Bon Jovi, one of the top-selling rock bands of all time, on Friday announced a new album — the first in the group’s three-decade history without guitarist Richie Sambora.
This House is Not for Sale, the 14th studio album from the New Jersey rockers, will come out on October 21 with the band releasing the first single on Friday.
The album is the first since the seemingly amicable departure in 2013 of lead guitarist Sambora, a fixture in the group along with frontman and namesake Jon Bon Jovi.
Sambora said that he wanted to devote more time to his family rather than embark on another of the lengthy arena tours for which Bon Jovi is famous.
Sambora last year told the site Ultimate Guitar Rock that his decision was also about music, as he felt “starved” for more improvisation and innovation after playing Bon Jovi’s hits for so long.
Bon Jovi’s new lead guitarist is Phil X, a veteran Canadian session musician for leading artists.
The title track off This House is Not for Sale, released as the first lesson, may reference the split as Bon Jovi takes a house as a metaphor for stability.
“This house was built on trust / That’s what it is, it always was / No wrecking ball could knock it down,” he sings.
Bon Jovi is also known personally for his stable family life in an industry known for excess. He and his wife have been active in charitable efforts, recently opening an anti-hunger centre in New Jersey.
Bon Jovi has sold more than 130 million albums since the band’s start in 1983, generating arena-packing anthems such as Livin’ On a Prayer, I’ll Be There for You and You Give Love a Bad Name.
While most identified with hits from the 1980s, the group’s last studio album, What About Now, debuted at number one on the US chart in 2013.
