Bret Michaels Concerts Setlist

Picture a six-year-old boy in a hospital bed, just diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. That was Bret Michaels' first big battle, but it wouldn't be his last. He was raised just outside of Pittsburgh, turned to music as a teenager, teaching himself to play the guitar and performing with some friends in a band that included drummer Rikki Rockett. They were Paris in 1983, touring the Pennsylvania bar circuit. But like all the dreamers before them, they knew they had to go west. They changed their name to Poison, loaded up their equipment, and set off for Los Angeles' Sunset Strip.

That's where perseverance came in. Years of adversity later, they finally made it big with "Look What the Cat Dragged In". There was drama along the road to success, however - when Michaels collapsed onstage at Madison Square Garden in NYC. When the word got out that it was because he'd done something drug-related, he spoke openly about having diabetes, and turned a PR disaster into awareness for the disease.

Then in 1988 came "Every Rose Has Its Thorn". What was the story? A midnight phone call to his girlfriend after a concert with some other guy's voice in the background. That heartbreak was Poison's only #1 hit and one of the greatest power ballads of all time. The '90s brought more heartache - a near-fatal Ferrari crash crushed his ribs and knocked out numerous teeth. Yet Michaels reinvented himself. He was reality TV royalty on "Rock of Love", winner of a Celebrity Apprentice title, and even enjoyed a successful solo streak.

What sets Michaels' story apart is his persistence. From health problems (a 2010 brain hemorrhage, for one) to career setbacks, never mind romantic woes, he just keeps on coming. As of 2023, he was still rocking, touring with the Parti-Gras Tour alongside Jefferson Starship and Night Ranger.