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Richie Sambora belted out the 1986 Bon Jovi hit “Livin’ on a Prayer” at his daughter’s recent wedding, more than a decade after abruptly quitting the band.
The musician recently posted an Instagram video of himself serenading the guests at Ava Locklear and Tyler Farrar’s May reception.
In the upload, the newlyweds held hands and jumped up and down while singing along to the track.
The bride’s wedding planner shared more footage of the moment on the social media platform last week, writing that the song “hits different when it’s your dad singing it.”
Locklear commented, “So true!”
Her 66-year-old father, notably, was the lead guitarist for the Grammy-winning band from 1983 until April 2013.
The rock icon walked out on lead singer Jon Bon Jovi, pianist David Bryan and drummer Tico Torres in the middle of their world tour to focus on raising Ava after his split from her mom, Heather Locklear.
In the 2024 documentary “Thank You, Goodnight: The Bon Jovi Story,” Sambora addressed his sudden exit.
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“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,” he said.
Sambora elaborated on his decision to walk away, stating it was due to an “amalgamation” of things, including “deep family problems.”
“I spent so much time being on the road,” he continued, “and at that time unfortunately, my ex-wife was having some mental health issues, and my daughter coming to an age where she could understand.”
Sambora added that Ava, now 28, “needed” him.
“I needed her, truthfully,” he clarified. “We didn’t have enough time.”
During a Q&A that year, Bon Jovi, 64, revealed “there was never a fight” that led to his longtime pal leaving.
The songwriter explained that “substance abuse” and “anxiety” were involved, on top of Sambora being a single dad.
“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 or Tico, ever have a fight,” he insisted.
Bon Jovi added that because Sambora “had some issues that he just couldn’t wrap his head” around, he chose to be home instead of on the road.
Denying any “animosity,” the artist stated, “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.”
Last year, Bon Jovi reflected further on the “heartbreak” he felt after Sambora left the group.
“My heartbreak with him is the way he walked out on us, compounded by the fact that it took him years to come back in the room just to have a meal with Tico and David and I and say, ‘I’m sorry,’ ” he said while on the “Dumb Blonde” podcast in September 2025.
He added, “The great thing that I have said about him throughout our lives was you would be lucky to call him your friend, and I mean that — talented beyond, beyond as a guitar player, as a singer, as a collaborator. Wonderful right-hand man, awesome. Couldn’t ask for more.”
Before Sambora’s departure, the band released 12 studio albums together.
Since 2013, Bon Jovi has put out three more — sans Sambora, who was replaced by guitarist Phil X.
English (US)