When the Lahaina Fire engulfed Hawaii in 2023, rocker Richie Sambora and friends like Sammy Hagar and Alice Cooper fought back by doing what they’d done for decades: They played at an annual charity event that raised money for the Aloha State, which they’d long called home. .
So when a series of wildfires ravaged Los Angeles earlier this month, it wasn’t clear that the musician, 65, would do his part to organize relief efforts.
Sambora announced on X that he will pay all the income generated from the streams of his single “I Pray”, which he released in April, and that he will donate the money to help those who have lost everything and those who are working on the front lines.
The former Bon Jovi rocker tells PEOPLE that the idea came to him in the middle of the night while scrolling through X (formerly Twitter) and realized that their lyrics to “I Pray” could easily be applied to the aftermath of the fire. , which have so far killed at least 25 people and destroyed more than 12,000 buildings in the Los Angeles area.
Richie Sambora attends the 2024 Songwriters Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony and Awards Gala at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in New York City on June 13, 2024 in New York City.
Bennett Raglin/Getty
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“A few of my fans were saying that ‘I Pray’ would be so perfect for these fires right now. I didn’t listen to it for a few months and I was like, ‘F—, I hit the nail on the head and I wasn’t even trying,’” he says. “The world is in a pretty s— state right now, so sometimes I write as a reporter. I basically begged, not even in a religious way… I went on my social media and said, ‘I’m going to take all the money from the streams, match it up and give it to the fires in LA.’
The cause is personal for Sambora, who lives in the Los Angeles area and had to rely on friends to keep his guitar collection safe from the flames. The star has been away from the scene as he has spent the last seven months living in the basement of his mother Joan’s home in New Jersey, caring for her amid her health problems. Joan celebrated her 89th birthday on January 15th.
With his homes unoccupied, Sambora even opened his doors to displaced friends, who moved into his LA home four days ago after power was restored to the residence. He notes that two families now live there, while daughter Ava, 27, who he shares with ex-wife Heather Locklear, hosts three couples who lost their homes in the Palisades fire.
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A firefighter stands guard at a home on Mandeville Canyon Road as the Palisades Fire spreads toward Encino on Saturday, January 11, 2025 in Los Angeles, CA.
Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times via Getty
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“I have such gratitude. I have a very happy life, you know, because I came out of rock and roll alive and intact,” he says.
In recent months, the singer-songwriter has enjoyed the release of a slew of new singles, including “I Pray,” “Livin’ Alone,” “Songs That Wrote My Life” and “Believe (In Miracles),” which dropped in April and May. .
Sambora also appeared in a new Netflix documentary Norman’s rare guitarswhich appeared on the streaming platform last month. In the documentary, which focuses on the famous vintage guitar shop in LA, owner Norman Harris tells the sweet story of Sambora’s friendship with teenager Kyle Grady, who died of cancer in 2012.
Before his death, Grady came to Harris’ store and declared himself a “huge fan” of Sambora while asking Harris to give the rocker a tape of Grady playing some of his songs.
Instead of just listening to the tapes, Sambora did something better, going to Harris’ store to meet Grady in person. The two struck up a friendship and stayed in touch until Grady’s death at the age of 20.
“It’s very, very, very hard to do,” Sambora says in the documentary about spending time with sick children. “You just bring hope and talk to them almost existentially… It’s more like a friend. You have to talk to them from the past, present and future.”
Click here to learn more about how to help victims of the Los Angeles wildfires.
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Source: HIS Education