Gene Simmons....classic and fitting? "If somebody thinks they're irreplaceable they're either completely deluded, stupid, or intoxicated. In their case they abused their position in the band under the assumption that they were then only people who could do what they do...."

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment...#ixzz2fCrgqAlB

This stands perfectly for the Alec situation but for Richie? I don't think so.

In your analogy, Jon and Richie are the Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley of Bon Jovi for me and neither should be replaced. Richie's involvement in this band is way, far and above that of Criss or Ace. Richie’s absence, for me, is so much more than just the way he plays guitar but that’s been discussed to death.

Paul and Gene own the rights to KISS. Jon owns Bon Jovi so he is the only person that cannot be replaced. While t would be different to you, Richie is replaceable, in fact he HAS been replaced. If people will continue to buy at a level that suits Jon is still to be determined. But everyone IS replaceable.

Jon has called Richie's bluff (not that we even know what it is) and the ball is in Richie's court. He can come back and accept the deal or he can continue to jam with fabric. But Bon Jovi will go on - if for no other reason than Jon to prove a point.

I'm not talking about who owns what on paper... the fact that Richie co-wrote the band's biggest songs already sets him apart from being a session player who is replaceable. I think it's evident from the response to Richie's departure that there's a large proportion of Jovi fans who see him as irreplaceable in Bon Jovi.

I think Jon is riding on a lot of good will, previously bought tickets and a large dollop of curiosity - people want to see what it's like without Richie. But the next album and the next tour, minus Richie, will be the acid test to that.

While it might be acceptable to you, Richie has NOT been replaced. A very capable session player is standing in and doing a good job because a tour was already booked and fair play to JBJ for that. However, he's a smart man, so going forward beyond the BWC Tour - how popular this will prove to be under the banner of Bon Jovi is something he will think long and hard about.

So yes - totally different to the KISS situation.

The part in bold I agree with or can at least see how that would be possible, what ever happens after the tour will say either way.

However, the Richie´s place in Bon Jovi is not entirely different to the KISS situation. Cold Gin, Shock Me, Strange Ways, Parasite, are some of the well known KISS songs that Ace wrote, while he contributed plenty of album tracks too. It should be noted that unlike Sambora, Ace actually wrote these songs and not co-wrote them. If contribution to the band in terms of songwriting and even guitar sound is being judged then it could be argued that Ace was more integral to KISS than Sambora is to Bon Jovi (not something I entirely believe by the way). Of course, Ace also got to sing on some KISS songs, something Sambora has never done for Bon Jovi.

Peter Criss wrote several tracks, the most famous being Beth and he sang lead on plenty of KISS tracks as well.

What Slakk said isn´t entirely wrong. In fact like he/she said it is really only down to whether Jon can sell a Sambora-less Bon Jovi to a level he and his ego wants or can at worst cope with.

What I disagree with from Slakk´s post is the notion that Richie´s bluff was called. I think he left for reasons that he thought or still thinks are genuine, perhaps he is ready to come back, who knows? But I don´t think he was bluffing when he left.

Again though, the songwriting part was only brought up in response to the whole 'who owns what on paper' - I think it's almost irrelevant and the key thing is that Bon Jovi without Richie, for a lot of fans, would be like KISS without Gene Simmons or The Stones without Keef. I just can't see it being widely accepted, album & tour, over and over again.

I am sure a lot of people would still go and see them - Axl Rose has proved it's a viable financial venture - but if they were looking for a way to finally kill off the commitment of the long-time die hards, certainly among every Bon Jovi fan I know personally, then this album, tour and the fall out from it has done just that.

Yeah, I don´t disagree with that, I was just putting it out there about the KISS thing. Anyway, I think you have hit the nail on the head, perhaps in the band dynamic Richie can be replaced as the guys from KISS were. However Richie has a connection with the fans that those didn´t and it is with the fans that ultimately he probably can´t be replaced, and in the end I don´t think Jon´s ego is that out of control to think otherwise.

Jon has probably just drawn a line under this tour in a kind of "you don´t deserve to be here now" and would probably take him back for the next cycle.

Spot on, let's hope so.

You are talking about Ace Frehley here, you do realise that? Ace f*ckin' Frehley not Mr. Nobody. The only difference is that he's only been with KISS for about 10 years or so but when he left Kiss, he was a lot more 'irreplaceable' than Richie has ever been or will ever be in Bon Jovi. Yet KISS is still around 30 years later...Go figure. Jon and Gene are very similar. Moderately talented musicians with an eye for talent. That's why Bon Jovi will go on without Sambora. Simple.

A mental reply, and not because of what you said exactly.

You reply to me saying Sambora has a connection with the fans after I had also wrote this:
However, the Richie´s place in Bon Jovi is not entirely different to the KISS situation. Cold Gin, Shock Me, Strange Ways, Parasite, are some of the well known KISS songs that Ace wrote, while he contributed plenty of album tracks too. It should be noted that unlike Sambora, Ace actually wrote these songs and not co-wrote them. If contribution to the band in terms of songwriting and even guitar sound is being judged then it could be argued that Ace was more integral to KISS than Sambora is to Bon Jovi (not something I entirely believe by the way). Of course, Ace also got to sing on some KISS songs, something Sambora has never done for Bon Jovi.

But do not address far more dismissive things said about Ace´s contribution like this:
Richie's involvement in this band is way, far and above that of Criss or Ace.

Interesting.