Sure, Seb; but that would be a short discussion. It's an established fact that Richie is an alcoholic. And that's not based on armchair psychology or diagnosis. I'm pretty sure Richie himself has acknowledged it. :)

Aloha !

Maybe, but those careers failed for the same reason; they haven't got the star power to launch a career by themselves. I always feel that if Slash, who can't/won't even sing is capable of launching a career after Guns N' Roses, who really only existed for about 5 years, then surely Richie Sambora ought to be able to as well?

Steve Lukather, Steve Vai, Joe Satriani, they're all guys selling a decent amount of tickets. 2 out of those 3 don't even sing, have never had a hit and yet have build a steady career because they were willing to put in the right amount of money and time while Richie seems to be convinced his shows will sell based upon star power alone. From what I understood, Noel Gallagher financed the start of his solo career by himself, it took him 2 years before he started making money instead of losing it.

Aerosmith and Def Leppard filled venues not even half the size Bon Jovi did. While everyone's heard of Bon Jovi not everyone knows Def Leppard. Surely there ought to be something to do for Richie? Like I said, it'll only work if he makes peace with what he is.

Salaam Aleikum,
Sebastiaan

And what would that be?

A decent songwriter, great guitarist and a great support in the right band where he can support and, at the same time, gain a lot from the right front man next to him.
But not a great frontman on his own.

I personally think Richie has been looking happy, healthy and sober since last year when he did the flyover for Heather. Just my impression.


I don't know how long you've been "out of the loop" but in May Richie said the name of the album is going to be Songs That Wrote My Life. The last I heard about his music was this tweet from Little Steven that Panos originally posted here:

https://drycounty.com/jovitalk/new-b...st1254290.html

I've watched lots of old vids from the 90s with Richie running his solo gigs and as late as 2012 promotional shows for his Aftermath tour. They were absolutely wonderful and very professional. He's great at intimate little shows, connecting to the audience with ease. Dunno why it changed while he was with Orianthi but I don't agree with those who say RS sucks as a frontman. He just works theatres better than stadiums and there's nothing wrong with that.

1. Guns & Roses were always a much COOLER band than Bon Jovi. The guitar playing kids (or even those who did not but liked rock guitar) still looked up to Slash when he started his solo career; Bon Jovi were soccer mom music more than anything.

2. Slash did a ton of features with high profile artists over the years, as early as when G&R still had that 5 year run atop of the world. He made a name for HIMSELF early on.

3. Bon Jovi are not a band of 5 super distinguishable individuals. The magic of original Guns & Roses were 5 guys. Now, the "reunion" is down to three. Still, who outside of fan circles knows the name of Bon Jovi's bass player? Duff, on the other hand, had posters of his own.

In terms of career perspective, Richie is probably closer to Richie Kotzen.

No one is saying he outright sucks at it. He does sometimes look out of his comfort zone (I will ignore the time with Orianthi because that era was a disaster) even when he was doing tours for his solo records. The difference was he could play amazing and sing amazing in the past, which made up for it.

I don't think it's attacking Richie to suggest he is not a natural frontman. If you spend nearly four decades doing one profession and try to turn to another you have only done sporadically then that's tough. You're right about his solo shows, some of them were very good back in the day. It's not like he was a quivering shambles as a front man (Orianthi era aside), but just lacking something.

I can even see it in some of his music videos from Stranger. It's probably a case of practice makes perfect and Richie hasn't had a lot of practice at being front and center.

Someone mentioned Noel Gallagher, and it's a similar thing. The difference between him and Liam is clear. With Liam it's all just natural, while with Noel it seemed more effort for him to be front and center. He hid that insecurity by just becoming a different kind of artist in some sense, he would sing Oasis songs differently and not try to ape Liam. He is frontman of the High Flying Birds I know, but he has never tried to be the mic swinging rockstar and sells it in a different way.

Richie (sometimes) wants to be the rock frontman like, well, like Jon Bon Jovi frankly, who can sell it with ease. I have never bought it from Richie. He has always been better when he tries to sell it differently, be something that is not essentially a Bon Jovi wannabe. That's why Stranger was a stellar record even though the music videos tried to push him as an MTV star and the songs just did not fit.

what Richie has to do is launch solo music, the more music, the more alive he will be, damn it. The problem is that we have to wait another 7 years to listen to a new album.

I loved the RSO songs in which he was the singer. He still catches my attention.

I agree with a lot you said; but I'd argue that Richie's considerably better than a "decent" songwriter. He shines as a wingman, true; and that seems to be where he's most comfortable. But, imo, he's also a very good singer/songwriter who shouldn't be exclusively relegated to a sidekick role. A great frontman depends on your concept of what a frontman is, I guess. Can he command an audience like Jon? Hell, no; not many singers can. But, over the years, Richie has repeatedly said he doesn't have the "IT" factor Jon has, and never will. So I think he's been at peace with that for a long time.

The RSO shows had awkward moments; but from what I've seen in videos from the AOTL shows, and going back further to US and SITT, Richie demonstrated ample ability to command the stage - but again, in a singer/songwriter scenario, not as the lead singer for a big rock band like Jovi.

I think several factors combined to make RSO's shows awkward, in comparison. First, their roles didn't seem to be clearly defined. Richie and Ori each had a ton of experience as a sidekick, limited experience as the frontman, and virtually no experience in sharing the lead role. Second, they weren't with any of the backup bands long enough to gel and get their act together. They seemed to pick up most of the players in areas where they were performing; and so Richie wound up doing a lot of directing on stage, which is where he looked unprepared and uncomfortable most often, imo. Third, it's probably safe to say Richie's aware of the opinion most of his former fanbase has of him these days, and that many of them would like nothing better than to see him fall flat; or at the very least, expect him to. I can see how that may have made him anxious and could have effected his general performance in any of the shows he's done since leaving the band.

BTW, I appreciate your response; but I'd still like to know what Seb thinks it is that Richie needs to "make peace with." :)