Richie Sambora, a founding member of Bon Jovi, has been fired from the group’s tour and been replaced on lead guitar, according to a new report.
Sambora was canned and replaced on lead guitar by Philip "Phil X" Xenidis, and the alleged reason for the move is a simple, time-honored one:
Cash.
Sambora, who’s been in the band for 30 years, gets $2 million a month plus 20 percent of profits. Xenidis makes $10,000 a month, with no profit share.
That’s a lot of extra cash to spread among the other four members, but did he really get the boot from the legendary rock band for that reason alone?
The bad blood between Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora has been rumored for months, if not longer, and has apparently reached a boiling point.
Jon has publicly said that Richie, who left the group citing "personal issues" in April, can return at any time, but behind the scenes it’s a different story.
A source says that “Richie wants to go back on stage" and is "really upset over the news" that he is not welcome, while Bon Jovi has not commented.
We’ll see if the group patches this relationship up, or if the money and/or other problems between them lead to an ugly divorce that actually sticks.