Richie has blown me so away on this record and I've always known what a great player he is. Other people sometimes don't because it's hard for him to completely shine in the context of this band. But to me he's always been a guitar hero, and I hope this record will show people just how fantastic he is. He's picked up the bizoki and the mandechello, instruments he's never played in his life and used them in such interesting ways.

My admiration for Richie runs deep. His abilities as a player never suffered. Richie's talent is God-given. He's blessed."

A friend of mine, a friend of yours. My better half, Richard Stephen Sambora.

HEAVEN LOOKS A LOT LIKE NEW JERSEY. dec 19th 2011 6.00

Richie came to see one of my shows. Afterwards he made a point of meeting me and saying: "I'm the guy. I'm what you need." I thought he was a little crazy because he was so forward, but I liked him as a guy, so we just hung out for an afternoon and tried writing together. We wrote two songs. They weren't the best songs we've ever written, but from the start we could see that we were compatible. More importantly, we got on as friends. We had a similar upbringing and a similar focus on the future.

We went through a stupid phase: blowing money, crying over the money lost. I bought a house, and Richie bought a house too. Those were the days of going down to the Mercedes dealer and buying several cars at a time for people. But all that's done; you really get over it.