Mike Vulpo 
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Jon Bon Jovi is shining a light on where things stand with Richie Sambora more than 10 years after he stepped away from the band.
During a Q&A at a screening of the band’s docuseries, Thank You Goodnight: The Bon Jovi Story, Jon, 62, assured music fans there are no hard feelings about Richie’s decision.
“There was never a fight,” he told the audience on April 10 via PEOPLE. “There was substance abuse, there was anxiety, there was being a single parent, there was a lot of personal issues he was going through. But never to this day did any of us, me or him or David [[Bryan]or Tico [[Torres], ever have a fight.”
Richie, 64, who previously struggled with painkillers and alcohol, decided to leave the group in the middle of the band’s 2013 Because We Can tour.
At the time, he expressed a desire to spend more time with his family. He shares 26-year-old daughter Ava Sambora with his ex-wife Heather Locklear.
“I ain’t no angel,” Richie told PEOPLE in December 2020. “But I realized, Ava needed me to be around at that point in time. Family had to come first, and that’s what happened.”
Jon agreed that Richie wanted to be home more than he wanted to be on the road. But at the same time, he admitted there was an adjustment after losing his longtime music partner.
“There’s no animosity,” he said during the Q&A. “An integral part of my story for three of the four chapters was my right-hand man, asked to join my band and I was lucky to have met him. But life went on.”
To this day, the Grammy winner respects his former bandmate for prioritizing family — even if he misses rocking out with his buddy.
“I respect the idea that he wanted to stay home and raise his daughter,” he said. “It’s unfortunate for us and for the world, but I am not mad about it.”
Thank You Goodnight: The Bon Jovi Story is a four-part docuseries that chronicles the past and uncertain future of one of the most recognizable bands in the world.
Cameras began rolling in February 2022 and followed the group’s journey as they figured out what was next. According to Hulu, “the series relives the triumphs and setbacks, greatest hits, biggest disappointments and most public moments of friction.”
Thank You Goodnight: The Bon Jovi Story premieres April 26 on Hulu.
