it. I don't think there's any reason not to at this point.”

Richie Sambora and Leona Graham at Absolute Radio

“I made the decision when I started to work here in London over the last six months, I hooked up with Hipgnosis and Merck Mercuriadis, and we started to work together and I started to write with other artists and making my own records and now I'm saying to myself, ‘how am I going to ignite this? Let's put on a potato head!’”

Confirming that he hopes to perform with Bon Jovi again, Richie 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.”

Richie also said his relationship with Jon is still good a decade on from his Bon Jovi exit, explaining: “You know what, there's no malice. I mean, we did something… there's not a lot of bands that did what we did. I mean, obviously, bands like The Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd and U2 (have).”

Richie swiftly returned to the subject of the Bon Jovi reunion when talking about his post-Masked Singer plans, saying: “There’s a new (solo) album coming out, probably at the end of the end of March or the beginning of April and (it’s) with Bob Rock. It’s a rock record. Yeah, it's a lot of fun and the songs are good, and I'm thrilled and I can't wait to get out and play again.

“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.

Richie Sambora and Leona Graham at Absolute Radio

“I've had such a privilege and an opportunity - and this is not bulls---, it's really true - my life is pretty good, always has been and I get to do what I love to do for a living and it's a damn good living. And I never really stopped really.”

Asked by Leona if he will write new music with Bon Jovi, Richie said: “Oh, if he doesn't let me, he's crazy. I'm on a tear.

"Actually, I did write that other (Bon Jovi) stuff, too. It's a misnomer when people go just because his name (Jon Bon Jovi) is on (the band) that's the name. We just couldn't think of anything else really.

“People think that I just come up with the guitar parts and something like that. But songwriting is conceptual. You have to have a concept. It's a story. And it can sometimes just come from looking out the window and observing and a lot of times it comes from your own life and for the most part of Bon Jovi my life was a lot (more) colourful than everybody else's in the band!”

The real names of famous musicians, including Jon Bon Jovi:

Mark Berry (Bez)


John Martin Maher (Johnny Marr)


Elizabeth Woolridge Grant (Lana Del Rey)


William Bruce Rose (Axl Rose)


Gerard Crosbie (Gerry Cinnamon)


Edward Louis Severson III (Eddie Vedder)


Farrokh Bulsara (Freddie Mercury)


Michael Peter Balzary (Flea)


Perry Bernstein (Perry Farrell)


Robert Deal (Mick Mars)


Frank Ferrano (Nikki Sixx)


Frank Edwin Wright III (Tré Cool)


Courtney Michelle Harrison (Courtney Love)


Georg Albert Ruthenberg (Pat Smear)


Chaim Klein Witz (Gene Simmons)


James Newell Osterberg, JR. (Iggy Pop)


Vincent Damon Furnier (Alice Cooper)


Saul Hudson (Slash)


Michael Ryan Pritchard (Mike Dirnt)


Ronald James Padavona (Ronnie James Dio)


Bree Joanna Alice Robinson (Brody Dalle)


Chad Robert Turton (Chad Kroeger)


Deborah Anne Dyer (Skin)


Nicholas Jones (Nicky Wire)


Amy Lynn Hartzler (Amy Lee)


William Perks (Bill Wyman)


Jeffrey Isbell (Izzy Stradlin)


Stanley Eisen (Paul Stanley)


Henry Garfield (Henry Rollins)


Richard Harrison (Rick Parfitt)


Vincent Neil Wharton (Vince Neil)


Stevland Hardaway Morris (Stevie Wonder)


Michael McKagan (Duff McKagan)


Ian Kilmister (Lemmy)


John Baldwin (John Paul Jones)


Joan Larkin (Joan Jett)


Keith Palmer (Maxim Reality)


Eric Patrick Clapp (Eric Clapton)


Susan Janet Ballion (Siouxsie Sioux)


David Robert Hayward Stenton Jones (David Bowie)


Richard Wayne Penniman (Little Richard)


John Simon Ritchie (Sid Vicious)


Paul Daniel Frehley (Ace Frehley)


Louis Firbank (Lou Reed)


John Graham Mellor (Joe Strummer)


Mark Feld (Marc Bolan)


David Howell Evans (The Edge)


Marvin Lee Aday (Meatloaf)


Steven Victor Tallarico (Steven Tyler)


John Michael Osbourne (Ozzy Osbourne)


John Francis Bongiovi (Jon Bon Jovi)


John Anthony Gillis (Jack White)


Paul David Hewson (Bono)


Reginald Kenneth Dwight (Elton John)


Gordon Sumner (Sting)


Robert Allen Zimmerman (Bob Dylan)


Ella Marija Lani Yelich-O'Connor (Lorde)


Gary Mounfield (Mani)


Alan John Wren (Reni)


Quentin Leo Cook (Fatboy Slim)


Jake Edwin Charles Kennedy (Jake Bugg)


Roger Keith Barrett (Syd Barrett)


George Ezra Barnett Smitherson (George Ezra)


William John Paul Gallagher (Liam Gallagher)


Rory Charles Graham (Rag'n'bone Man)


Stephanie Lynn Nicks (Stevie Nicks)


William Michael Albert Broad (Billy Idol)


Steven Patrick Morrissey (Morrissey)


Leslie Sebastian Charles (Billy Ocean)


Paul Arthurs (Bonehead)


Graham McPherson (Suggs)


Stuart Leslie Goddard (Adam Ant)


Andrew John Hozier-Byrne (Hozier)


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