Poison frontman Bret Michaels has strongly denied allegations that the cancellation of the band’s 40th-anniversary tour was caused by his financial demands. Responding to recent comments from drummer Rikki Rockett, Michaels asserted that the proposed 2026 trek was actually pushed back to 2027 months ago due to scheduling conflicts with his solo career, rather than any dispute over a pay split.
In an interview on “Chaz & AJ In The Morning” on New Haven radio station 99.1 WPLR, Michaels addressed the situation directly. He explained that the anniversary of their 1986 debut, Look What the Cat Dragged In, will likely be celebrated a year late under the banner of “40 Plus One.”
“We’re just gonna call it hopefully ‘40 Plus One‘,” Michaels told the hosts (as transcribed by Blabbermouth). “But I can tell you this — as this thing got further down the road… Remember, when you’re booking stuff, we’re already booking stuff solo into ’27. So this just got backed up. And I’m hoping that, as a founding member, obviously that would be a great day, and I’m positive we can make that happen in ’27.”
Earlier this week, Rockett claimed that negotiations stalled because Michaels demanded to be paid $6 for every $1 earned by the other three members. Michaels refuted this characterization, stating that discussions never even reached that level of financial specificity.
“Well, I’m gonna answer that honestly. It never happened,” Michaels said. “We never got to that part of negotiations. What happens — when you start this, they ask me to put together solo numbers and an average, and that’s the first part we turn in. We ask what the stage is gonna look like, where do we start the tour? I even got into where we’re starting the dates, and then all of a sudden, ’26, the shows in ’26 wanted solo answers, so we moved this to ’27 back last summer. The reason it’s come up for the third time — no one, even the other members haven’t commented. They’re, like, ‘I thought this is going in ’27 now.'”
Michaels expressed disappointment that the internal band business was being aired in the press, urging his bandmates to pick up the phone instead of giving interviews about sensitive negotiations.
“We’re all friends. And if you wanna discuss something, we have each other’s phone number for the last 45 years. Just call me. No offense. I love Rikki. I love Bobby [Dall, Poison bassist]. I love C.C. [DeVille, Poison guitarist]. Don’t negotiate on the air [during an interview]. Just call me on the phone, and we’ll work out what[ever needs to be worked out]. We’ve worked it out for 40 other years. Let’s work out what we need to work out.”
He further clarified the complexity of booking a heritage act with four original members versus his solo shows, reiterating that the alleged pay disparity was never “on the table.”
“Again, I wanna go into this. That never came up on the table. What comes up on the table is, what’s people making solo? What are we doing? You throw it out there. And it’s not their fault either. It never finished, the negotiations, on everything. Where’s the tour start? Who’s opening for us? What lights, what sound, what’s the stage look like?”
Michaels continued: “It’s hard to explain to everybody how much goes into making a show great. And with me, when I’m solo. I could make this decision on the bum runners. If I’m out with Poison, we’re four founding members. And rightfully so for that situation. So I wanna make sure the fans hear the truth. It should be a four-way discussion. That’s what Poison‘s meant to be.”
Despite the public friction, Michaels ended on a positive note regarding his relationship with the drummer.
“I love Rikki. He’s my brother. We’ve been through a lot together. I love Bobby, I love C.C., and I appreciate C.C. and Bobby staying out in the middle. They didn’t make any comments. I truly believe, ’cause we already knew last summer it was moving to ’27.”
