Go backstage with The Music and receive FREE:

  • Exclusive members-only editorial, charts
  • Our subscriber-only newsletter
  • Members only competitions to win tickets, experiences and more
  • Access to our street press archives
  • First access to our exclusive limited edition vinyl variants

Thank you for being a part of our community! Enter your email address as verification and you'll be taken backstage right away.

Please ensure that you provide a valid email address.

Richie Sambora Hits Back At NRL Grand Final Performance Criticism

"It's ok if people don't dig where I'm going..."

More Richie Sambora Richie Sambora

Former Bon Jovi guitarist Richie Sambora has responded to criticism following his performance at the NRL grand final on Sunday night, which some have labelled as the worst grand final gig in the sport's history. 

The majority of the criticism was directed at the 57-year-old musician's renditions of of Bon Jovi classics, Dead Or Alive and Livin' On A Prayer, which he performed alongside touring partner and girlfriend, Orianthi.

Here's just some of the feedback from the performance, including a tweet from Grinspoon frontman Phil Jamieson who asked the NRL to take over booking duties next year.

Sambora took to Twitter on Monday to address the criticism, writing, "I did not get mean... It's ok if people don't dig where I'm going [artistically]..it's ok."

The criticism comes less than a week after Sambora's Melbourne show was slammed by fans, with some leaving the gig early.

Join 'Backstage Pass', our FREE members program for music fans

We can probably all agree though that no matter what you thought of his NRL grand final gig, it wasn't nearly as bad as Meatloaf's performance at the 2011 AFL grand final.

That was just...something else.