When it comes to writing and creating a great rock ballad or arena-filling anthem there aren't many bands that come close to Bon Jovi. The rock band has given lovers some great slow-dance rock ballads like "Always," "I'll Be There For You," and "Wanted: Dead or Alive," while also pumping out crowdpleasers like "You Give Love A Bad Name" and "Livin' On A Prayer." Since the 1980s Bon Jovi has continually given music fans some beloved sing-along tunes for a night out at your favorite dive bar or karaoke, whether it be their louder or softer numbers. But for all their great songwriting prowess and worldwide success, the members of Bon Jovi have experienced their fair share of heartache. The tragic details are as heartbreaking as their most emotional songs.
Category
🛠️
LifestyleTranscript
00:00One of the most successful American rock bands in history, Bon Jovi is a household name around
00:06the globe. But the members of the group have suffered their fair share of setbacks. Here
00:10are some of the darker and more challenging moments in the lives of the famous bandmates.
00:15According to Rolling Stone, when Bon Jovi taped its 2007 episode of Unplugged, there
00:20were rumors flying around the set that guitarist Richie Sambora was too drunk to play. His
00:25team denied that there were any problems. Nevertheless, a few days after the June 5
00:29session, a band representative told Us Weekly that Sambora had checked into a Los Angeles
00:34drug treatment facility to address his issues with alcohol. A source also told Us Weekly
00:39that Sambora was going through a hard time following a rapid chain of stressful events
00:44that included the death of his father, the finalization of his divorce from Heather Locklear,
00:49and relationship problems with girlfriend Denise Richards. A few months later, Sambora
00:53spent an additional week in rehab at Utah's Cirque Lodge facility.
00:58Alcoholism recovery is a journey, and sometimes that road is rocky. In March 2008, while driving
01:03in California, Sambora was pulled over for weaving across lanes. After failing field
01:08sobriety tests, he was arrested, booked, and released about five hours later. The guitarist
01:13faced as many as six months in prison. He ultimately pleaded no contest to a charge
01:17of drunk driving and received probation, charged fines, and ordered to take an alcohol education
01:23class.
01:24In 2011, Sambora decided to admit himself to a drug treatment center once again to seek
01:28help. Sambora explained to Extra that his 14-year-old daughter motivated him to stop
01:33drinking when she told him to clean up his act.
01:35We were going through it as a family together, you know what I mean? So it was like her saying
01:40that to me, and that kind of was like, okay, that's it. That was it, man.
01:44While Bon Jovi was on a hiatus in the early 90s and before recording its fifth studio
01:49album Keep the Faith, the band's members pursued various projects. John Bon Jovi recorded
01:54his solo debut Blaze of Glory, and Richie Sambora made his record Stranger in This Town.
02:00Bon Jovi keyboardist David Bryan played all over Sambora's album while also recording
02:04the score for the movie Netherworld. Unfortunately, he also spent a large portion of his Bon Jovi
02:10hiatus recovering from parasites he believes he acquired when the band toured through South
02:16These dangerous little creatures absolutely ravaged Bryan's body. He lost 40 pounds and
02:21could have died. Bryan told Keyboard magazine in 1993,
02:24"...they ate out my intestines and my stomach and put me out of commission for about six
02:28months."
02:29Bryan went on to make a full recovery, and to this day, he continues to enjoy a very
02:33long, successful career with Bon Jovi.
02:36In 1989, John Bon Jovi married Dorothea Hurley, his longtime love who he met in high school.
02:42They've raised four kids together, starting off with his eldest daughter Stephanie. Sadly,
02:46the family has had some ups and downs. In November 2012, police and paramedics were
02:51summoned to a dormitory at Hamilton College in upstate New York in response to a call
02:55that Stephanie was unresponsive, possibly due to a drug overdose. It was a traumatic
03:00moment for the family, but luckily she was treated and quickly released from a local
03:04hospital. In an interview with Katie Couric, Bon Jovi said,
03:07"...that problem is much more prevalent than I knew. It happens to all kinds of families
03:12all over."
03:13He added that Stephanie was doing great and gave a positive update on the situation.
03:17"...I'm just blessed that she's healthy and whole and we're getting through it. We've
03:20got this."
03:21That's sad.
03:22Despite being the drummer in an incredibly successful band for nearly 40 years, Tico
03:27Torres has kept his personal life relatively quiet. It wasn't until 2009, with the Bon
03:32Jovi documentary When We Were Beautiful, that he opened up about his struggles with
03:37addiction. He explained in the documentary,
03:39"...I was killing myself with drinking years ago. I was the kind of person who wouldn't
03:43drink for months and then just load off two bottles."
03:47His bandmate, Jon Bon Jovi, confirmed it.
03:49"...He had a lot of demons. He was a really bad drunk. He'd get in a lot of trouble with
03:54a lot of people."
03:55As of the making of that documentary, Torres considered himself a sober, recovering alcoholic.
04:01After 30 years with the band, guitarist Richie Sambora abruptly quit Bon Jovi in 2013. Sambora
04:07said that there was no bad blood between him and his bandmates, and he had made the decision
04:12quickly between legs of a tour. He elaborated on the Today show Australia,
04:16"...I just started spending time with my kid between legs, and my spirit wouldn't pull
04:23myself out of the door. I just needed to be home."
04:25Sambora's sudden departure blindsided the other members of the band. According to The
04:29Mirror, Jon Bon Jovi said,
04:30"...Everything was great and we were just coming off of a break, but he never came back
04:34to work again. It was a shock."
04:36A couple years after the split with Sambora, Bon Jovi released Burning Bridges, the band's
04:40final album on Mercury Records. That title was a not-so-thinly-veiled announcement that
04:45Bon Jovi was frustrated and ready to break free from Mercury.
04:49Losing Sambora and leaving his record label left Jon Bon Jovi in a very low place that
04:54lasted for years. He told The Mirror,
04:56"...There was a lot of darkness, really. I was going through a difficult period and
05:00it felt like the weight of the world was on my shoulders."
05:04Bon Jovi worked hard to make it big, and the band finally did when back-to-back singles
05:08You Give Love a Bad Name and Livin' on a Prayer from the 1986 album Slippery When Wet
05:14topped the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart. The support tour for the album took up most
05:19of 1986 and 1987. Then, they had to head back into the studio to record the 1988 album New
05:25Jersey.
05:26Achieving and maintaining that kind of success and fulfilling all the duties it requires
05:30can leave a person physically, mentally, and emotionally drained. According to The Mirror,
05:35that's how Jon Bon Jovi was feeling in the early 90s when he suffered a breakdown. In
05:39fact, those feelings were so awful and strong that he almost made a devastating decision.
05:45While on his way to see a psychologist, Bon Jovi was driving along the Pacific Coast Highway
05:48in California, and he considered jumping out of the moving car and ending it all. Fortunately
05:53for everyone, that didn't happen, and he went on to create decades of great music,
05:58be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, and consistently inspire his fans all around
06:03the world.
06:04If you or anyone you know is having suicidal thoughts, please call or chat online with
06:09the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK.