For more info about the individual members, click on their
name.
Bret
Michaels - lead vocals, rhythm and acoustic guitars,
harmonica
Bobby
Dall - bass guitar, piano
Rikki
Rockett - drums,
percussion
C. C.
Deville - lead guitar
Richie
Kotzen - lead guitar, mandolin, piano, dobro on
Native Tongue
Blues
Saraceno (yes, that's his real name) - lead guitar
on Crack A Smile and two new songs on the Greatest Hits
The members of Poison originally hail from Pennsylvania, Miami,
and Brooklyn, New York. Their story began when Rikki Rockett and Bret Michaels
were introduced by Bret's sister. Along with Bobby Dall, they formed a band
called Paris that became very popular in their home state of Pennsylvania.
In 1983, the three headed to Los Angeles to try to make their musical dreams
come true. Shortly after their arrival, they placed an ad for a lead guitarist
and over 100 musicians auditioned, including Slash of Guns 'N' Roses. C.
C. Deville was chosen as the perfect answer to round out this awesome
quartet.
Poison hit the streets with flyers advertising their own
performances in some of LA's hottest clubs. Their good looks, musical talent,
and total glam persona made them popular
with
both male and female fans.
The band soon became one of the hottest bands on the music scene. In, 1986,
the foursome was seen by a representative for Enigma records and were quickly
signed to their first record deal. The band's debut album, Look What The
Cat Dragged In was recorded for $23,000 in only 12 days! To everyone's
surprise and delight, the album, released on May 16, 1986, sold two million copies and spawned three
Top Ten hits, the rockers "I Want Action," "Talk Dirty to Me," and the haunting
ballad "I Won't Forget You." They spent the rest of the year touring as the
opening act with such bands as KISS, Ratt, and Cinderella.
The band continued to tour through 1987 and part of 1988
until they went back into the studio to record their smash follow-up album,
Open Up and Say . . . Ahh! The album's cover stirred up controversy
as some believed that it was a Satanic image and was quickly altered so that
only the eyes of the image are visible. The original cover is considered
a collector's item. It was hard to turn on the radio without hearing a Poison
single throughout 1988-9 as Open Up . . . spawned three Top Ten songs,
"Fallen Angel," "Nothin' But A Good Time," and "Your Mama Don't Dance," and
their first number one ballad, "Every Rose Has Its Thorn."
It was also during this
time that the band first performed as headliners and dropped their long-time
glam image for jeans and cowboy hats. Many fans quickly adopted the same
look.
After four years of touring, the band took some time off from the road. But they kept practicing and writing songs at home in LA. In 1989 , Poison was in Vancouver working on their third album. At Christmas, 1989, the band released its first video collection, A Sight For Sore Ears. Fans also became aware that Bret is a diabetic as he gave himself an insulin injection during an interview. He has become very active in charity work for diabetes and working with diabetic children.
Poison 's third album, Flesh and Blood, was released in July, 1990. The album was their biggest seller and peaked at number two in the U.S. It spawned the hit singles, "(Flesh and Blood) Sacrifice," "Ride The Wind," and "Life Goes On," as well as the Top 10 singles "Unskinny Bop" and the haunting "Something to Believe In," a song written after the death of one of the band's bodyguards. Members of the band have often said they would gladly have given up the hit song to have their friend back.
After a 15-month world-wide tour that took the band through
such diverse stops as Belgium, Canada, and Japan, Poison released their fourth
album, the popular Swallow This Live.
This disc features the
best of Poison's hits performed live in concert as well as three new tunes.
If you've never caught the band live, this is the next best thing and is
a must-have for any Poison fan.
Shortly after the release of this album, the band began to have internal problems. C.C. had problems with drugs and alcohol and clashed with Bret. These clashes led to C.C's departure from the band in what the media dubbed a "messy divorce." The remaining members decided they would choose a guitar player that was different from C.C. but would still fit in with their stage style. From hundreds of hopefuls, they chose Richie Kotzen.
Along with Richie, the revamped quartet released Native
Tongue in 1993 with high hopes.
The album was a departure
from previous ventures as it had more of a blues influence. The album spawned
the Top 10 hit, "Stand." As the album's second single, "Until You Suffer
Some (Fire and Ice)," was beginning to rise on the charts, internal problems
once again happened to the band. Richie left the band in the middle of Poison's
U.S. tour. It was rumored that Richie had an affair with Rikki's ex-fiance.
