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Richard Stephen Sambora (born on July 11th, 1959), is an American rock guitarist, singer and songwriter who is the lead guitarist of the rock band Bon Jovi. Along with frontman Jon Bon Jovi, he forms the primary songwriting unit of the band. He is also a solo artist, having released two solo albums; Stranger In This Town in 1991, and Undiscovered Soul in 1998.

• 1 Background
• 2 Technique
  • 2.1 Talk box usage
• 3 Other instruments
• 4 Instruments and equipment
• 5 Solo work
• 6 Personal life
• 7 Film and television
• 8 Other ventures and honors
• 9 Discography
• 10 External links

Born to a Polish father, Adam C. Sambora (family originally from Kraków as stated by Sambora), and an Italian mother, Joan Sienila. Sambora attended Woodbridge High School, in Woodbridge Township, New Jersey. He began playing the guitar at the age of 14 following the death of guitar legend Jimi Hendrix in 1970. From his early days Sambora was strongly influenced by blues and 60s rock 'n' roll. His most important influences were Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, Jeff Beck, Johnny Winter and Jimmy Page. He was also influenced by Spanish classical music and began a life long love of the Spanish guitar[citation needed].

Sambora has occasionally taken over as lead vocalist on some Bon Jovi songs, most notably "I'll Be There For You" when played live on the Bounce and Have a Nice Day tours. He has also performed "Stranger In This Town" (from the album of the same title) at various Bon Jovi concerts (most notably on Keep The Faith and These Days tours). One of the live performances of "Stranger In This Town", recorded during the Keep The Faith tour, was released on Bon Jovi's CD single "Dry County" in 1994.

Sambora has generally eschewed the more obvious technical trademarks of the genre, instead crafting a more melodic approach.

[1]

Pinch harmonics are widely used within his playing style. Heavy use of palm muting can also be seen throughout his work, as well as his characteristic pentatonic runs.

Sambora is one of many guitarists to make use of the talk box. He has cited Joe Walsh and Peter Frampton as the main influences in his use of the device:

[2]

The talk box can be heard clearly in "Livin' on a Prayer", "All I Want Is Everything", "It's My Life", "Love Me Back To Life", "Bounce", "I Want To Be Loved", "Complicated", "Put The Boy Back In Cowboy" and " We Got It Going On "

Sambora is also a self taught musician of other instruments including:

• Mandolin
• Sitar
• Ukulele
• Bass
• Banjo
• Piano
• Keyboards
• Drums
• Flute
• Trumpet
• Saxophone
• Accordion
• Bouzouki

Sambora has been known to use a wide variety of equipment throughout his career. He is also famous for his extensive guitar collection, featuring more than 120 instruments.

In the 80s, Sambora mostly played superstrats (Kramer, Jackson, Charvel, Hamer) as well as modified and custom Les Paul models, such as his Rod Schoepfer model. In early-mid 1987, Kramer put out a Richie Sambora signature model with three humbuckers, pointy drooped headstock, gold hardware, star-shaped fingerboard inlays and a Floyd Rose Original locking tremolo, which quit production in 1989. Today it has been reissued by Gibson (which purchased Kramer in 1997) and is named "Jersey Star", no longer carrying Sambora's actual name. He had also used several other Kramer models, including a variety of custom ones ("one-offs"). His two most notable guitars from the Slippery When Wet album/tour were his Kramer Richie Sambora signature and a custom white Jackson with a Floyd Rose tremolo and HSS pickups, and a reversed Fender-like headstock.

During the following years Sambora played various guitars, most notably a custom black Jackson, which featured only a humbucker pickup in the bridge position, Floyd Rose tremolo system and a maple neck and fretboard with a reversed Strat-like headstock, along with vintage Fenders and Gibsons.

In 1991, Fender issued a Richie Sambora signature Stratocaster model which featured an original Floyd Rose tremolo system and a combination of DiMarzio PAF Pro humbucking and 2 Fender Texas Special single-coil pickups.

