Bret Michael Sychak
(born March 15, 1963 in Butler, Pennsylvania) [1] is best known as the lead vocalist of the glam metal band Poison. Besides his career as lead singer, he has several solo albums to his credit, as well as one chart single. He has also starred in the VH1 reality show Rock of Love with Bret Michaels
and its sequels, and as a judge on the talent show Nashville Star
.
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Music career
The band Paris began in 1983, with Michaels forming the band in
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania in 1984. The original lineup for Paris was Leighton Zema on lead vocals, Bret Michaels on guitar, Brian Bircher on drums, Jonathan Combs on synthesizer/gong, and Patrick Bircher on bass. All original members, except Michaels, were from Steelton, PA, but they were all replaced by the members of what later became
Poison. The band moved to
Los Angeles in 1984 to begin touring clubs there. Poison became one of the biggest of the 80's hair metal bands in the world and also recording several hit albums such as the 8 million seller
Open Up and Say...Ahh!
.
Michaels recorded his first solo album in 1998
A Letter from Death Row
the soundtrack to the
same-titled movie he directed, wrote, and starred in. In 2003, he released the studio album
Songs of Life
. Michaels also served as a judge during the 2005 season of
reality television singing competition
Nashville Star
and released a country rock album in the same year called
Freedom of Sound
. Michaels released
Rock My World
in June 2008 which featured music from his reality television series
Rock of Love
including the new singles "Go That Far" (Rock of Love theme), "Fallen" and "Start Again", the first 2 also featuring music videos with clips from the series and the album charted at #40 on the Billboard 200 and #4 on the top independent albums.
[2] In December 2008 Bret released a single version of "Driven" (rock mix) which also featured a music video with preview clips for
Rock of Love Bus and he also re released the "Fallen" single with acoustic, piano and demo versions included.
[3]
Bret Michaels released a 30-minute DVD from (Time Life) in 2008 called "Hard & Heavy confidential featuring Bret Michaels" which included acoustic versions of "All I Ever Needed", "Driven", "
Every Rose Has Its Thorn" and "Something to Believe In", it also included in depth interviews.
[4] The DVD was included in the Hard & Heavy cd/dvd collection from (Time Life) advertised on TV by Bret Michaels. The same 4 acoustic performances were also released on CD which was titled "Bret Michaels Acoustic Sessions."
[5]
Other ventures
Michaels and actor
Charlie Sheen established a film production company, Sheen/Michaels Entertainment, which produced the movie
A Letter from Death Row
(1998), which Michaels wrote, directed and starred in, and for which he released a soundtrack album. They also produced
No Code of Conduct
in the same year, which Bret Michaels also directed. Their company also produced the feature film
Free Money
, starring
Marlon Brando and
Mira Sorvino. and the surfer movie
In God's Hands
.
Michaels appeared in an episode of the
CBS sitcom
Yes, Dear
.
[6]
The cable-TV network
VH1 announced on February 14, 2007 that Michaels would star as the bachelor in the
reality television dating-competition series
Rock of Love with Bret Michaels
.
[7] [8] Jes Rickleff was the winner of the series, however, she also had a boyfriend outside the show and claimed that the casting directors chose her off of the street. She announced during the reunion show that she and Michaels were not right for each other and told Heather he was all hers and that he should have chosen the runner up. The first season was released on DVD in early 2008.
Michaels went on to star in the
second season of
Rock of Love
, which premiered on January 13, 2008. On April 13, 2008, Michaels selected Ambre Lake as his "Rock of Love". Ambre and Michaels have since broken up, and
Rock of Love 3
premiered on January 4, 2009.
On May 1, 2008, Michaels appeared on a special celebrity edition of
Don't Forget the Lyrics!
, where he raised $200,000 to donate to charity.
[9]
Bret Michaels has 19 top hits and he has 31 nominated songs. Including the two songs on
Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock.
Bret Michaels has also been seen touring with the USO in Kuwait in 2007 for soldiers deployed for Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Michaels was also portrayed in the video game
Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock
, which features him singing "
Go That Far" and Poison's "
Talk Dirty to Me".
Personal life
Michaels was diagnosed with
Type 1 diabetes at the age of six (as Michaels later attested in the
Behind the Music
special, backstage photos of the singer injecting insulin led many to think that he was a
heroin addict). When he was a child, his family relocated to Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, where he attended
Mechanicsburg High School.
Bret Michaels dated and later became engaged to actress and singer Susie Hatton. Michaels and Hatton dated from 1988 to 1993. Bret produced Hatton's debut album
Body and Soul
in 1991. Susie Hatton is featured in Poison's "Fallen Angel" music video released in 1988. Bret has two daughters with Kristi Lynn Gibson whom he dated from 1994 to 2005. Raine Elizabeth Sychak was born on May 20, 2000, and Jorja Bleu Sychak was born May 5, 2005. As of 2005, Michaels and Gibson are separated and share custody of their children.
