Poison called off their plans for a 40th anniversary tour after frontman Bret Michaels allegedly demanded 600 percent more money than his bandmates.
“We had a great offer, I thought. But we left the table,” the glam rock band’s drummer, Rikki Rockett, told the New York Post‘s Page Six on Sunday, January 18. “It didn’t work.”
Rockett (real name Richard Allan Ream) said that he, lead guitarist C.C. DeVille and bassist Bobby Dall “were all in” on the idea, but Michaels (real name Bret Michael Sychak) allegedly refused to sign on the dotted line over the financial dispute.
“He wanted the lion’s share of the money, to the point where it makes it not possible to even do it. It’s like $6 to every one of our dollars,” Rockett, 64, claimed. “You just can’t work that way.”
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He continued, “I don’t do this just for the money. I do have a love for this, absolutely. But at the same time, you don’t want to go out and work really hard just to make somebody else a bunch of money.”
Despite the drama, Rockett insisted he and Michaels, 62, are still on good terms.
“Every member of this band has given me so much privilege in life,” he noted. “It’s like hating your parents.”
Poison released their first album, Look What the Cat Dragged In, in May 1986, which featured the singles “Cry Tough,” “Talk Dirty to Me”, “I Want Action” and “I Won’t Forget You.” The group became a household name two years later thanks to the success of their signature song, “Every Rose Has Its Thorn,” off their second LP, Open Up and Say… Ahh!
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DeVille (real name Bruce Anthony Johannesson) first teased a 2026 tour commemorating 40 years of Poison in a social media post last summer, according to Page Six.
Now that the talks have fallen apart, Rockett shared that he plans to perform Look What the Cat Dragged In in its entirety while touring with his other band, The Rockett Mafia.
Rockett remains hopeful that Poison will figure out a way to celebrate on the road at some point, joking that it would be “a perfect Poison folly to do a 41st anniversary tour.” If Michaels is still not on board, however, Rockett admitted he will not rule out finding another lead singer.
“It’s not out of the question,” he told the gossip column. “But doing that is like surgery: It’s the last resort. I don’t want to do that. I’m not quarreling with Bret. … We just didn’t come to [an] agreement. I don’t like it, and I’ll say that, but it’s not like, ‘Let’s put up our dukes.’ I don’t think there’s a better frontman for Poison.”
Us Weekly has reached out to Michaels’ rep for comment.
