Bon Jovi to Tour Without Richie Sambora

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Bon Jovi have announced that they will embark on their summer tour of North America and Europe without guitarist Richie Sambora, who has entered rehab for a drinking problem. A spokesperson for the band declined to say who will replace Sambora on the tour, which will begin on Saturday in New Orleans.

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In a statement released yesterday, the members of Bon Jovi declared their support for Sambora and insisted that he will remain part of the band. "Although he will be absent from upcoming shows for the time being, we very much look forward to his healthy return," the statement read. "In the meantime, we will keep our commitment to our fans and continue our tour."

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Song Stories

“Piano Man”

Billy Joel | 1973

Billy Joel’s first hit, “Piano Man,” was – ironically – an autobiographical lament about how his first album wasn’t a hit. When Cold Spring Harbor didn’t take off, Joel briefly became a lounge pianist in Los Angeles, and this song, about that experience, expressed his frustrations and fears at the time: “And they sit at the bar and put bread in my jar/And say, ‘Man, what are you doing here?’” “It was all right,” Joel said later, about the gig. “I got free drinks and union scale, which was the first steady money I’d made in a long time.”

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