Richie, Richie, wherefore art thou sweet Richie?
Bon Jovi guitarist Richie Sambora unexpectedly left the bands multi-million dollar global touring juggernaut Tuesday night, and adoring fans in of the man suspect it isn’t merely ‘because he can’.
The 53-year-old guitar virtuoso and creative half of the Bon Jovi music machine was absent from the bands performance in Calgary, Alberta, Canada and was ably replaced by long-time New Jersey hired ax-slinger Bobby Bandiera.
Fans around the world immediately got a sick feeling of déjà vu in the pit of their stomachs, remembering it was left to Bobby B. to shoulder the guitar work alone when Sambora left the ‘The Circle’ tour for a stint in rehab two years ago.
Prior to the show Tuesday night, band namesake Jon Bon Jovi told the crowd that the adored guitarist wouldn’t be performing for the remainder of ‘this leg of the tour’.
An update on the band’s web site---Bon Jovi.com---was short and sweet to the point of being curt:
“Due to personal issues, Richie Sambora will not be performing on this upcoming leg. All shows will go on as scheduled”.
Just hours before the announcement Sambora told fans on Twitter that he was watching the videos fans submitted for an Every Road Leads Home To You video contest held to support the release of his third solo record, Aftermath Of The Lowdown.
Fans around the world ignited a firestorm of gossip, rumor and innuendo on Facebook and Twitter in an effort to find out more about their beloved Tall Dark Duke.
Some feared a relapse into substance abuse, while still others speculated about illness in his immediate family or simply burnout from incessant touring with one of rock n’ rolls most successful bands.
In recent years Bon Jovi has released records practically every other year, supporting them with world tours often 15-18 months in duration.
Couple this with the fact that Sambora did a stint in rehab towards the tail end of The Circle tour and then came right out and recorded his own new record, went out on his own mini-tour; then recorded the new Bon Jovi CD What About Now and went straight out on tour again, and you could have a recipe for burnout fueled disaster.
For now, the Bon Jovi camp is characteristically not saying anything more, while the Jovi Nation fan community worldwide hopes and prays for their beloved Mr. Bluesman.
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