I have a question. Maybe some of you can help me see Jon's comment as anything other than a deliberate insult to Richie or an attempt to diminish his contributions to the band's success.

I've never followed U2 or Van Halen, so it may be ignorance on my part; but what makes either of those bands more "dependent on a lead guitarist" than Bon Jovi, or any other rock band? The first thing that comes to my mind when I think of VH is "Jump", which seems more focused on keyboards than guitar, and the few songs I've heard from U2 don't have especially defining guitar work. I mean no disrespect towards EVH or The Edge; I just can't see where their guitars contributed any more to the "sound" of those bands than Richie's did to Bon Jovi.

In addition, even if Bon Jovi wasn't dependent on the lead guitar, their sound must have been somewhat dependent on the lead guitarist, even from Jon's perspective, since he acknowledges (not for the first time) that his and Richie's voices were "the magic." If I'm not mistaken, prior to Richie leaving he had said that their voices together were magic and that blend created "the sound" of Bon Jovi; but I'd have to see if I could find the video to be sure.