When Bret Michaels saw his own teeth on the floor of his car, he knew something had to change.
However, that's only one of the many tragedies the Poison singer experienced in his life.
Bret Michaels often felt sick when he was very young, and the cause was unknown,
but to him it felt like he constantly had the flu. Then, on one fateful night,
the situation became so severe that could have died without seeking medical attention.
In an interview with Yahoo Lifestyle, Michaels explained in more detail,
"At the age of 6 years old, my blood sugar levels were running probably about 750 to 800,
maybe a little higher, which is incredibly high blood sugar. My parents had no idea
what was going on. So, in the middle of the night about three o'clock they ran me over
to the Harrisburg hospital emergency room and diagnosed me being diabetic."
Michaels was in the hospital for the next three weeks until enough tests were done for the doctors
to determine it was safe for him to return home. Due to his condition, he was forced to take five
daily injections and has continued to do so throughout his entire life. And even then,
there were still times when he would pass out because of his low blood sugar level.
Aside from the medication, diabetes was another huge issue for Michaels because it made him feel
alienated from the rest of his peers as he was the only one with the condition. Even worse,
some parents ignorantly assumed he was contagious and would not let their children play with him.
Years later, as a rockstar in Poison, Michaels tried to find the delicate balance of partying
hard with his fellow bandmates while still keeping his diabetes in check. However,
there was a time when he pushed past his limit before a big show at Madison Square
Garden. He got up on stage and his blood sugar level dropped, sending him into insulin shock.
Michaels was rushed to the emergency room and recovered shortly afterwards,
only to discover that an inaccurate, much darker reason for his collapse during the
show was being spread by several media outlets. Even though the singer's heavy
partying certainly contributed to the incident, there were some that suspected
his health issues were due to heavy substance abuse. Therefore, Michaels decided it was time
to go public about his medical condition. He had kept the knowledge of his diabetes
relatively private before that point, but he preferred that people knew the truth.
Bret Michaels and Pamela Anderson only dated for eight months, yet a risqué aspect of their
relationship sparked major controversy two years later. While together, the couple had filmed
an intimate and explicit tape that was solely meant for their own private viewing. However,
in 1996, the video managed to get into the hands of the Internet Entertainment Group,
which wanted to sell it online. Michaels was quite alarmed by this.
The vocalist told MTV News,
"It makes no sense to me. I can not figure [it] out. I have the original copy. I have
it. No one's ever touched it. No one's ever gotten to it. I have it, period,
end of story, and it's never gone out, so I'm anxious to find out who gave them
this tape or a copy of this tape and now they're forced to disclose it."
Against accusations that the Poison frontman was just seeking more money or attention,
Michaels was adamant that he not only made nothing from the tape but had spent nearly
$100,000 to keep it private. He explained how if he had really wanted publicity from it,
he would have sold it on his own website rather than share the profits with anyone
else. He strongly denied this was the case from his end, even questioning why Anderson didn't
do more from her side to stop the release of the tape. Eventually, he was deeply angered to find
out that a former security guard he employed had stolen the tape and attempted to sell it.
In the mid-'80s, when Bret Michaels and his Poison bandmates made it to L.A.,
it still took a few years for the group to find success. Until then, the band lived in absolute
squalor at a rundown warehouse infested with pests that they just barely cleaned up to rehearse in.
On VH1's "Behind the Music," drummer Rikki Rockett admitted:
"We'd sleep with the lights on because the cockroaches would get on you."
When Michaels' father came to visit, he was completely disgusted by the home his son and
friends had chosen. But the members of Poison managed to get by in those
difficult months and even attracted a large number of groupies who were not only willing
to live in the converted warehouse but also helped the rock band in their time of need.
In 2010, Bret Michaels suffered from a subarachnoid hemorrhage in the middle
of the night without any warning whatsoever. The singer described
the horrifying condition as one of the worst pains he had ever gone through in his life.
