Shortly after the guitarist left the band, Sambora said that he hated the band’s hit song. In a recent chat with Apple Music, the Bon Jovi singer discussed his companionship with his former bandmate and how he reacted to Sambora’s comments. He said:
“It’s not my perspective, it’s our perspective. It’s our story. Richie had more than one sit-down interview, he had months to submit his thoughts with Gotham [Chopra] and the editing team. I know that for a fact because they told me.”
It appears that Jon didn’t mind that Sambora hated ‘Runaway’:
“So there’s no ill will and I just said, ‘Hey [it’s] cool if you think 40 years later that ‘Runaway’ wasn’t such a good song. That’s cool, you joined my band, it’s cool.’ I’m not even offended by it. I was like, ‘Yeah it’s okay, it’s fine, it’s great.’ How many times did you hear John Lennon dissing ‘Silly Love Songs’?”
Even though Richie Sambora left Bon Jovi in 2013, there’s one of Bon Jovi’s big hits he doesn’t want to play anymore.
In a 2014 interview with The Sydney Morning Herald, Sambora said of the song:
“The early Bon Jovi stuff I can’t stand. I just think we didn’t have our stylistic voice. But some people love some of that stuff.”
When fans requested the song to be performed, he responded sharply:
“I hate that song! I’ll never play it again.”
And he hasn’t played it ever since.
‘Runaway’ is known for its catchy keyboard riff. This might be one of the reasons why the guitarist isn’t into it. Plus, it’s a song recorded before Sambora joined Jon Bon Jovi.
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