But no official reason for the split was ever given at the time. This fact
was confirmed in their 1999 VH-1 Behind the Music special. The band
continued their tour with the guitarist, Blues Sarencino. It was later stated
that Blues had been Rikki's and Bobby's first choice to replace C.C.
With Blues (and, yes, that is his real name), the band once again headed back into the studio to record the album, Crack A Smile. It was supposed to have been released in the summer of 1995. But the music scene had dramatically changed in two years, and Capital Records seemed unwilling to take a chance with this record. The company delayed the release of the album for almost eighteen months before shelving the album for good. In its place a greatest hits compilation, Poison's Greatest Hits 1986-1996, was released in December, 1996 with the liner notes written by Bret. It was comprised of their sixteen biggest hits, along with two new tracks from the Crack A Smile CD, "Sexual Thing" and "Lay Your Body Down." Neither of the songs were released as singles. The band appeared as themselves in the premiere episode of Mad TV on FOX in September, 1995.
No new music was released for five years, but they were still very busy for the guys in the band. Blues departed Poison and original guitarist C.C. reentered the band's lineup. Bobby was busy with his wife and two children in Florida; they have since divorced. Rikki launched his own line of comic books and rockets as well as maintaining an awesome web site. The Official Poison Website was launched by Rikki. Bret wrote, directed , and starred in the motion picture A Letter from Death Row. The movie was delayed several times, but was finally released straight to video in November, 1998 along with the picture's soundtrack which is also Bret's solo debut album. Bret also appeared nude in Playgirl in November, 1998 in a still from the movie.
In February, 1999, Poison announced that they would begin a nationwide tour beginning Memorial Day weekend. The result was the first tour with the original lineup in nearly a decade. Poison toured with the opening bands L. A. Guns, Great White, and Ratt. In spite of not having any new music released, Poison still managed to sell out many venues all across the summer. In July, VH-1 broadcast a Behind the Music on the band; it is one of the highest rated episodes ever of the successful series.
The new millenium and year 2000 brought out two new albums and a very successful Power to the People summer tour for Poison. After several years of pressure from loyal fans, Capital finally released Crack A Smile in March. It included the original album plus some studio outtakes and highlights of Poison's appearance on MTV Unplugged! In May, 2000 Poison released their first new material in many years, Power to the People. It included concert highlights from two shows from their 1999 tour. It also had five new tracks: Power to the People, Strange, Can't Bring Me Down, The Last Song, and I Hate Every Bone In Your Body But Mine, which featured, for the first time, C. C. singing lead vocals. An extremely popular summer tour began in May featuring the opening bands of Slaughter, Dokken, and Cinderella. May 20, 2000 brought the birth of Bret's daughter, Rayne. C. C. completed his own side project releasing a CD with the band Samantha 7.
2001 brought a new song, Rock Star, and a new summer tour, the Glam Slam Metal Jam, with opening acts Enuff 'Z Enuff, Quiet Riot, and Warrant. The tour was a great success as the band continued to sell out arenas. Rikki got quite a bit of press for his tour diary for Metal-Sludge and for having the world's first titanium drum set. The band released their first DVD, Greatest Video Hits in early July. On July 18-19, the first ever, and hopefully not last, Poison Fan Appreciation Days was held in Cleveland, OH. It consisted of a picnic for fans to meet and a rare opportunity to attend Poison's soundcheck before the show, all for the price of your concert ticket. In August, the tour was brought to an abrupt halt Bobby injured his neck and required emergency surgery. Rather than take the easy route and hire a short-term replacement, the band made the decision to stand by Bobby and cancel the remainder of their tour.
On May 21, 2002, Poison's 9th album, Hollyweird, was released on their own Cyanide label. It was the first release with the four original members in over a decade and fans made it debut at #103 on the Billboard charts. Early spring saw the band appearing on several TV shows including The Late Late Show with Craig Kilbourn, Later with Carson Daly, and Live with Regis and Kelly; all to promote their newest single Squeezebox. May saw the launch of the Hollyweird world tour with stops all over the U.S.
The summer of 2003 brought a brand new U.S. tour called the Harder, Louder, Faster tour. It featured opening acts Vince Neil and Skid Row.