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Quick Facts
- NAME: Bret Michaels
- OCCUPATION: Singer
- BIRTH DATE: March 15, 1963 (Age: 50)
- PLACE OF BIRTH: Butler, Pennsylvania
- ZODIAC SIGN: Pisces
Best Known For
Bret Michaels is the lead singer in the glam-metal band Poison and has starred in several reality TV shows, including The Celebrity Apprentice.
Videos see all videos
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Hot, Famous, and 40: Bret Michaels - Preview (BioChannel Special) (1:30)
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Hot, Famous, and 40: Bret Michaels - On the Hidden Benefits of Exercise (BioChannel Special) (0:45)
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Hot, Famous, and 40: Bret Michaels - Preview
A preview clip featuring Bret Michaels from the Bio Special "Hot, Famous, and 40."
Hot, Famous, and 40: Bret Michaels - On the Hidden Benefits of Exercise
Bret Michaels discussing the importance having a sense of balance, and the benefits of staying fit.
Bret Michaels - My Office
Bret Michaels shows off the gold and platinum records that cover the walls of his office.
Bret Michaels - My Couch
Bret Michaels recounts how he nearly died while sitting on his couch.
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Play NowBret Michaels. (2013). The Biography Channel website. Retrieved 10:05, May 23, 2013, from http://www.biography.com/people/bret-michaels-278900.
Bret Michaels. [Internet]. 2013. The Biography Channel website. Available from: http://www.biography.com/people/bret-michaels-278900 [Accessed 23 May 2013].
"Bret Michaels." 2013. The Biography Channel website. May 23 2013, 10:05 http://www.biography.com/people/bret-michaels-278900.
"Bret Michaels," The Biography Channel website, 2013, http://www.biography.com/people/bret-michaels-278900 [accessed May 23, 2013].
"Bret Michaels," The Biography Channel website, http://www.biography.com/people/bret-michaels-278900 (accessed May 23, 2013).
Bret Michaels [Internet]. The Biography Channel website; 2013 [cited 2013 May 23] Available from: http://www.biography.com/people/bret-michaels-278900.
Bret Michaels, http://www.biography.com/people/bret-michaels-278900 (last visited May 23, 2013).
Bret Michaels. The Biography Channel website. 2013. Available at: http://www.biography.com/people/bret-michaels-278900. Accessed May 23, 2013.
Synopsis
Bret Michaels, born March 15, 1963, in Butler, Pennsylvania, is the lead singer in the glam-metal band Poison, whose hits include “Talk Dirty to Me” and “Every Rose Has Its Thorn.” In 2007 Michaels emerged as a reality TV star on VH1’s Rock of Love, following up in 2010 with Bret Michaels: Life As I Know It. Michaels also won The Celebrity Apprentice (2010).
Early Life
Singer, songwriter, actor, television personality. Born Bret Michael Sychak on March 15, 1963, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (some sources say Butler, Pennsylvania). Usually seen wearing his trademark bandanas and cowboy hats, Bret Michaels became a rock icon as the frontman of Poison, one of the biggest hair metal bands of the 1980s. He has also recently become a reality television star with Rock of Love and Rock of Love 2. While pursuing his dreams, Michaels has wrestled with a chronic disease. At the age of 6, Michaels was diagnosed with diabetes. Throughout his career, he has taken insulin and measured his blood sugar levels to manage his illness.
Poison
In the early 1980s, Michaels started playing in a band with longtime friend and drummer Rikki Rockett. The two later joined forces with bassist Bobby Dall and guitarist Matt Smith to form the band Paris. After playing mostly local gigs in the Pittsburgh area, the band moved to Los Angeles. Not long after their arrival, Smith was replaced by C. C. DeVille, and the band changed its name to Poison. Like some of the other LA metal bands of the time, Michaels and the rest of the group teased their hair, went heavy on the make-up, and worn outlandish outfits, which led critics to label such groups as hair metal bands. They were sometimes compared to Mötley Crüe, another up-and-coming LA metal band.
After making the rounds on the LA club scene, Poison landed a contract with Enigma Records. Their first album, Look What the Cat Dragged In, was released in 1986. Not only was Michaels the group's leader singer, but he also worked with the other members to write all of the songs for the recording. The recording nearly reached the top of the album charts the next year, driven such hits as "Talk Dirty to Me." The group then went on tour with Ratt, Cinderella, and Quiet Riot.
While critics derided them for being formulaic and derivative, Poison developed a devoted following who loved their pop-infused metal sound and glam rock looks. Their second album, Open Up and Say . . . Ahh! (1988) was an even bigger smash. The infectious party anthem "Nothin' But a Good Time broke into the top ten while the ballad "Every Rose Has Its Thorn" made it all the way to the top of the pop charts. On the road, Poison soon moved up from supporting other groups to being the main act.
The follow-up album, Flesh and Blood (1990), also did well on the album charts and featured the hit "Unskinny Bop" and the power ballad "Something to Believe In." But the group's success was not free of strife and difficulty.
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