This guitar came in two versions; American and later in 1996, Japanese. US-made Sambora model featured an alder body with ash veneers and was available in Cherry Sunburst and Olympic White, while the Japanese version had a basswood body with black paisley graphics. Other features included a one-piece maple neck/fingerboard with 22 frets and star-shaped position markers, as well as a 25dB active mid-boost circuit with TBX tone controls and an active/passive push-button switch.

In 1998 the model has been updated with a vintage-style tremolo, a set of Fender Hot Noiseless single-coils, no-load tone circuit and a 12dB active mid-boost with a push-button bypass selector.

There was also a Mexican-made standard version of the instrument, featuring a DiMarzio PAF humbucking pickup in the bridge position and two standard single-coils in the neck and middle positions. The guitar also sported a rosewood fingerboard with 21 frets and white dot inlays, as well as a Floyd Rose II locking bridge. Both the US and Mexican-made Sambora models were discontinued in 2002. He still plays a variety of Fenders (mostly vintage and custom shop models), such as the Telecaster doubleneck.

Currently he plays custom "Sambora" guitars built by his guitar tech Chris "Lumpy" Hofschneider, Zemaitis Guitars, Floyd Rose guitars, vintage and custom shop Gibson and Fender models, as well as guitars from his collection. One of the guitars built by his guitar tech features a fretboard made of both maple and rosewood, on an ash body with neck-through-body construction and custom humbucker/single/single pickups.

Sambora used Ovation electric-acoustic guitars from the beginning of the 1980s until 1998. He played a custom made doubleneck designed by his longtime Guitar Tech Gary "Gaz" Douglas (seen on "Wanted Dead or Alive" and unplugged versions of some other Bon Jovi songs) and a variety of other Ovations, such as Adamas.

In 2000, Taylor started the production of a Sambora signature model, a 6-string acoustic made of koa wood, called the RSSM. Only 100 were made, all in the year of 2000. However, apart from the new Taylor 6-string, Sambora acquired a custom doubleneck model, which featured both a 6-string and a 12-string. The Taylor doubleneck replaced the spot of the old Ovation doubleneck in a variety of live shows and has been used extensively until 2004/2005, when he decided to part ways with Taylor. All of his doubleneck acoustics have been know to feature 6-strings on top and 12-string below, which is the opposite of the manufacturing standard.

Since Sambora has been known to use his favourite Martin acoustic, among others, on a lot of recordings, Martin guitars put out two of Sambora's signature models in 2006, a 6-string and a 12-strings, based on his mentioned favourite 1930 Martin OM-45. He hasn't been publicly seen using a doubleneck acoustic since.

Sambora also used Gibson and Guild acoustics, particularly a Guild F-50 12-string, which the song "Wanted Dead or Alive" was recorded with. He acquired it directly from the Guild factory due to the guitar having a finish flaw.

For most of the 80s and early-mid 90s, he used Marshall amplifiers, particularly the JCM800 models with 4x12" speaker cabinets and a variety of rack and pedal units (including effects). During his Stranger In This Town tour, Sambora used 2 Marshall JCM800 2203 heads and a third non-Marshall amp, with 3 4x12" Marshall cabinets. In 1995, Sambora started using Fender ToneMasters with Fender ToneMaster 4x12" speaker cabinets, following the These Days Tour. On tour, he used up to 12 cabinets on stage. For the studio sessions of his second solo album, Undiscovered Soul, he also used a Fender Bassman 4x10" combo and a Vox AC30. On the tour, he used Fender ToneMasters, a Marshall amp head, a Vox amp head and a VHT Pitbull in combination with Fender ToneMaster 4x12" and 2x12" speaker cabinets. In 2000, Sambora started using the Marshall JCM2000 DSL series (both on the tour and recording sessions of Crush). The song "It's My Life" was also recorded with a Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier. He has also used the Marshall DSL series on the Bounce tour, aswell as a Hughes & Kettner amp, occasionally. During their Have a Nice Day tour, Sambora used Diezel and Divided by 13 amplification and custom made 4x12" speaker cabinets. During the studio recording sessions of the Lost Highway album, he used Matchless, Bogner Ecstasy and Diezel Herbert amps. In 2007, he started appearing on stage with 2 halfstacks, again featuring Marshall JCM2000 DSL amplifiers and custom made 4x12" cabinets.

