All language subtitles for BEHIND THE MUSIC - 6 - Documentary (2021) -Hr

♪♪♪

Oh, this is gonna be awesome.

-How are you doing, my friend?
-What's up, Bret?

I'm doing great.
How's everybody doing? All good?

-All good.
-Thank you for having me back.

Obviously, a lot has changed
since, uh, not only Poison's,

but when I did
my "Behind the Music,"

a lot of stuff coming at us,
a lot of personal things,

a lot of professional things.

But I love the challenge,
and I love being in the game.

♪♪♪

NARRATOR: He came to L.A. armed
with relentless dedication

to a rock and roll dream.

You have to have determination.

You want that energy
that defines who you are.

♪ She stepped off the bus
out into the city streets ♪

The spirit of Bret's songs

has always been
looking out on the horizon.

♪ Win big, Mama's fallen angel ♪

There's so much hope
and so much dreaming.

♪♪♪

You guys in a band or something?

Uh, yeah, yeah. Poison.

With Poison, Bret Michaels
became the front man

of the ultimate party band...

♪ I want action tonight ♪

-...and everybody was invited.
-♪ Satisfaction all night ♪

BOTH: We're just
two rock and roll dudes

in a loose party mood.
Ow-ooh!

But their quest for fame
led to personal heartbreak.

♪ Every rose has its thorn ♪

I had the success of the music,

and I paid the ultimate price
in my relationship.

♪ Every rose has its thorn ♪

Years of toxic behavior
took its toll...

I didn't know where I was at.

I didn't know where
the audience was.

I couldn't think of my name.

...and began to tear
the band apart.

Can I finish?
Can I joke with this?

Go ahead. I'm waiting.

Me and C.C. could get in
a knockdown, drag-out,

true fistfight.

When Poison stopped...

♪ Please let me... ♪

...Bret kept going.

Are we ready to rock
each other's worlds?

[cheering]

All of a sudden that new world
of reality TV

and being an artist or musician,
it just collided.

♪ Pretty kitties back in black ♪

While his solo career soared,

Bret's life took a sudden
and very serious turn.

♪♪♪

It was instant. There's a...

[siren wailing]

I'm thinking,
is this gonna kill me?

♪ Give me something
to believe in ♪

Bret's belief helped him
get back on his feet...

-♪ Something to believe in ♪
-...and back onstage.

♪ Something to believe in ♪

I could not be more grateful
for Poison.

All the good outweighed the bad.

[cheering]

♪ Ooh-yow! ♪

Now Bret Michaels is reflecting
on key moments in his life...

Look, I got chills for real.

...giving new insights
on his past...

The truth of the matter is,

is that song will always be
a bittersweet moment in my life.

...and sharing his secrets
to rock and roll success.

You have to constantly
face the challenges.

But the most important thing--
you gotta better yourself.

This is "Bret Michaels:
The Story Behind the Music."

♪ And it don't get
better than this ♪

♪♪♪

♪♪♪

In 2019, Bret Michaels was
looking to channel his emotions

into a new song.

So he turned
to a unique collaborator--

his daughter Jorja.

♪ Broken ♪

♪ Sometimes I feel like
I'm falling apart ♪

♪ Choking ♪

I think a lot of people,
if not all of us,

go through moments in our life
that are really tough,

and my daughter
was going through

a really tough time in her life,

and I was going through
a pretty low moment in my life,

and we sit down

and we wrote a song together
called "Unbroken,"

and it is truly
about perseverance.

♪ On broken wings,
I shall fly ♪

♪ And from these ashes,
I shall rise ♪

♪ Unbroken ♪

The music video rapidly

gathered over 1 million views
online,

as Bret passed on the power
of positivity to his children.

I love my daughters. What I try
to teach 'em is how to handle

when adversity comes at you.

♪ I shall remain unbroken ♪

♪♪♪

Bret Michaels' unbroken spirit

took root
in the working class town

of Mechanicsburg,
Pennsylvania.

♪♪♪

Born Bret Michael Sychak
in 1963,

he was the oldest
of three children.

Growing up in a small town
was an awesome experience.

♪♪♪

I had a lot of great friends.
Everyone knew each other.

A very tight-knit community.

I always said that if all
the kids you had

were like Bret,
you might have six or seven.

♪♪♪

But his idyllic childhood
took a near-tragic turn

when he was just 6 years old.

I felt really all the time
like I had the flu,

completely tired.

They took me
to Harrisburg Hospital,

um, the emergency room
at about 3 in the morning,

and at that point, um,
my blood sugar levels

were extremely, extremely high,
and the doctor just said,

"You're--You're in trouble,
and this is what's wrong."

