Sambora Breaks Silence on Bon Jovi Drama

Richie Sambora, who is sitting out of Bon Jovi's world tour, has broken his silence regarding his absence -- without actually giving the reasons why he's all but quit the band. Jon Bon Jovi revealed to The Evening Standard that not-discussing the reasons for Sambora playing hooky from the tour is getting tiring, explaining: "It's getting more and more difficult every day to not just sit here and say something. . . Because all I can say is this -- it's for personal reasons. He's been through it before, fortunately for us the same guy who filled in last time was available this time. Life goes on, so if someone chooses not to be here. . . unlike if this were, God forbid, The Edge, and he for some reason couldn't make a U2 show, (then) it would be very difficult to just step in."

Bon Jovi added: "You have a choice -- you either figure it out, go and grow, not only survive but thrive. Or, you say, 'I hate my brother and I'm gonna quit the band.'"

Sambora took the bait and in an exclusive interview with MailOnline, said, "I don't have any major problems in life right now, I love my fans and I feel bad for them at the moment. Bottom line. My opinion is Jon wants to see if he can pull off stadiums by himself. He is making it very difficult for me to come back. Enough with the trash talking!"

He went on to add: "Jon needs to stop talking about me publicly. I am fine working very hard on my fashion company Nikki Rich and this is a private matter.'"