He used a floor MIDI controller for most of his career, while on the last few tours (since Crush) he has switched to a more simple pedal setup, featuring a Boss SD-1, a Framptone talkbox, and a few others pedals, including a Choral Flange, a Dunlop Crybaby or Vox wah pedal and an A/B switcher.

Sambora uses gauge .009 strings in the studio and gauge .010 strings live (usually tuned half step down), with the action set relatively high.

• His first solo outing was "Stranger In This Town" in 1991, a blues-influenced album that was received well by many critics and fans [citation needed]. Legendary guitarist Eric Clapton played the lead guitar track on the song Mr Bluesman, backed by Sambora on acoustic guitars. He did a short US tour in support of the album, featuring Tony Levin (bass), Dave Amato (guitar), Crystal Taliefero (percussion) and Bon Jovi bandmates Tico Torres (drums) and Dave Bryan (keyboards).
• "Undiscovered Soul" was Sambora's second solo album, released in 1998. The album was produced by Don Was. In support of Undiscovered Soul, Sambora toured Japan, Australia and Europe in the summer of 1998. The band featured Richie Supa (guitar), Ron Wikso (drums), Kasim Sulton (bass), Tommy Mandel (keyboards), Everett Bradley (percussion - Japan only), Gioia Bruno (percussion - Australia only) and Crystal Taliefero (percussion - Europe only).
• In 1999, Sambora appeared as a guest vocalist on the Stuart Smith album "Stuart Smith's Heaven & Earth", performing a cover of the Deep Purple song "When A Blind Man Cries".
• Sambora played on a recently released album called Lessons from a band called "Message". The album was recorded in the early 1980s.
• Sambora sings "Long Way Around" (background audio) during the final scene in the 1997 Steven Seagal action movie "Fire Down Below".
• His guitar work is also featured on the track Misery on Pink's 2001 album M!ssundaztood with Steven Tyler.
• In 2004, Sanctuary Records released a self-titled album which had been recorded in 1978 by Shark Frenzy, documenting Sambora's first recorded material. The mix tapes had been damaged in a flood and it had taken band member Bruce Foster to remaster them for them to be released so many years later.
• Sambora has co-written several tracks on Australian rock/pop artist Shannon Noll's third album Turn It Up to be released in Australia on September 15, 2007 and also plays guitar on a number of tracks.

Sambora lives in California and was married to actress Heather Locklear in Paris in December 1994. They had a daughter Ava Elizabeth on October 4, 1997. In February 2006, Locklear filed for divorce due to irreconcilable differences. The divorce was later finalized on April 11, 2007. Sambora dated actress Denise Richards, and as of March 2007, they are no longer together.

In March 2006, Sambora severly injured his left shoulder due to a fall and had to rework his guitar playing for shows in Japan, Europe and the UK during Bon Jovi's "Have A Nice Day" tour.

The first half of 2007 was not easy for Sambora, who had to deal with finalisation of his divorce, relationship break-up with Denise Richards and most notably, losing his father to lung cancer. As reported by the press in June 2007, Sambora checked into a hospital in Los Angeles. He checked out one week later, clarified he was seeking detox treatment, and is continuing with therapy.

Sambora has made appearances in movies and has done television cameos, notably playing the role of Eric Clapton in the TV series American Dreams in 2003 The list continues with the film On The Line as Mick Silver aka 'The Mick', the television show The Chris Isaak Show as himself, in 2005 in the television sitcom "Still Standing" as Reverend Roach and in the 1983 movie "Staying Alive" as the guitarist in the band at the beginning of the movie. He contributed songs to the soundtracks of "The Red Shoe Diaries", "On The Line", "Fire Down Below" and The Banger Sisters.

Recent ventures have seen him compose television theme tunes for both Entertainment Tonight and The Insider. He is part of the Ownership Group of the Philadelphia Soul, an Arena Football League football team.

