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IT’s OFFICIAL: Poison will not be touring to mark their 40th anniversary – and Rikki Rockett says it’s because Bret Michaels wanted six times when the rest of the band would be paid.
“We had a great offer – I thought – but we left the table,” drummer Rockett told Page Six. “It didn’t work.
“Really what it came to was CC [DeVille] Bobby [Dall] and I were all in, and I thought Bret was, but he wanted the lion’s share of the money, to the point where it makes it not possible to even do it. It’s like $6 to every one of our dollars. You just can’t work that way.
“I don’t do this just for the money. I do have a love for this, absolutely. But at the same time, you don’t want to go out and work really hard just to make somebody else a bunch of money.”
Rockett Mafia, Rikki’s side band, will instead perform Poison’s Look What The Cat Dragged In, in full, on a 2026 tour.
He said he harboured no ill-will towards singer Michaels. Asked if he, bassist Dall and guitarist DeVille would consider touring with another vocalist, Rockett responded: “It’s not out of the question. But doing that is like surgery: it’s the last resort.
“I don’t want to do that. I’m not quarrelling with Bret… We just didn’t come to agreement. I don’t like it, and I’ll say that, but it’s not like, ‘Let’s put up our dukes.’ I don’t think there’s a better frontman for Poison.”
After the interview appeared, Rockett issued a statement which read: “Playing Poison’s first album with The Rockett Mafia is a full-circle moment for me.
“It’s raw, it’s fun and it’s exactly how those songs were meant to be heard. Celebrating the 40th anniversary is really about giving the fans a chance to relive that moment with us.”
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