Metal Anarchy

Despite previous comments made by Poison frontman Bret Michaels and drummer Rikki Rockett, it appears the band have yet to book a 40th anniversary tour for 2026. Rockett recently confirmed the news to Talkin’ Bout Rock.

Rockett said the following when asked if he keeps in contact with his bandmates:

“I  talk to [guitarist] C.C. [DeVille] all the time, at least once or twice a week. And his mom and my mom were really close. And my mom passed away, and his mom’s going through a lot right now. And that’s kept us close on one level. I talk to [bassist] Bobby [Dall] less. Bobby keeps to himself a lot these days, which is okay, if that’s how he… Bobby can’t help himself but to talk about business, and sometimes he doesn’t wanna talk about business, so he just doesn’t wanna pick up the phone, you know what I mean? But Bret and I do not talk, unfortunately. And that’s a shame — honestly, it is. So we get bits and pieces of stuff.”

He also addressed the idea of a 40th anniversary tour:

“I’ll set the record straight as far as POISON touring: at this point in time, there is nothing on the books for a 2026 40th-anniversary tour. And I said it months ago when we got presented a contract from Live Nation to go on tour [next year]. C.C., Bobby and I agreed. We thought it was great. We thought the money was great. We thought the lay of the land looked great. And then Bret looked at it and has not agreed to anything. So literally that is where we’re at.

I’m not trying to bash Bret. I’m not trying to start any fights… But one thing you have to understand is, for instance, the Bret Michaels [solo] band tours very differently from the way POISON tours. POISON tours the way DEF LEPPARD and MÖTLEY CRÜE and Luke Bryan or whoever [tours], where we basically kiss our families goodbye for three-plus months, or however long it’s gonna be, and go out on a tour bus and trucks, and we’re playing five nights a week, sometimes six nights a week. And that’s not how Bret tours [with his solo band]. He does weekend-warrior stuff, which there’s nothing wrong with that at all. Joan Jett does it — I mean, tons of bands do this. THE ROCKETT MAFIA does it. We can’t play in Omaha, Nebraska on a Tuesday night and make any money. We’ll be upside down. But at the level we’ve managed to get to [with POISON], and DEF LEPPARD and bands like this, you can play on a Tuesday night and people will come, at the right time. You still have to manage it correctly.”

He also reflected on the band’s 2022 stadium tour with Def Leppard, Mötley Crüe and Joan Jett:

“Oh, it was great. Look, it’s so funny, because people go, ‘Man…’ You would think that in these stadiums, there would be so much room to do everything you want. It’s weird, because it’s set up for sports. It’s not set up for a bunch of trucks and buses and all that stuff. So most of the time our bus would be two miles away in a parking lot somewhere and we’d have to take a golf cart or an Uber or a van or something like that to get to the venue. And then you get to the venue and it’s, like, MÖTLEY and DEF LEPPARD got all the nice dressing rooms and we’re in the electrician’s room or something. [Laughs] So from that standpoint, it wasn’t as nice as when we headline. But we were playing these massive places for amazing fans. I mean, it was literally a once-in-a lifetime experience.

We’ve played some big shows — we’ve done Donington, we’ve done a lot of these… Texas Jam, a lot of these things like that — but to do it kind of on that level, or close to that level, for 40 nights, or whatever it was, that was amazing. And it keeps you on your toes, man. You can’t go out there half cocked. I mean, we don’t ever do that anyway — I don’t think any of us ever go out there on stage nonchalantly. We’re a band that pride ourself in giving it everything we got. Even if everything that we have isn’t as good as it was the night before, I’m still gonna give it everything that I have, you know what I mean? And I know the rest of the band’s like that. Bret’s like that, C.C., Bobby, We never half-ass anything.”

[via Blabbermouth]