| * Poison records live performances for SWALLOW THIS LIVE and records four studio tracks for inclusion on the record. After playing the MTV Video Awards, C.C. and Bret collide in an all out fist-fight seconds after they leave the stage. Break up rumors surround the band. * 1993 - Pressure from outside sources force the band to record NATIVE TONGUE with Richie Kotzen on guitar - fueling evidence that C.C. is no longer in the band though no official statement has ever been released noting that. |
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| * After personal situations arise, Richie Kotzen is summarily dismissed from the band, literally on the road - his bags ditched over a fence and him left standing in the night. Poison hires Blues Sarceno to finish out the last two months of tour dates in South America including the famous "HOLLYWOOD ROCK" concert in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to over 165,000 people. * NATIVE TONGUE goes Gold. * NATIVE TONGUE tour ends in May of '94 when Bret totals his Ferrari in an automobile accident sending him to the hospital with numerous broken bones and teeth. |
| * 1995/1996 - After a two year hiatus, Poison returns to the studio to record CRACK A SMILE with Blues on guitar- (the album will be shelved and released in 2000). Capitol Records opts to release POISON'S GREATEST HITS (1986-1996) with two new songs recorded for the CRACK A SMILE sessions. The album will go on to reach platinum status. When CRACK A SMILE is not released, band members (while still not broken up), decide to pursue individual interests. |
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| * Bret goes on to write, direct, and act in movies, and puts out a solo album in 1999, LETTER FROM DEATH ROW. * Rikki begins work on GLITTER FOR YOUR SOUL and C.C. forms a trio band, Samatha 7, with him on lead guitar and vocals. Both are slated for a 2000 release. * 1999 - VH1 includes Poison as a part of their highly successful "Behind The Music" series. The Poison episode was viewed by 5.1 million viewers the first day it premiered and fuels 1999's Greatest Hits tour with all four original members. |
| * Though off the road for over five years with virtually no radio support, no new album and no current single, Poison averages over 12,000 fans per show and sells out Detroit's Pine Knob Amphitheatre (over 18,000), thus proving the band's staying power and the demand for Poison music. * Poison records many of the shows for inclusion on a live album POWER TO THE PEOPLE due out in 2000. After a public battle between C.C. and the band, all four original members of Poison enter the studio to record five new songs for their first album together in over seven years. |
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