When Bret Michaels and Poison announced they were going to be joining Def Leppard and Tesla
on a Summer 2017 tour, it was a bit of a surprise, as Michaels has been uncharacteristically
quiet in recent years.
Why's he been keeping such a low profile up to this point?
Here's a look at the real reason we don't hear from Bret Michaels so much anymore.
Rikki Rockett's cancer battle
One of the big reasons Poison hasn't been touring or putting out new albums in recent
years was drummer Rikki Rockett's battle with cancer.
After he was diagnosed with oral cancer in 2015, he underwent chemotherapy and radiation treatments.
Michaels said in a radio interview with Eddie Trunk that Rockett's health was more important
than anything the band might be doing.
"Right now, we've all got a prayer out for Rikki and his health; we hope that it's great.
And that's number one — for our drummer, and his health, and his kids…
He's working really hard at [his treatment]."
After switching to an experimental immunotherapy treatment, Rockett finally announced in July
2016 that his cancer was in remission, opening the door for the possibility of more music
for both Poison and Michaels.
His own health issues
Michaels was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes when he was 6 years old, but he's also faced
some more serious health challenges in recent years as an adult.
In April 2010, while in San Antonio, Texas for a concert, Michaels began experiencing
severe abdominal pain.
He insisted it was just the flu, but the concert's medical staff convinced him to cancel the
show and go to the hospital.
It turned out to be acute appendicitis, which required immediate emergency surgery.
Doctors later told Michaels that if he had performed as planned that night, he likely
would have died on stage.
That was just the start of his medical issues.
Just days later, while still recovering from the surgery, Michaels suffered a massive brain hemorrhage.
He was rushed to the hospital and put in intensive care.
Doctors eventually managed to figure out the cause of the hemorrhage: a hole in his heart,
which required more surgery to repair.
And in 2014, Michaels was hospitalized and required surgery on his kidneys after popping
a stent during a concert.
Michaels later told People that no matter how bad his health gets, he's not going to
let it stop him from doing what he loves.
"I don't have a death wish; I have a life wish.
I want to fill my life with as much awesome stuff as I can.
You can't have self-pity.
At some point, you have to say, 'These are the cards I've been dealt, and I'm going to
play them.'"
Charity case
Michaels has become a regular on the charity circuit, performing in everything from softball
games to concerts.
Since being diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes when he was 6 years old, he's done all he
can to help those who are dealing with the same illness, both by raising money and raising awareness.
And that has spurred Michaels to branch out into all sorts of other charitable endeavors
as well through his Life Rocks Foundation.
"I work with a lot of Wounded Warrior project, I work with Operation Homefront.
A lot of our warriors.
I work with a lot of different things with cancer, pets.
But my main focus is… is diabetic."
He's designed a line of pet gear
If you've been to PetSmart lately, you might have seen what seems like the strangest tie-in
merchandising on the planet: Bret Michaels' line of pet accessories.
It sounds weird, but Michaels is an animal lover through and through, even crediting
his dog Nicholas with saving his life on one occasion when his blood sugar level dropped
too low and Nicholas had to rouse him from a deep sleep he may otherwise never have awoken from.
"I'm a huge pet lover no doubt about it.
Lots of dogs, lots of horses, lots of all kinds of pets right, I've got rats for God's sake.
We save the rattlesnakes and the scorpions."
And he's also working with PetSmart Charities to help raise awareness and money for pet
adoptions and rescues.
Or, in other words…
"So go to Petsmart, and give them a home.
A place they can beg, eat, poo-poo, and grow."
Laying down the law
When Poison performed at the 2009 Tony Awards, a year before he suffered his brain hemorrhage,
Michaels was accidentally smacked in the head by part of the set, leaving him with a broken
nose and a split lip that required stitches to close up.
"Bret Michaels on the Broadway stage.
His number gave "Head banging" a whole new meaning."
He later sued the Tony Awards, alleging that the accident contributed to the hemorrhage,
and also condemning broadcast partner CBS for releasing the viral footage of the accident.
The lawsuit dragged on for awhile before finally being settled for an undisclosed amount in 2012.
He's concentrating on being a dad
Michaels was in the middle of filming The Celebrity Apprentice when he got a phone call
from his daughter, Raine, telling him she had been diagnosed with diabetes.
It prompted Michaels to focus more on his kids and less on his career.
Since then, he and his children have been actively involved in the fight against diabetes,
recording a version of "Every Rose Has Its Thorn" together, with proceeds earmarked for
the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.
He's off camping
Michaels has been on a lot of reality TV shows, from Celebrity Apprentice to Rock of Love.
But perhaps his most unusual effort was The Travel Channel's Rock My RV, where he renovated people's RVs.
It seems like a weird fit, until you think about all the tour buses Michaels has been
stuck in over his long career.
And it turns out he loves camping, too.
He told Uproxx, "It forces the character of who you are.
I learned a lot of responsibility from going camping … there was a lot of stuff involved
with it, but more than anything it bonded me with my family because it forced us into
situations where we had to work together."
So if you wondered where Bret Michaels has been hiding, now you have the answer:
in the woods.
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