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When Bon Jovi guitarist Richie Sambora entered rehab last year, he had "hit bottom." "I got divorced [from Heather Locklear], I was going through a custody battle, I was having alcohol addiction problems, my dad was dying," Sambora, 48, tells PEOPLE before taking the stage with Bon Jovi for a benefit concert at Manhattan`s Hammerstein Ballroom Tuesday. "It was a gang tackle from hell, basically. And crawling out of that wreckage was a very triumphant victory," he says. In September, Sambora checked into Utah`s Cirque Lodge for a week, overlapping with Lindsay Lohan. A major contribution to Sambora`s recovery is thanks to the unwavering support of his friends, his band, and, he says: "Oh man, my mom, especially." Family Tragedy Sambora, an only child, is particularly close to his mother, Joan, as he was with his father, Adam, who suffered from lung cancer before dying of the disease last year. "You feel like you are drowning in a sea of disaster," Sambora says of dealing with lung cancer. Dedicating Tuesday night`s concert to the late Sambora, Bon Jovi kicked off a yearlong concert series for the non-profit Stand Up For A Cure to benefit Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in Manhattan, where Adam Sambora was treated. Helping to raise awareness of lung cancer is one of the best things in Sambora`s life since getting sober, as is taking care of his mom and spending time with 10-year-old daughter, Ava. Would Love More Kids "I love being a dad," says the musician. "I`d have more kids if I could. I`d take a couple more, one or two more before I croak." Single since splitting from former girlfriend Denise Richards in 2007, is Sambora thinking of anyone special of having them with? "There`s a couple," he says with a laugh, "but I don`t want to say anything right now."