Richie Sambora is still happy with his decision to leave Bon Jovi.
The musician, who was lead guitarist for the band for 30 years, left in 2013 to be a full-time dad to his then-teenage daughter Ava with ex-wife Heather Locklear.
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A source recently told People, “Richie sacrificed a lot to be there for his daughter when she was still very young and needed him the most, and he’s so proud to see how well she’s doing now.
“She just had her birthday, and they had a family celebration,” the insider continued. “It was the right decision to step off the stage to be a full-time father. At the end, he was suffering being on the road so much. Richie has no regrets about leaving the band.”
The source added, “Richie was happy being there to drive with Ava to her first day of high school and to pool parties with her friends. These last seven years have been the most loving and rewarding in his life. They have travelled the world together and brought friends to truly share the fun. He wouldn’t trade it for anything.
“Especially now that Heather is doing so well and loving life again, they feel like they have a second lease on life,” they said. “Ava and her father spent her 23rd birthday hanging out at home. With Ava’s graduate school online school workload, Richie still enjoys every minute with her.”
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The comments come after Jon Bon Jovi said in an interview last week on “Rock Antenne”, “There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t wish that Richie had his life together and was still in the band.”
The frontman added, “In a weird way, it’s because of his inability to get it together anymore that we went on and wrote [the album] This House Is Not For Sale.”
