Well, it certainly is not a first in the rock music world, but 47-year-old Richie Sambora, guitarist for Bon Jovi, has entered an undisclosed treatment facility (read “rehab”) in Los Angeles. It was not disclosed what type of treatment Sambora would be receiving from the facility. However, Bon Jovi is scheduled to perform on the “Today” show on June 19th and the show’s executive producer Jim Bell said he would appear with the band. Bon Jovi released their new album, titled Lost Highway, to stores today. It is unknown whether the treatment will affect the bands tour dates, which start June 24th in London with a larger tour planned in 2008.
This has not been a good year for Sambora. He married actress Heather Locklear in 1994 (just a little over a year after her divorce from another rocker, Motley Crue drummer Tommy Lee). The two seemed to have one of the happier marriages in Hollywood until suddenly Locklear filed for divorce February of last year. Then things really turned odd when Sambora was seen stepping out with actress Denise Richards (who was divorcing Charlie Sheen at the time). What is even stranger is the media had recently published photos of friends Locklear and Richards together, saying that they were helping each other through their mutual divorces. So apparently that friendship ended.
Sambora’s divorce from Locklear was final in April of this year, although the two are still working out custody arrangements for their 9-year-old daughter Ava. Sambora’s father also died of lung cancer in April. He was accompanied to the funeral by Richards, but we later found out that the two had separated before the funeral and Richards had merely attended to show Sambora support.
Blogs about other celebrity bouts with rehab:
The Tears of a Clown: Robin Williams Enters Rehab for Alcoholism
Celebrity News: Rehab, Jail, and Hitting back
Andy Dick – How Much Is Too Much?