This from Ross Halfin's online diary:
"Bob Lefsetz wrote this and he's quite right. Bob, who I used to know well in the 80s, hit the nail dead on the head about Richie Sambora. Here's what he said in a blaze of glory.
If Sambora doesn't matter, why not go out as a solo, as Jon Bon Jovi with unknown players and keep all the money?
I know, I know, the show must go on, but really?
It's one thing if someone's paying $3 a ticket. You're all in it together. But at these prices, people expect the real thing. This is like buying a Mercedes Benz and finding out it's a Chevy under the hood. You're pissed!
This is different from Journey going out with a new lead singer. That's a celebration of the songs, people still believe in Bon Jovi, they want to reconnect with their youth, and without Richie "Wanted Dead Or Alive" is just not the same. Captain Phil died on "The Deadliest Catch", we accept it and the show goes on, but rehab is not like death, it's actually supposed to prevent death.
If one of your kids was in the hospital would you still go on the road Jon?
And don't tell me about all the support people you'd be letting down. Most of them have been sucking at the tit quite profitably for years, and if you're such a fan of the little guys, do one solo benefit show for them in New Jersey and charge up the yin-yang, your fans will pay for that.
I like your pay what you want restaurant (
http://bit.ly/jxaUXq" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;). But going on the road without Richie is like Tyler going on the road without Joe Perry, D.O.A.
Have you got no sense of history, no sense of loyalty?
And I realize they call it "Bon Jovi", and that's your name, and you've got a leg up. But Don Henley can't sell the tickets the Eagles do and do we really want to see an Eagles show without Frey?
Once upon a time bands were beholden to their fans.
Now they're beholden to their bank accounts.
Performers are just as greedy and vapid as bankers. That's why the business is dying, not because of P2P theft and the Internet.
I wasn't planning to go anyway, but I was offended upon reading the news and my inbox is filling up with naysayers.
And, I LOVE "Wanted Dead Or Alive". All those TV shows with Richie and you doing the number acoustically? Those are etched in my brain. That's why I give you a pass, that's why I still listen.
You cannot do it without your family.
And you may not pay him what you make, but Richie is a blood brother.
Cancel the dates, wait for him."
