I appreciate that Yngwie is a marmite guitarist, especially for non-guitar players. He is supremely talented and I think people forget how influential he was, but I admit his playing can often be self indulgent. Although I was recently watching some of his live shows with Alcatraz and he was off the charts good.

Back to Richie, while I am sure there are times he has been intoxicated publically over the last decade, I do not think it explains his decline. His voice hasn't gone, it is his playing while his general demeanor can sometimes seem off. Let's not forget he probably played plenty of times smashed over the years and did a good job.

Is he now just sloppy and not putting in the hard work, the equivalent of not looking after your voice? Maybe, but I think he said in one interview he plays guitar more than ever and does practice. Perhaps he just does not do well as a frontman. He often looks uncomfortable and out of his element. For all his talk of being a frontman in his older bands, he was not one for thirty years. It does require some skill to capture the audience beyond your quality as a musician.

Good post.

So many bands/rockstars have the excess so well documented publicly, Bon Jovi less so. The washing was done more or less in-house, it was their "omertà ". But just because it's less documented doesn't mean it wasn't dirty.

I know the partying in the 80s has been alluded to but it didn't stop there ( for Richie )

The 90s he was on fire in terms of his playing whilst a functioning addict - booze mainly but there was the other stuff too.

He's said it himself he's been on a stag do that lasted 30 years.

The body ( and mind) keep scores, there's no escaping it.

I wish the guy well, I fear it's too late for him. En plus , if anyone here is struggling , fire me a message . Addiction is a dreadful illness but there is a way out so long as you ask for help

Peace y'all

seen all the available clips from the show...Richie obvilously doesnt look good..I cant tell what is the reason behind it but sth is really wrong..
he cant perform a single song right.. too sloppy which shows he simply doesnt play anymore, no matter what he says...he was a brilliant musician, there are some glimpses here and there but cant perform a single song in a decent way...
what made worried was how thin he looked, i ve never seen him so thin, and for a guy with a series of addictions my fear is he upscaled...
hope i m wrong.
The new songs sound good but Richie was so unprepared...the guitar malnfunction...some songs are half a step lower, i think this was the problem, i ve never seen Richie playing so out of tune before...(there was a show with Bonamassa but different reasons), he couldnt remember the chords of his songs in the new numbers.
if he puts the effort he will get better unless there are other issues.
and sth last, what was really weird was when he left the stage and he had o be encouraged to continue..

Weight loss is tricky to go on. He was a bit huskier in the BJTV's for the recording of Bounce, lost it in time for the Everyday video. Look how thin he got for the Aftermath era. I'm hoping the weight loss isn't tied to anything health related but we also don't know what he's been doing to prep for the release, minus recording 300 songs and delaying it continuously.

When I met him In 2014 his legs were stick thin. Like my uncle , who's liver had packed in. It was scary, skin tight jeans hanging off him

12 months ago he was a little chubby though...he's been up and down with his weight for years. It does seem as though he sheds some weight when hes about to start a tour or album cycle and then adds it when he's not doing much. I think he looks better with the weight off. If you look at the photos from the Ivor Awards this week I think he looks pretty well compared to when he's a bit bloated.

This is interesting, I could classify 2014 as one of his chubbier years. I guess as you get older your body starts doing weird things. Looking forward to it...

He did put on a lot of weight compared to 2013. But I have to agree that his legs looked strange when he wore the red trousers during the concerts

Yeah visceral fat ( a man gets a beer gut ) is fat round the organs , as a booze bag and a man in his mid 50s he of course had a gut with bingo wings but the legs being rake thin is a tell tell sign the liver isn't doing what it should.

Ah, I like Living Alone, I can't wait to hear this one on the album.