'That Never Happened' - Bret Michaels Denies Thwarting Poison Tour With Financial Demands

Bret Michaels denied recent claims that he thwarted Poison's 40th anniversary tour plans by demanding too much money and said he still hopes to hit the road with the band soon.

"We're just gonna call it hopefully '40 Plus One,'" Michaels told 99.1 WPLR's Chaz & AJ in the Morning (via Blabbermouth), in reference to the fact that 2026 marks the 40th anniversary of Poison's debut album, Look What the Cat Dragged In.

"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," he continued. "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."

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Bret Michaels Refutes Rikki Rockett's Claims About His Financial Demands

Poison's proposed 40th anniversary tour became a hot topic last week after drummer Rikki Rockett claimed that Michaels halted progress by demanding $6 for every dollar his bandmates made. Michaels, however, said that's not the case.

"Well, I'm gonna answer that honestly. It never happened," the singer 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, like Rockett, insisted he has nothing but love for his bandmates and looks forward to reaching a tour agreement.

"We're all friends," he said. "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, bassist]. I love C.C. [DeVille, 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."

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