[10]
Michaels had a short but notorious relationship with
Pamela Anderson. An abridged version of an explicit
sex tape the couple made appeared on the Internet
[11] and was released on
DVD on September 7, 2005 by Metro Studios. Michaels later stopped the sexually explicit tape from being distributed, although the "teaser" version of it is still widely available on the Internet.
Michaels is a fan of the
Pittsburgh Steelers of the
National Football League and the
Edmonton Oilers of the
National Hockey League.
[12] He has a personalized guitar bearing the team's logo, and played the national anthem at
Three Rivers Stadium.
[13] His favorite player was
Jack Lambert, and Michaels has been a member of fan club "Lambert's Lunatics."
[14]
On June 7, 2009, Michaels suffered a fractured nose and cut lip at the
Tony Awards show after performing Poison's song "Nothin' but a Good Time" with the cast of the musical "
Rock of Ages." When Michaels turned to exit the stage, a descending piece of the set hit him in the head before he could duck under it, knocking him on his back.
[15]
Rock of Love
Michaels has been the subject of a VH1 reality dating series,
Rock of Love with Bret Michaels
, which aired for three seasons.
Discography
''For a discography as a member of Poison, see Poison discography.
Albums
Year
| Album details
| Chart Positions
|
US
| US Indie
| US Rock
|
1998
| A Letter from Death Row
- Released: August 25, 1998
- Label: Ugl Records
| —
| —
| —
|
2001
| Ballads, Blues & Stories
- Released: 2001
- Label: Poor Boy Records
| —
| —
| —
|
2003
| Songs of Life
- Released: April 22, 2003
- Label: Poor Boy Records
| —
| —
| —
|
2005
| Freedom of Sound
- Released: January 1, 2005
- Label: Poor Boy Records
| —
| —
| —
|
2008
| Rock My World
- Released: June 3, 2008
- Label: VH1 Classics Records
| 40
| 4
| 4
|
"—" denotes the album failed to chart or not released
|
EPs
Year
| Album
|
2000
| Country Demos
|
2008
| Bret Michaels: Acoustic Sessions
|
Singles
Year
| Single
| US Country
| Album
|
1998
| "Party Rock Band" (with C.C. DeVille)
| —
| A Letter from Death Row
|
2003
| "Raine"
| —
| Songs of Life
|
"Bittersweet"
| —
|
2004
| "All I Ever Needed" (with Jessica Andrews)
| 45
| Freedom of Sound
|
"Right Now, Right Here"
| —
|
2005
| "Open Road"
| —
|
2007
| "Go That Far"
| —
| Rock My World
|
"Fallen"
| —
|
2008
| "Start Again"
| —
|
"Driven" (rock mix)
| —
|
"—" denotes releases that failed to chart
|
Filmography
Features:
- Burke's Law
- 1 episode (1994)
- In God's Hands
(1994)
- A Letter from Death Row
(1998)
- The World's Greatest Magic 5
(1998)
- No Code of Conduct
(1998)
- Martial Law
- 1 Episode (1999)
- ''Poison: VH1 Behind the Music (1999)
- Yes, Dear
- TV Series (2003)
- Nashville Star
- TV Series Season 3 (2005)
- Rock of Love with Bret Michaels
- TV Series (season one) (2007)
- Rock of Love 2
- TV Series (season two) (2008) [16]
- Rock of Love Bus with Bret Michaels
- TV Series (Season 3) (2009)
- ''Don't Forget The Lyrics (Fox Tv (2008))
- Ellen-Fox Shows
(February 14, 2008)
- ''Saturday Night Live (2008)
- VH1's "100 Greatest Hard Rock Songs" 5- part special(VH1, December 2008 - January, 2009)(HOST)
- ''E True Hollywood Story: Bret Michaels (2009)
References
- Bret Michaels
- The Billboard 200 and Top Independent Albums chart
- 2008 digital singles
- Time Life Video: Hard & Heavy confidential featuring Bret Michaels
- Bret Michaels Acoustic Sessions: Music Review
- ''Yes, Dear'' episode {{imdb episode|id=0751721|episode=Greg's Big Day}}
- Title Unavailable
- Title Unavailable
- Title Unavailable
- ohnotheydidnt: After Bret Michaels picked Ambre Lake
- Celebrity sex tapes
- Bret Michaels
- Bret Michaels
- Bret Michaels, Diabetic Lead Singer of
- http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gOhveatVWAo2xZFgVdlb62tpc3pgD98MN9L81
- Rock Of Love 2