Richie Sambora says he had “no choice” but to walk away from Bon Jovi in 2013 after 30 years in the band.
“It wasn’t a popular decision by any means, obviously, but there was really almost no choice about it,” the 61-year-old guitarist told People. “I had a lot of conscious work to do around (my personal life).”
Sambora said he needed to spend more time with Ava, his daughter with actress Heather Locklear.
“We’ve been through a lot of things together. That was a time of psychological maintenance for the family,” he explained. “You know, I ain’t no angel. But I realized, Ava needed me to be around at that point in time.
“Family had to come first, and that’s what happened.”
Sambora was replaced in Bon Jovi by Toronto’s Phil X.
In an interview published in The Times in September, Jon Bon Jovi reflected on Sambora’s departure.
“The booze and the drugs and that stuff, it broke my heart,” he said. “I got through it with a lot of help, talking to people, reading books, and time. Time heals that kind of disappointment.”