Phil X followed a long road to become Bon Jovi’s lead guitarist. The Canadian-born musician spent years working as a session guitarist and performer — in the early 1990s he toured with Aldo Nova and played and recorded with Triumph — before getting the call that would lead him to join the New Jersey hitmakers in 2013, where he replaced founding guitarist Richie Sambora.
As he approaches his 13th year with Bon Jovi, Phil X tells Guitar Player he’s been proud to make his mark in the group.
“I’ve been able to put my thumbprint on quite a few Bon Jovi songs over the years on the last few records,” he says.
But at heart he’s still the guy who fell in love with the band back in their late 1980s heyday.
“My favorite moment is still playing ‘Livin’ on a Prayer,’” Phil attests. “When that song came out, I would be in a bar with my friends, screaming our brains out after a few drinks and singing along to it. I still get goosebumps playing it in front of thousands of people.”
Phil took time to set down his electric guitar and give us the inside story behind how he joined Bon Jovi. As he reveals, it required not only learning lots of songs quickly — it also took a lot of patience.
“Jon and I go way back to a session we did in the early ’90s, but I don’t think he remembered me at first,” Phil tells us.
“And then, in 2011, he was having a situation with Richie. He was being anyone but Richie onstage; you didn’t know what to expect. There was one significant experience where they were on national television to play an acoustic version of ‘Wanted: Dead or Alive,’ and Richie couldn’t get through the intro.
“Jon said, ‘I need somebody. The show must go on.’ As a professional, that’s the only way you can look at it. He called [producer and guitarist] John Shanks, who knows everybody. John called me and said, ‘I think I have a gig for you. I can’t tell you over the phone. Can you come to my studio tomorrow?’
“It was like a total Mission: Impossible: ‘If you choose to accept this mission…’ [laughs] He goes, ‘How do you feel about filling in for Richie Sambora in Bon Jovi?’ I said, ‘I don’t know if that’s possible. Nobody can do that.’ He said, ‘Well, I told Jon you’re the guy. Here’s a contract, and here’s a statement of confidentiality. Are we doing it? You’ve got five seconds.’
“And then they put me on ‘hold.’ It was like, ‘You might come out, you might not. It depends on Richie’s condition.’
“On April 14, 2011, Jon called and said, ‘I’d like to get you in New York at the end of the month to rehearse with the band and then put you on hold for May.’ I was like, ‘Done.’ That’s when it became real in my mind, like, ‘Shit, I’m getting on a plane…’
“I flew to New York, rehearsed with the band, and Jon said, ‘Richie is in rehab. Looks like you’re doing May. The first show is Jazz Fest in New Orleans on a Saturday with about 50,000 people.’ So, there was no pressure, right? [laughs]
“We were in rehearsal, and [drummer] Tico [Torres] is like, ‘Who the fuck is this guy?’ I don’t think anybody knew the depth of Jon’s plan except Jon.
“We were in rehearsal, and Tico is like, ‘Who the fuck is this guy?’ I don’t think anybody knew the depth of Jon’s plan except Jon.”
— Phil X
“I did 13 shows, and they said, ‘Richie is coming back. Thanks, and here’s a bonus,’ which was like standby money in case they needed me again.
“Two years later, in 2013, I was in Trader Joe’s, putting bananas in a shopping cart, and Jon Bon Jovi called. I kinda wanted to hold my phone up and go, ‘Jon Bon Jovi is calling!’ [laughs] He says, ‘Hey, we’re gonna need you in Calgary tonight. The road manager is gonna call you.’ I was like, ‘Okay.’
“Then he goes, ‘By the way, we just put out a record. If you could learn these three songs for tonight, that would be great.’
“I said, ‘Wait, hold on… you probably don’t hear “no” a lot, but no. I need my flight to your show to revisit what I played two years ago, because I haven’t played that since.’ He goes, ‘Oh, yeah, I totally get it. No problem. Learn them for tomorrow.’ [laughs]
“I had the guitar tech meet me at the airport with a bunch of guitars, and as we loaded up the plane, the plane broke! [laughs] I ended up missing the show, but I was there for the next one.
“I thought what happened in 2011 would repeat itself, where Richie would come back. But that didn’t happen. After 11 or 12 shows, they were like, ‘We’re gonna need you in Europe next week. Richie’s not coming back.’
“I was like, ‘I don’t know if I want to go to Europe.’ You could see the panic in that room. They called Jon, and he said, ‘Okay, give him more money.’”
— Phil X
“I was like, ‘I don’t know if I want to go to Europe.’
“You could see the panic in that room. It was management and production guys, but not Jon and the band. They called Jon, and he said, ‘Okay, give him more money.’
“And that’s how it went. They called me the next day, and said, ‘We’re going to take care of you.’ That’s when Jon tells me, ‘We do three-and-a-half-hour shows in Europe. You’re gonna have to learn another 25 songs.’ [laughs]
“I never had a day off for months when I went to Europe because I had to learn a song or two every day off. It was crazy. But I’ve been there ever since, so there’s that. And I learned a lot from the whole band. The way Jon does stuff, the way the band does stuff — there’s something really amazing about it. It’s a brotherhood, a gang. It’s amazing and fun.”
