Rikki Rockett Says Bret Michaels ‘Spent Too Much Time Away’ From Poison
Poison's 2018 tour calls back to one of the band's biggest early hits in promising "Nothin' But a Good Time." But keeping their good times going has been easier said than done in recent years, and looking back, drummer Rikki Rockett isn't shy about wishing singer Bret Michaels had made Poison more of a priority.
"I think we need to get away from each other and do other things, but at the same time, I think he spent a little too much time away," Rockett told OC Weekly prior to the tour's May 18 stop in Irvine. "There's definitely some resentment, but not resentment like I want him to fail. I want him to do good. I just want Poison to be important too, and I would like [him] to put a little more energy into Poison."
Before reuniting for last year's tour, Poison had been inactive for several years as Michaels pursued various outside projects — and Rockett added his own sideline venture to the mix in 2014 with his Devil City Angels group, joining the non-Michaels members of the Poison lineup the following year to round out a short-lived band dubbed the Special Guests. Now that Poison is back on the front burner again, he's hoping they can keep it going long enough to produce new music — whatever form that might take.
"I personally think we still have a lot of stories to tell. Because the music business has changed so much, I don't know that you'd get a full record out of Poison, but I do believe that you will see new music at some point in some capacity," Rockett predicted. Looking back on their '80s hits, he added, "Maybe we can’t write those songs anymore from that same perspective. We’re not that age anymore; we’re not in that same place anymore in life; but I think where we’re at is just as interesting, honestly."