Richie Sambora Reveals What Inspired the Lyrics of Bon Jovi's Hit 'Livin' on a Prayer': 'It's a Lot of People's Story'

Mar. 15, 2025

Richie Sambora (left) and Jon Bon Jovi performing in Detroit in June 1985.Photo:Ross Marino/Getty

Ross Marino/Getty

It’s the ultimate singalong — and now we know some of the backstory.

On the Nov. 12 episode of theHowie Mandel Does Stuffpodcast, formerBon JoviguitaristRichie Samborareflected on the creation of the group’s biggest hit: “Livin’ on a Prayer.”

“It was the first time that we used characters in the lyric,” the musician told Mandel, 68, before citing some of the lyrics. In the song, Tommy is a striking dock worker who’s struggling to make ends meet, and his partner, Gina, is a tired diner waitress.

Richie Sambora (left) and Jon Bon Jovi in Los Angeles in September 1988.Vinnie Zuffante/Getty

Vinnie Zuffante/Getty

Mandel noted that the song remains a popular karaoke anthem. “It’s everybody’s song,” Sambora said. “Everybody has been in that position where you’re at a crossroads where … an amalgamation of life’s little tragedies might happen at the same time … Too many things are not going well and you got each other and your partner.”

Sambora was a member of Bon Jovi from 1983 to 2013.He left the group mid-tour; he said in the 2024 documentaryThank You, Goodnight: The Bon Jovi Story,“I don’t regret leaving the situation, but I regret how I did it, so I want to apologize fully right now to the fans, especially, and also to the guys because my feet and my spirit were just not letting me walk out the door.”

In a Q&A about the documentaryearlier this year, Bon Jovi himself said “there was never a fight" that led to Sambora’s exit.

“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," he added of their bandmates.

“He had some issues that he just couldn’t wrap his head around and he wanted to be home more than he wanted to be on the road, but you got to show up for work,” the 62-year-old continued. “So there’s no animosity. 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.”

Richie Sambora in Louisville in May 2024.Daniel Boczarski/Getty

Daniel Boczarski/Getty

Sambora reunited with his bandmates in 2018, when the group was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

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“It’s just a question of when everybody’s ready to go do it. It will be a big, massive kind of undertaking,” he said. “It’s time to do it, though. This is our 40th anniversary, but I feel younger than ever. I’m having a ball.

source: people.com