Metal Anarchy

As previously reported, Poison drummer Rikki Rockett claimed the band scrapped their “Look What The Cat Dragged In” 40th anniversary tour after singer Bret Michaels requested six times the money of his bandmates. However, during an interview with 99.1 WPLR, Michaels denied those claims and said that the trek has been moved to 2027.

Michaels said the following:

“We’re just gonna call it hopefully ’40 Plus One.’ 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.”

He went on to discuss the financial dispute:

“Well, I’m gonna answer that honestly. It never happened. 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.’

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]. I love C.C. [DeVille]. 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 continued after the interviewer said no one would blink if Michaels wanted more money:

“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?

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.”

He also added:

“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.”

[via Blabbermouth]