Poison Ditch Tour Plans After Bret Michaels Demands 600 Percent More Money Than Bandmates, Says Drummer

Poison has dropped plans for a 2026 tour after frontman Bret Michaels allegedly demanded 600 percent more money than his bandmates.

Though a tour was never officially announced, the hair metal greats made no secret of their plan to celebrate their 40th anniversary. “It would make perfect sense to have the possibility of a reunion in 2026,” Michaels noted in September 2024, adding that it would be “the perfect 40th anniversary tour, with 40 awesome limited dates to go out, play real live hit songs and rock the world."

Now, the tour is off and the reason seems to be money.

Bret Michaels Demanded the 'Lion's Share' of Poison's Profits

“We had a great offer, I thought. But we left the table,” drummer Rikki Rockett revealed to Page Six “It didn’t work.”

“Really what it came to was [guitarist] C.C. [DeVille], [bassist] 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,” Rockett noted. “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,” the drummer continued. “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.”

Despite his disappointment, Rockett said he didn’t harbor any resentment over the situation. “Every member of this band has given me so much privilege in life,” he said, “It’s like hating your parents.”

The drummer was dismissive when asked if the other members of Poison could tour with a different singer.

“It’s not out of the question. But doing that is like surgery: it’s the last resort,” he explained. “I don’t want to do that. I’m not quarreling 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.”

Michaels has a handful of solo dates scheduled for 2026. Meanwhile, Rockett will tour throughout the year with his side project, Rockett Mafia. The drummer also joked that Poison could give things another go in 2027, describing it as “a perfect Poison folly to do a 41st anniversary tour.”