Bret was diagnosed
with juvenile diabetes

and remained hospitalized
for three weeks.

They were giving me all these
injections, tested my blood.

They had me hooked up
to all these IVs.

I started out taking
four injections a day,

and you're testing your blood
all the time.

We tried to maintain
that he could do anything,

but he had to make sure
he kept track of his insulin

or how he felt.

I look at it as a blessing
'cause it made me kind of

in touch with, you know,
how fragile life is

and to really enjoy it
while we got it.

♪♪♪

I just accepted it, and I just
had to work a little harder.

Like they said,
I had to go a thousand yards

to get a hundred yards,

and I think that may have
actually played a big part

in--in my career
and truly being fearless,

and that came from my family.

The diagnosis did little
to slow Bret down.

As a teenager,
he began playing guitar,

inspired by the hard rock

he constantly cranked
in his bedroom.

People like KISS

and Bon Scott from AC/DC.

♪♪♪

David Lee Roth, Van Halen.

He had this energy
and this charisma

when he hit that stage
that was just unbelievable.

I just knew that's what
I wanted to do,

and that focus went completely
into my music,

and it was no holds barred.

♪♪♪

In 1979, Bret joined forces
with drummer Rikki Rockett.

I had this band,
and we needed a singer,

and our bass player said,

"Hey, I'm working
at this restaurant,

and this guy just started
bussing over here,

and he's got his own P.A.
and he's a singer.

I'm like, he's got his own P.A.?

It--we'll figure--if he can't
sing, we'll figure it out.

[laughs]

As the Spectres,
and later Paris,

they paid their dues
cranking out cover tunes

on the Pennsylvania bar circuit.

Bret, Rikki,
bass player Bobby Dall,

and guitarist Matt Smith
packed their gear

in early 1984 and headed
for rock's Promised Land--

the Sunset Strip.

I knew the day that we left,

that our lives would never
be the same.

♪♪♪

We literally finished that show.
This is no lie.

And we drove to Los Angeles
that evening.

You have to get
outside of our comfort zone,

and the only thing you have
is each other,

and--and you better have
tough skin.

You've gotta believe in yourself
if anyone else is going to.

We bet on ourself.

I never knew
if we were gonna make it,

but I never thought
we wouldn't make it.

♪♪♪

For four boys from Pennsylvania,

the Strip was a funhouse
of decadence and debauchery--

a combustible combination
of lipstick, leather,

and power chords.

♪♪♪

The Sunset Strip in the mid '80s

was a magical
and wonderful time,

when the women wore Spandex
and the men wore Spandex.

And the women wore makeup,
and the men wore more makeup.

♪♪♪

Paris renamed themselves Poison

soon after arriving
in Hollywood.

They weren't rock stars yet.

They sure looked the part.

What we worse onstage is what
we wore on the street.

If we're gonna be somebody,

we better look like
we're somebody, you know?

I'm Bret Michaels
from the band Poison,

and this is what we're wearing
right now, and this is--

this is the--
we're setting a trend.

[laughs]

[cheering]

[laughs]

♪♪♪

On the Sunset Strip,

Bret met Tracy Lewis one night
in April of '84.

Bret was out in the--
in front of the Troubadour,

and he told me that, um,
I should come to his show.

He would make me a deal
if I came to his show

and didn't have more fun
than I had in my whole life,

he would be forced
to take me on a date.

When I met Tracy,
I thought she was hot.

I was very attracted to her.

We were best friends,
and we did everything together.

She was there very early on
in my career.

You know,
she was supportive of it.

I felt that I was in
a really great relationship.

We were in love,
desperately in love.

We...you know, we were kids.

♪♪♪

Bret's passion for Tracy was
matched only by his desire

for rock stardom.

He and Poison were on a mission
to build their audience

one flyer at a time.

You had to be smart.
You had to be a businessman.

You had to go out
and sell yourself

to get people to go
to their shows.

We're like,
"We've got to promote.

We've got to let people know
we are crazy."

So we make up
these crazy flyers.

They worked harder than any band
I've ever known.

And as scared as I was,

I mean, believe me,
I wanted to break down and cry

'cause I'm like, man,
I-I got nothing.

I'm diabetic. I've got no money.

We're out here
with what we've got.

Poison worked hard
on their music

and were desperately looking
for a record deal.

But the boys from Pennsylvania
only found abject poverty.

It was extremely tough
looking the way we did,

trying to survive.

I'm talking about living
with cockroaches,

a sleeping bag
behind a dry cleaner

in Downtown Los Angeles
for three years like that.

We lived true communal living.

I mean, there was one pot,
and we all pissed in it.