Over the years, Sambora has been an ardent fundraiser for many charities, such as Dream Street, the Steve Young Foundation and Michael J Fox's Parkinson's charity.

In May 2004, Richie Sambora was bestowed with an Honorary Doctorate of Letters by Kean University where he attended the awards ceremony and gave a speech of acceptance, even though he had attended Kean University as a freshman, but then dropped out to pursue a career as a professional guitarist and session musician.

Sambora made a cameo appearance in The Sims Superstar.

One of Sambora's replica guitar was autographed and placed inside Hard Rock Cafe in London.

with Bon Jovi

• Bon Jovi - 1984, Mercury
• 7800°Fahrenheit - 1985, Mercury
• Slippery When Wet - 1986, Mercury
• New Jersey - 1988, Mercury
• Keep the Faith - 1992, Mercury
• Cross Road - 1994, Mercury
• These Days - 1995, Mercury
• Crush - 2000, Island
• One Wild Night Live 1985-2001 - 2001, Island
• Bounce - 2002, Island
• This Left Feels Right - 2003, Island
• 100,000,000 Bon Jovi Fans Can't Be Wrong - 2004, Island
• Have a Nice Day - 2005, Island
• Lost Highway - 2007, Mercury Nashville

with Shark Frenzy

• Shark Frenzy - 2004, Sanctuary

Solo

• Stranger In This Town- 1991, Jambco, Mercury, PolyGram
• Undiscovered Soul - 1998, Mercury

Polygram | Mercury | Island

Mötley Crüe, Kaliforniya (ABD) çıkışlı hard rock - heavy metal grubu olup 1981'de kurulmuştur. albümleri dünya capında 90 milyon satmış dev bir gruptur. 1980' lerin en büyük ve dünyada en çok tanınan grubu olan mötley crüe sayısız hit şarkıya sahiptir. home sweet home, dr feelgood, without you ve live wire bunlardan bazılarıdır. Vince Neil (vokal), Mick Mars, (gitar), Nikki Sixx (bas gitar), Tommy Lee (davul) grubun üyelerini oluşturur.

• Too Fast for Love (Aralık 1981)
• Shout at the Devil (Ekim 1983)
• Theatre of Pain (Temmuz 1985)
• Girls,Girls,Girls (Haziran 1987)
• Dr.Feelgood (Eylül 1989)
• Decade of Decadence (Ekim 1991)
• Mötley Crüe (Nisan 1994)
• Generation Swine (Temmuz 1997)
• Greatest Hits (Kasım 1998)
• Supersonic and Demonic Relics (Haziran 1999)
• Live-Entertainment or Death (Kasım 1999)
• New Tatoo (Temmuz 2000)
• Millennium Collection (Ekim 2003)
• Red White and Crüe (Şubat 2005)
• Carnival of Sins Live Vol.1 (Şubat 2006)
• Carnival of Sins Live Vol.2 (Şubat 2006)

• Mötley Crüe resmi web sitesi

Bon Jovi nin farklı anlamları:

• Bon Jovi, ABD'li rock müzik grubu
• Jon Bon Jovi (John Francis Bongiovi), ABD'li müzisyen

Tommy Lee (born Thomas Lee Bass on October 3, 1962), is a Greek American rock musician. He is best known as the drummer for glam rock band Mötley Crüe and ex-husband of actresses Pamela Anderson and Heather Locklear.

• 1 Biography
  • 1.1 Early Life and Career
  • 1.2 Mötley Crüe and stardom
  • 1.3 Solo career
  • 1.4 Recent developments
• 2 Bandography
• 3 Discography
  • 3.1 Mötley Crüe
  • 3.2 Methods of Mayhem
  • 3.3 Solo
  • 3.4 Jack's Mannequin
  • 3.5 Rock Star Supernova
• 4 Singles
• 5 Footnotes
• 6 External links

Lee was born in Athens, Greece. His mother, Vassiliki "Voula" Papadimitriou, was Miss Greece in 1957, and his father was David Lee Thomas Bass, a US Army serviceman. He has one younger sister, Athena Kottak (b. 1964), who is currently the drummer of KrunK. His family moved to California a year after his birth. Lee received his first drum when he was four. However he received his first real drum kit when he was a teenager. At that time, he was listening to Kiss, Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin and Judas Priest. After transferring from South Hills High School; he joined the marching band at Royal Oak High School in Covina, California, but dropped out of school in his senior year to focus on his musical career.

