It’s the ultimate chant – and now we know part of the story.

On the November 12 episode of Howie Mandel does stuff podcast, old Bon Jovi guitarist Richie Sambora reflected on the creation of the group’s biggest hit: “Livin’ on a Prayer.”

“A good song is a good song,” Sambora, 65, said. And although the band knew they loved “Livin’ on a Prayer” when they recorded it, when it was released in late 1986 and topped the charts in the U.S., U.K., in Canada, New Zealand and Norway, they really knew they had something special. It was the group’s second consecutive number 1, following “You Give Love a Bad Name”.

“It was the first time we used characters in the lyrics,” the musician told Mandel, 68, before quoting some of the lyrics. In the song, Tommy is a striking dockworker struggling to make ends meet, and his partner, Gina, is a tired restaurant waitress.

“Tommy was actually my Uncle Sal, who was laid off and worked on the docks,” Sambora said. “And my father was laid off at the same time in New Jersey. So it kind of turned into a story about the economy. Although the initial inspiration for the song — written by Sambora, Jon Bon Jovi and Desmond Child — was the true “lower middle class” life of Sambora and Bon Jovi, Sambora believed was ultimately a universal struggle. “I think that’s a lot of people’s story,” he said.

Mandel noted that the song remains a popular karaoke anthem. “It’s everyone’s song,” Sambora said. “Everyone has been in that situation where you’re at a crossroads where…an amalgamation of life’s little tragedies can happen at the same time…Too many things go wrong and you end up together as well as your partner.”

Sambora was a member of Bon Jovi from 1983 to 2013. He left the band mid-tour; he said in the 2024 documentary Thank You, Good Night: The Bon Jovi Story, “I don’t regret leaving that situation, but I regret the way I did it, so I want to fully apologize now to the fans, in particular, and also to the guys because my feet and my spirit just wouldn’t let me out the door.

In a Q&A session about the documentary earlier this year, Bon Jovi himself said that “there was never a fight” that led to Sambora’s departure.

“There was substance abuse, anxiety, he was a single parent, he was going through a lot of personal issues. But to this day, none of us, me, him, David (Bryan) or Tico (Torres), have ever fought,” he added of their bandmates.

“He had issues that he just couldn’t understand and he wanted to be at home more than on the road, but you had to show up for work,” the 62-year-old continued. “So there is no animosity. An integral part of my story for three of the four chapters was my right hand man, I was asked to join my group and was lucky enough to have met him. But life went on. »

Sambora reunited with his bandmates in 2018, when the group was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Reflecting on his time with the group in 2023, he told PEOPLE“I think we’ve written a lot of songs that have changed a lot of people’s lives just by allowing them to have a good time. I know that’s what music did to me…kept me company. And I hope I can reflect that in what I do. He added that a reunion tour “could definitely happen.”

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“It’s just a question of when everyone will be ready to do it. This will be a massive undertaking,” he said. “But it’s time to do it. It’s our 40th anniversary, but I feel younger than ever. I’m having a blast.