But it could have some truth to it. I know there have been some deranged fans (or at least one in particular) on this board that I think would kill Jon if they had the chance.

Anything to avoid a replay of what happened with former Pantera bandmates Dimebag Darrell and Phil Anselmo -- which is less likely if such a fan is publicly reassured by Jon and Richie that they don't hate each other.

The rapper Drake recently cancelled all his VIP fan meet and greets. Of course, with one of his feet firmly planted in the hiphop underworld, he has to worry about jealous fans of rival rappers as well as deranged ones!

i d like to know who called who and in what occasion. i bet it was richie. i anticipate the future releases but truth be told the new album wont be true bj for me, it simply cant be without richie on board. i believe it will probably be good but not classic bj.richie was an integral part.
two facts, richie wanted to come back for the stadium europe leg, jon obviously refused and since then richie comments he isnt looking forward coming back...in an ideal world richie would like to play the high profile gigs come and go as he pleases.
jon is a businesman but i cant believe he doesnt miss richie at all, they both made mistakes but what looks childish to me is that after all these years etc etc they havent met in person to resolve this...they have talked a couple times in the phone but none of them said lets straight this out regardlless if we play again in the future.

surely there is some bad blood still but i hope if they ever met they d work it out.

ps,as the bj machine is about to start again there wil be more and more questions about the matter, the same goes for richie who seems to want to capitilize on the bj promoting wave by releasing sth close to the bj release. a move that doesnt flatter him imo if proven true.

I couldnt had said it better
Totally agree

He wanted to something inspiring and he did Aftermath? And now he working with this Russian guy?
That's don't make sense at all. Terdrop TTSea is more inpiring than whole Aftermath and WWYDie For is more creativy than that album.
I don't get this version from Richie.

Like it or dislike it, I still think Aftermath has more guitar breaks than the average Jovi song. It's still poppy but what were people expecting from him, death metal? To me the arrangements and guitar parts were fresher but the lyrics are still (mostly) vanilla as all heck.

We don't know they haven't said that. If Richie is saying he talked to Jon recently, that may be exactly what they did. They don't owe us details of their personal conversation or interpersonal relationship.

Maybe something like Christina Grimmie's murder was a wake up call to both of them (and I'm speculating just as much as the rest of you), not just to how some deranged fan could try to settle whatever score he thought existed between them but to how fragile life and relationships are.

In my life, I've found that when you've been friends with someone for 30 years, you pick up the phone, even after a few years have passed, and you pick up where you left off.

Not Death Metal but I remember in the anticipation people wanted a more blues oriented sound. But that's just not where he is in his life anymore I guess....

I don't know why people expect more blues from Richie. He said during press from KTF that he regretted the bluesy sound of Stranger and would have done something more commercial. I'm paraphrasing. But I posted that article a couple of summers ago when I posted a bunch of scans of articles. It's somewhere in that thread.

Stranger didn't sell well and it was bluesy. Undiscovered Soul was FAR more contemporary with the current music scene, less bluesy and didn't sell. Aftermath had even less blues and the same issue. I'm not saying blues isn't his true passion, I just think Stranger's bombing effected the way he puts out music. The same way the double whammy personal lyrics of These Days and Destination Anywhere's lack of sales for Jon gave us Crush.