Jon Bon Jovi addresses Richie Sambora possibly returning to Bon Jovi: 'The band goes on, you know?'

The rocker tells "Entertainment Weekly" that Sambora's involvement in the group depends on their decision whether or not to tour again.

Richie Sambora might be ready to rock with Bon Jovi once again, but frontman Jon Bon Jovi isn’t so sure about it.

The guitarist, who departed Bon Jovi in 2013, confirmed last month that he’d return to the band once its frontman had fully recovered from his 2022 vocal surgery. The “Legendary” singer, however, tells Entertainment Weekly that Sambora’s involvement is a decision that will be made when — and if — the group decides to hit the road.

“You never say never,” Bon Jovi says. “I mean, he quit the band 11-plus years ago, and he's had to deal with a lot of things in his life. But there's no animosity.”

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Related: Richie Sambora says he 'didn't receive a lot of compassion for what I was going through' before Bon Jovi exit

Still, the Grammy winner notes that a lot has changed in the past few years. “I’ve made four albums since his departure. The band goes on, you know?” Bon Jovi says. “We'll see when we get to that point of touring.”

Sambora apologized for suddenly quitting the band ahead of the Calgary stop of their Because We Can tour in the recent Hulu docuseries Thank You, Goodnight: The Bon Jovi Story.

“I don’t regret leaving the situation, but I regret how I did it,” he said. “So I’d like to apologize fully right now to the fans, especially, and also to the guys, because my feet and my spirit were just not letting me walk out the door.”

At the time, Sambora cited personal issues as his reason for exiting the group, but he later told PEOPLE that he left to prioritize his relationship with his daughter.

Related: How Jon Bon Jovi's vocal cord surgery inspired the group's latest album: 'There was a new appreciation for life'

Last month, Bon Jovi told Howard Stern that he thought Sambora “came clean” about the truth behind his departure for the band’s fans.

"I guess it would end all the speculation that there was ever a fight [in the group] or any of that stuff," he said on The Howard Stern Show. "Because — as I'd stated 1,000 times — that was not the case. Just not the case."

Sambora rejoining the band would likely call for a celebratory tour — but that's something Bon Jovi won't rush into amid his recovery.

"The point is, I got to be able to do two and a half hours a night, four nights a week, before I'm gonna say yes," he said in an EW interview for the group's new album, Forever. "And then, God willing, we can take it out on the road and get out there with the people and then see their reaction to it."

Bon Jovi's new album, Forever, is out today.

Read the original article on Entertainment Weekly.