His first successful band Suite 19 played the Sunset Strip in Los Angeles during the late 70s. At this time he met future bandmate, Nikki Sixx. Casually, Sixx was forming a theatrical band that would specialize in anthemic heavy metal, and was impressed by Lee's playing. Sixx, Lee and Leon started jamming together, but Leon decided not to continue. At this time, he changed his name to Tommy Lee and earned the nickname "T-bone" from Sixx. He got this nickname due to his tall 6ft 2 ½ inch (189cm) skinny physique. Shortly afterwards, guitarist Mick Mars joined the band. Mars recommended a singer Tommy met at high school, Vince Neil, who soon joined the group.

Mötley Crüe quickly built a strong fanbase and they released their debut album, Too Fast for Love in 1981, on their own independent label (Leathür Records). Elektra Records decided to sign the band shortly thereafter, reissuing their debut in 1982. The band then began a string of hit releases throughout the decade -- 1983's Shout at the Devil, 1985's Theatre of Pain, 1987's Girls, Girls, Girls, and 1989's Dr. Feelgood -- establishing the quartet as one of the biggest hard rock/metal bands of the '80s. During this time, Lee used several memorable gimmicks during his drum solo at concerts, such as having his entire kit revolving and spinning, or having the entire kit float above the crowd while he continued to play. He also was legendary for mooning the crowd at nearly every show.

Tommy Lee had married a model/stripper Elaine Starchuk [1] in 1984, the marriage only lasted for three months.

As the popularity of the band rose, Lee also made the headlines with his numerous romantic involvements. He married actress Heather Locklear in 1986, but they divorced in 1993.

In 1995, he married actress Pamela Anderson. They have two children, Brandon Thomas, born June 5, 1996, and Dylan Jagger, born December 29, 1997. It was with Anderson that one of Lee's most famous incidents arose when one of their private videos was stolen in 1995. The couple had videotaped their sexual activities while on vacation. The tape was widely circulated, and was one of the first examples of nude celebrities on the Internet. The couple divorced in 1998, and he served four months in prison after pleading no contest to kicking Anderson in the crotch. The couple legally divorced, although they reunited briefly upon his release.

Lee also decided to leave Mötley Crüe during his stay in prison, and stuck to his promise after the completion of the Crüe's Greatest Hits tour in 1999. With the popularity of rap metal, Lee formed a band called Methods of Mayhem. The band released a self-titled album the same year and toured in support of it.

Although Lee distanced himself from Mötley Crüe after splitting, he agreed to take part in their 2001 autobiography, The Dirt. In addition to Mötley Crüe and Methods of Mayhem, Lee has made guest appearances on albums by other artists, such as Stuart Hamm, Nine Inch Nails and Rob Zombie. He also contributed a solo song, "Welcome to Planet Boom" to the soundtrack of then-wife Pamela Anderson's 1996 movie, Barb Wire, and produced an album for the pre-Goldfinger project from John Feldmann and Simon Williams, the Electric Love Hogs.

Also in 2001, four-year-old Daniel Karven-Veres drowned at Lee's Malibu, California, home during a birthday party for Lee's son Brandon. On April 17, 2003, a Superior Court jury took less than three hours to reject a wrongful death claim made by Daniel's parents, German actress Ursula Karven and TV producer James Veres. The suit accused Lee of negligence for failing to have a lifeguard or someone trained in CPR present during the birthday party.

Lee parted ways with Methods of Mayhem partner Tilo and began recording with members of Incubus. He then released his first solo album. The album, 2002's Never a Dull Moment, has tones of rap metal and electronica. The song "Blue" features guest vocalist Rodleen Getsic (the credits read: "Rolleen"). In August of 2002, Tommy Lee and his solo band joined Ozzfest, mainstage.

