Richard Stephen Sambora was born on July 11th, 1959 in Perth Amboy, NJ, but grew up in Woodbridge, also in NJ. His parents are Adam and Joan. When he was a kid, Richie Sambora tried to play piano, saxophone and trumpet. Inspired by people like Eric Clapton, Johnny Winter, Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page, he decided to pick up a guitar when he was fourteen. A local musician with a track record of minor bands ( Screaming Minds, Bruce Foster Band and Duke Williams & The Extremes ), Richie came from a background less exotic's than Jon's but no less supportive.

        Actually he'd toured with Joe Cocker, been talent-spotted by Led Zeppelin's label playing with a group called Mercy and had just been called up to audition for glam-rock Goliath's Kiss "but it didn't work, thank God" is what he says about that right now; he also played in the album "Lessons" with the band "Message",with Alec John Such, that has been recently rereleased in CD through Long Island Records.

        Richie approached Jon at a concert to promote WAPT's compilation ( where "Runaway" was featured ) and expressed an interest in joining the band: "I said I had a lot of songs and I had a knowledge of making records, and that guitar player (Jon's neighbour and future Skid Row's guitarist Dave Sabo) was very good, but he was very young... The band was kicking and I was the missing piece". Jon didn't take it seriously. Alec John Such, Jon's bass player, talked Jon into letting Richie come down and do his stuff. He called him to a rehearsal with his band a week later. Then fate took a hand. Jon was unavoidably detained and by the time he got to the rehearsal, Richie had the band grooving.

        Jon listened at the studio door for about 30 seconds and yelled, "Hired". " He had his own style, which wasn't ripped off from Eddie Van Halen - like all the other guitarists that were kicking around that year. " A diversified music listener, Sambora comes from a background of Beatles, Eric Clapton, Johnny Winter, Led Zeppelin, "a lot of blues stuff," and his range of listening goes from Peter Gabriel to Metal Church to Tchaikovsky.

        When Richie Sambora doesn't have a guitar in his hands, his fingers are on the graceful body of his wife Heather Locklear, the gorgeous blonde from 'Melrose place' and 'Spin City'. Mrs. Locklear Sambora is now benefitting from the love lessons that Richie took from expert Cher, not too long ago. Richie married Heather on December 17, 1994 in Paris. When Richie passes aways he would like to be burried with his guitar.
 

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