Richie Sambora On Balancing Bon Jovi And His Duties As A Father, ‘People Thought I Was Crazy’

Former Bon Jovi guitarist Richie Sambora is not only a rockstar inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, but also a proud father. In a recent exclusive interview with People Magazine, Sambora spoke about his strong relationship with his daughter and how he somehow managed to make time for her even when he was on tour with Bon Jovi. He talked about how he kept in touch with his daughter. He said:

“Once I got to a place, every time I could come home I really did. I had a reservoir of money that I would just be able to hop on a private plane and take the day to spend with my daughter, and then hop back on it and go to the gig. And I did that a lot.”

He recalled an occasion when he was on tour with Bon Jovi in Australia and a younger Ava had a father-daughter dance at school. He said:

“People thought I was crazy because I had three days off in Australia and she had a daddy/daughter dance when she was 8 and I said, ‘Don’t tell her, but I’m coming home.It’s like a 12½ hour flight, plus the time difference, it was insane. But I figured it out and I surprised her. And those are the kind of things, in any relationship obviously, but it needed to be done when I was sometimes gone. It was very, very important to me.”

Sambora Left Bon Jovi To Take Care Of His Daughter Ava

Sambora, who was Bon Jovi’s lead guitarist for 30 years before retiring in 2013, took a break from performing and touring to spend more time with his daughter Ava. Although his departure was not so well received when it was first announced, Sambora stands by the idea that family must come first and he is very happy with his decision. He spoke about this in an interview with People Magazine in December 2020. He said:

“It wasn’t a popular decision by any means, obviously, but there was really almost no choice about it. I had a lot of conscious work to do around [my personal life]. We’ve been through a lot of things together. That was a time of psychological maintenance for the family.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 stated that he loves being a father more than anything else. He continued:

“Luckily I was making enough money to be able to have a private plane, get my ass home and see my kid even if it was only for one day. If it was Halloween, it was boom, home.”

Richie Sambora has gone from being the Bon Jovi lead guitarist with addiction problems to a full-time family man.

Ava Sambora Is Thankful For Her Father

Just as Ricky is proud for Ava, Ava is thankful for her father. In the same 2020 interview, Ava says those gestures her father made to her meant everything to her. She recallled:

“He showed up to every dance recital I performed in and all of my school functions no matter how far he had to travel.”

Referring to the 12-hour flight mentioned earlier, she added:

“He even flew all the way from Australia to surprise me at my father-daughter dance.”

Ava recently got her master’s degree in psychology and is ‘getting ready to go for a doctorate’ according to her father.