Bret Michaels is opening out on a terrible period in Poison’s history.
In the early 1990s, when hair metal began to alter and musical tastes changed toward grunge, Poison made a now-infamous appearance at the MTV Video Music Awards. The lead vocalist of the band reflects on that night in Paramount+’s new limited docuseries, Nöthin’ But a Good Time: The Uncensored Story of ’80s Hair Metal.
“We performed live at the MTV Awards. There was a lot of partying going on, and C.C. [DeVille] had a fantastic time, so he’s lit. It was the craziest moment of our careers. We’re performing live, and we go out there to do ‘Unskinny Bop,'” Michaels, 61, recalls.
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He recalls hearing the starting riff of “Talk Dirty to Me” seconds later. “I’m like, ‘Holy f—, we’re supposed to be playing ‘Unskinny Bop’ and we’re now live doing ‘Talk Dirty to Me.'”
DeVille then stepped on his guitar cable during a performance, briefly disconnecting it while the rest of the band continued to play. They got through the song, but backstage, things turned ugly.
“It was an instant knockdown, dragout fistfight,” Michaels says. “Here we are fighting, rolling on the ground, underneath Cindy Crawford and Arsenio Hall who are trying to move out of our way because they have to go out and introduce the next band.”
“A couple of broken noses and loss of a tooth or two and we parted ways that evening, for a little while,” according to Michaels.
Though Poison’s original lineup disbanded after that night in 1991, the band’s remaining members continued to perform with guitarist Richie Kotzen for several years. In 1996, Michaels and DeVille were able to reconcile, and the band reformed.
Michaels intimated to a source in April 2023 that Poison will continue to rock. In 2025, he announced, “Poison is going to come back together as the original four, reunited and undivided.”
He also addressed DeVille as “one of my best friends now.”
“There’s a brotherhood and a love there,” according to him. “We’re never breaking up.”
Nöthin’ But a Good Time: The Uncensored Story of 1980s Hair Metal is now available on Paramount+.
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