Poison’s Bret Michaels Says ‘Grunge Was Great’ + Alice in Chains Rode Go-Karts at His House
Poison were one of the acts that not only helped push but benefitted from the wave of glam metal acts that emerged in the late '80s, but don't look for Bret Michaels to have sour words to say when the dreaded "g" word is brought up. The singer says he doesn't have a problem with grunge and the music scene that flattened some of the momentum the band was experiencing early in their career.
"I blame nobody," Michaels told AZCentral about the sea change that occurred circa 1991 in the music industry. "There was definitely a change in the music business but I only blame myself. There was a lot of partying."
In fact, Michaels says he was not one of the ones who felt animosity toward Nirvana or the acts that were freshly anointed at the top of the music scene. "Grunge was great," said Michaels, recalling, "We used Nirvana's director, Sam Bayer, on the video to 'Stand.' Alice in Chains' first arena show was opening for Poison. I was like, 'I didn't know I was in a fight with Alice in Chains. They were just at my house riding go-karts,' you know what I mean?"
Poison managed to ride out the grunge years and came out of it still being a significant draw when touring. "All you can do is just be who you are and stick to your guns," Michaels explained. "And it all came back bigger and better than ever."
"I don't have a victim mentality. I take responsibility for things that happen. You own it and you just keep rocking. That's what happened. Within a couple years, everything comes right back around."
And speaking of coming back around, Michaels and Poison are part of one of the summer's biggest tours, currently playing alongside Motley Crue, Def Leppard, Joan Jett and Classless Act on "The Stadium Tour." With brisk ticket sales, the singer chalks it up to a certain trait that comes with rock fans. "A rock audience is a lot like a country audience. They're very loyal. So they never got the Post-it Note that said, 'You're not supposed to like this.'"
Get your tickets for "The Stadium Tour" here.