‘80s Glam Metal Icon, With No. 1 Hit, Turns 63

Bret Michaels, the legendary frontman behind the glam metal band Poison, is marking a personal milestone.

With his decades-long career in music and the entertainment scene, the Pennsylvania native has turned 63.

Born on March 15, he spent his childhood and most of his formative years in the state where his interest and passion for music began.

When he was six, Michaels was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes, which caused him to fall dangerously ill due to ketoacidosis, a life-threatening complication in metabolism caused by uncontrolled diabetes.

To show support, his mother launched the first youth diabetic camp in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, to help kids like her son manage their condition.

In an interview with SF Sonic, he expressed his gratitude to his parents for encouraging him to stay active and live a normal life despite his health problems.

“When people ask me, ‘How do you overcome?’ I say this is the card I was dealt and rather then become a victim to it and have self-pity, I chose to take the path of being spiritually and mentally positive,” he shared, adding, “I want to go on record and thank my parents for that. My dad was active and a have fun, get it done kind of guy. My mom is the same. She opened the first youth diabetic camp in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania because I was the only kid in my entire class growing up who had diabetes. I send so many kids to diabetic camp so they can see what I experienced. It literally saved and changed my life. I saw other kids with diabetes, and we all learned together, brick by brick, how to find a way to enjoy sports and make it all work. That experience has been used in every application of my life, and in some ways it prepared me for the entertainment business.”

From a sick child, he went on to become the rock star that he is today as part of the glam metal band Poison.

Founded by Michaels, along with drummer Rikki Rockett, bassist Bobby Dall and original guitarist Matt Smith in 1983, they started the group with their initial name Paris.

After moving to Los Angeles and with a new lineup, replacing Smith with C.C. DeVille, they changed it to Poison and the rest was history.

With their high-octane party rock anthems, the band made a lasting mark from the late 1980s through the early 1990s with songs like “Unskinny Bop,” “Nothin’ But a Good Time” and “Talk Dirty to Me.”

However, it was their 1988 song “Every Rose Has Its Thorn”  from their second album Open Up and Say… Ahh! that became their breakthrough hit after reaching No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Not only was it considered among the most iconic power ballads of the late ‘80s, but it was also Poison’s only top spot on the Billboard chart.

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