Richie Sambora has helped create some of the most popular rock music of the past thirty years, a lifetime when you consider how fickle many music fans are. But earlier this year, he realized his job was making him miss some very important things, and he did the unthinkable and left the band that made him a huge star.

“We were the hardest working band in the world, man,” he said in a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter. “You’re talking 24/7, and you don’t get to come home. I missed so much of my child’s life. And you get to that place where you realize, ‘Oh, my god, this is really important.’”

Bon Jovi fans are desperate to know if he’ll return, and he says it may be in the cards, but for right now, he needs a rest.

“Yes, I would think about it for sure,” he says. “There’s no malice here. You get along for 30 years, that’s a damn good marriage. … I was coming out of something a little bit different with my solo record, Aftermath of the Lowdown, and it just didn’t go in the right direction for me artistically, which is not to say it’s a bad thing…I did 14 cycles for 30 years, so I missed a lot. A lot of life happened. And I also had three solo albums and tours, wrote songs for other people. … Burnt isn’t the right word, but I almost fell out of love with music and I needed to fall in love with it again.”

Sambora says he’s happy with where he’s at right now, especially after receiving an invitation to play with his idol Stevie Wonder at the Hollywood Christmas Parade (which will be televised on December 20).

“It is almost beyond words,” he said. “He was the guy that I emulated when I was a boy, and he taught me how to sing. It was an honor to meet your teacher. The first thing I did was whisper in his ear, ‘I’m sure you get this a lot, but you were my inspiration as a singer.’ The first thing he said is, ‘You do the first verse!’”

Image: Wikimedia Commons