Bon Jovi is apparently looking to cut costs and the group, lead by singer Jon Bon Jovi, has reportedly decided to part ways with guitarist Richie Sambora. A report on Thursday suggests that the founding member of the band will not return for its current world tour.
RumorFix’s sources close to Bon Jovi say that Sambora has been fired from the rest of the tour. He had been receiving $2 million per month and got a 20 percent cut of each show’s profits. Philip ‘Phil X’ Xenidis, who has been playing guitar in Sambora’s place, only makes $10,000 a month.
Of course, Sambora is still going to make money from the tour, since his face is on merchandise and he co-wrote many of the group’s hits with Jon Bon Jovi.
“Richie wants to go back on stage — that’s his first love. He’s really upset over the news,” RumorFix’s source said.
Back in April, Sambora suddenly dropped out of the tour to promote their latest album. A statement only cited “personal issues” as the reason, leading many to wonder if he was having problems with alcohol again. But he later tweeted that he is well. A TMZ report at the time claimed that he had gotten into a fight with Bon Jovi.
Bon Jovi did comment that he could go on without Sambora and suggested that the “personal matter” was something that Sambora had dealt with before. In May, Sambora said that he doesn’t have any major issues in his life.
Sambora and Bon Jovi haven’t commented on the report. The guitarist hasn’t tweeted since Tuesday.
image: Wikimedia Commons