In 2004, Lee reunited with the original Mötley Crüe line-up to release the double-disc album of hits entitled Red, White & Crüe. They launched a monumental reunion tour to support it, The Red, White & Crüe Tour 2005: Better Live Than Dead, the band's first in six years. They also finished the year number 8 on the top concert money earners list. They played 81 shows and grossed $33 million US (Billboard Boxscore). This figure did not include a tour of Australia in December 2005.

Lee released his autobiography Tommyland in 2004. That year Lee briefly attended, but did not enroll in, the University of Nebraska for a few weeks in the fall of 2004, while filming a reality television show for NBC called Tommy Lee Goes to College. The show featured a "fish-out-of-water" premise as it followed Lee's effort to fit into the collegiate experience, including trying out for the band (as a drummer), taking courses in horticulture, chemistry, and literature, and receiving constant support from a sexy and smart tutor. Lee was also one of the producers of the reality TV show. At the same time, he released his new solo album, Tommyland: The Ride in August 2005. The CD featured the single, "Good Times". His new single is "Hello, Again". This features Andrew McMahon from Something Corporate and Jack's Mannequin.

Tommy Lee was also a guest DJ at WXRK "K-Rock" in New York during the Fourth of July Monster Metal Meltdown in 2005.

He has formed a new band called Rock Star Supernova with Jason Newsted (Voivod, ex-Metallica) and Gilby Clarke (ex-Guns N' Roses). The 2006 season of Rock Star selected Lukas Rossi as the lead singer for Supernova. Dilana, the runner-up, accepted an offer to go on tour with Supernova along with assistance in producing an album of her own.

Lee also recorded drum tracks for the alternative rock band Jack's Mannequin, which has released the album Everything in Transit.

Tommy Lee is a supporter of animal rights and PETA.[2] He recently donated autographed drumsticks to support PETA's campaign against Kentucky Fried Chicken.

In 2006, Tommy launched his own clothing line with apparel manufacturer People's Liberation, to produce jeans, T-shirts and other products featuring graphics inspired by his tattoos. The line is carried by high-end retailers, including Bloomingdale's, Saks Fifth Avenue, Nordstrom, and other boutiques and chains. People's Liberation brand clothing is marketed and manufactured by Versatile Entertainment, which also produces the William Rast brand, inspired by Justin Timberlake.

• Mötley Crüe (1981-1998, 2004-present)
• Methods of Mayhem (1999-2000)
• Solo (2001-present)
• Rock Star Supernova (2006-present)

• Too Fast for Love (1981)
• Shout at the Devil (1983)
• Theatre of Pain (1985)
• Girls, Girls, Girls (1987)
• Dr. Feelgood (1989)
• Decade of Decadence (1991)
• Mötley Crüe (1994)
• Quaternary (EP) (1994)
• Generation Swine (1997)
• Greatest Hits (1998)
• Supersonic and Demonic Relics (1999)
• Live: Entertainment or Death (1999)
• Millennium Collection (2003)
• Music To Crash Your Car To, Volume 1 (2003)
• Music To Crash Your Car To, Volume 2 (2004)
• Red, White & Crüe (2005)
• Carnival of Sins Live, Vol. 1 (2006)
• Carnival of Sins Live, Vol. 2 (2006)

• Methods of Mayhem (1999)

• Never a Dull Moment (2002)
• Tommyland: The Ride (2005)

• Everything in Transit (2005)

• Rock Star Supernova (album) (2006)

• Good Times: #25 in Australia
• Good Times: #1 in iTunes Australia
• Good Times: #1 in South Africa

• Official Web site of Tommy Lee
• Tommy Lee Official MySpace Site
• TommyLand Official MySpace Site
• Offcial Web Site of Mötley Crüe
• Rock Star SuperNova Official Site
• Rock Star SuperNova Official Site on SonyBMG
• Tommy Lee at the Internet Movie Database
• Tommy Lee at the Notable Names Database
• Ink Not Mink Interview with PETA
• Tommy Lee Interview DJ Interview Clubplanet