While talking with Oprah Winfrey, he said,
"It sounded like a small handgun went off in the back of my head.
I had just come off having an emergency appendectomy eight or nine days earlier,
and that's why I was home off the road. All of the sudden I just started moving around and boom,
there was this explosion. This is about 11 o'clock at night."
The singer elaborated more on the incident, explaining how it felt like something had popped
in his head. He described how it was more than simply a terrible headache, as it felt more like
a migraine to the power of 10. Michaels described how he felt the explosion go off in his head,
flowing from his temple all the way to the back of his skull. The rockstar then quickly got out of
bed and rushed to the emergency room as the pain continued to intensify to a level he had never
experienced before. Michaels' agony was so severe that he did not even want to get out of the car
once he reached the hospital, but a wheelchair was brought out and carried him to receive treatment.
"You know what happens to me? In your life at that exact moment,
what… what happens is, is I find more of drive for life."
Only a few weeks after the traumatic brain hemorrhage, Bret Michaels experienced another
medical emergency. When he suddenly felt numbness in his face and hands,
the rockstar went to the hospital again to find out that he had a warning stroke
and was diagnosed with a patent foramen ovale. Better known as a hole in the heart.
Fortunately, it was later determined that the two medical conditions of the
hemorrhage and stroke were unrelated, but it was still a rough period for the singer.
In an interview with Vegas All Night, Michaels admitted,
"2010 was, without question, a roller coaster year for me. But when you have an amazing family,
and you still have a lot of music left to make, and you have such incredible and supportive fans
behind you, you're going to fight until the very last breath before you throw in that towel."
Bret Michaels was always very proud of his father, Wally,
and especially had a considerable amount of respect for the time he served as a veteran.
When talking with Smashing Interviews Magazine, the singer proudly stated,
"I'm the son of a veteran, and I have members of my family who were killed in action overseas
going back to World War II at the Battle of the Bulge. We truly love this country."
In 2019, Wally suffered cardiac arrest and then tragically passed away shortly afterwards.
Michaels was deeply saddened by the loss and took to Facebook to post a heartfelt message where he
credited his father for being a wonderful man, a positive influence, and a great parent to him.
But it was not all sorrow. In his typical optimistic nature,
Michaels refused to dwell on his sadness for too
long and made a point to celebrate the great life of the man who raised him.
"First of all, could not be more grateful for all the great years you
have allowed me to be out there in the road doing what I love, making music."
In July 2022, Bret Michaels pushed himself too hard while performing on the road and
was hospitalized due to complications. There were warning signs prior to the incident, as Michaels
posted a picture of his low blood sugar reading and then commented that he would bounce back after
a show in St. Louis, but he did not rest up enough before continuing the tour. The singer recovered
but was forced to cancel a show in Nashville. Michaels did not disclose the specific details
about his medical emergency, but he apologized for missing the show on his Instagram account.
He wrote:
"I was truly fired up to get on stage in the Music City and perform, but due to an
unforeseen medical complication and following hospitalization, it was not possible. I send my
deepest apologies being unable to rock the stage tonight!!! I'm working on being back
100% and hope you rocked hard with my friends Motley/Leppard/Joan and Classless Act!!!"
In 1994, Bret Michaels made the terrible mistake of getting behind the wheel to drive to a party
after a night of drinking at the bar. Yet while on the road, intoxicated and coupled
with his low blood sugar levels, the singer passed out in his Ferrari and slammed right
into a telephone poll. Recalling the incident, Michaels couldn't believe how quickly it happened.
Miraculously, the Poison frontman survived the crash but didn't walk away from it unscathed.
He described how looking at the photos of the traumatic night still leaves him
shaken as he saw the condition of the car and the place where his head went through
the windshield. He also suffered broken ribs, a damaged nose, and even split his
head open upon impact. Michaels also explained the surreal experience of discovering his teeth
scattered all over the floor of his car. The silver lining here was that the accident was
a wake-up call for him to stop drinking so much and to take better care of himself.