We didn't have any money.

I remember one time,
I ran out of eyeliner.

I used a Magic Marker.

We knew we were gonna have
to work part-time jobs,

whatever it took,
just to survive to eat.

♪♪♪

The struggle eventually
proved too much

for guitarist Matt Smith,

who quit Poison and returned
home in early 1985.

The band auditioned
dozens of replacements

and nearly selected a young gun
named Slash,

until platinum-haired
C.C. DeVille

walked into the room.

♪♪♪

He was the most obnoxious, loud,
boisterous, in-your-face,

sell-himself kind of guy
that you will ever meet.

♪ What you heard about me
was probably right ♪

He came in late. He didn't learn
any of the songs.

♪ I'm the boy next door ♪

How do you like my party?

♪♪♪

Bret comes in.

He goes,
"Listen, I don't care if you're

if you're
Burt fucking Bacharach.

You have to learn our songs."

♪ Number one bad boy ♪

♪♪♪

But the second he picked up
and plugged in,

he just hit some open chord.

You know, he picked it up
and he went... [imitates chord]

And I went, oh, yeah.

♪♪♪

Whoo!

The addition of C.C.

helped take Poison
to a new level of popularity.

-♪ Bad boy ♪
-[cheering]

Local buzz landed Poison a deal
with Enigma Records,

which released their debut,
"Look What the Cat Dragged In,"

in August of 1986.

♪ Oh, my God,
look what the cat dragged in ♪

♪ Livin' my life,
sin after sin ♪

But the album was flatlining
on the charts

until early 1987 when Bret
insisted they shoot a video

for the single,
"Talk Dirty To Me."

Everyone at Enigma,
everyone was ready to give up.

And I literally said,

"We need just to scrounge
enough money together,"

and I wanna say 5 to 7 grand,
which was unheard of

shooting a video back
in that day.

We brought all of our friends,
and we shot "Talk Dirty To Me."

Hit it, C.C.

♪♪♪

♪ I never ♪

♪ I never ever stay out late ♪

♪ You know
that I can hardly wait ♪

♪♪♪

♪ Just to see you ♪

I just remember that song
got stuck in my head

from the second I heard it.

There was just
this great sense of passion.

You could see that they were
enjoying themselves,

and it just challenged you
to have a good time.

They were like, "I dare you
not to enjoy this."

Between the look, the attitude,
and the music,

it was just one big hook
to pull you in.

Dude, you can't deny
a good hook, man.

♪ Talk dirty to me, yeah ♪

The video blew up on MTV,
and the exposure

turned Poison into superstars
overnight.

We truthfully believed
in what we were doing.

We were having
the time of our life.

Our dream was happening.

♪♪♪

In 1987, Poison had found
the right formula

to rock their way
into the mainstream,

but behind the musical harmony
that fueled the band

was a very turbulent
relationship.

At the same time
there was chemistry,

there was a natural friction
between Bret and I.

♪♪♪

It was a love/hate relationship
of biblical proportions.

Which would only be healthy
because it would only, like,

try to make us go
a little bit further.

That energy, that dichotomy,

that is also what makes
for an incredible song,

an incredible show.

I've talked to Bret,
and I've met C.C.

Very big personalities.

Sometimes big personalities
aren't always on the same page.

And that tension will drive you
to do something

just to go, "There you go."

It's so petty, sometimes,
being in a band,

'cause you're like,
yeah, all right,

I'll show you. Watch this.

♪♪♪

I'm not gonna say there wasn't
some truly heated times.

We could get in a knockdown,
drag-out, true fistfight,

and the next day,
you shook hands,

and you went right back to work.

♪♪♪

Despite the tension,
Poison's rock and roll fantasy

was becoming a reality.

♪ Remember the nights we sat ♪

♪ And talked
about all our dreams ♪

Their relentless work ethic
was finally paying off.

♪ We knew the things
we had to do ♪

♪ To make it, baby ♪

♪ You gotta cry tough
out on the streets ♪

♪ To make your dreams happen ♪

♪ You gotta... ♪

When I was writing the lyrics
to "Cry Tough,"

it was exactly what
was going through then

and I keep in my mind now
to this very day.

♪ You've gotta cry out,
out to the world ♪

♪ To make them all come true ♪

The spirit of Poison's songs
has always been

looking out on the horizon,
and that comes from Bret.

There's so much hope
and so much dreaming.

♪ You gotta cry out,
out on the streets ♪

One year after its release,

Poison's debut,
"Look What the Cat Dragged In,"

clawed its way
to number 3 on the charts.

And by the spring of 1987,
the album had gone platinum.

I'd like to thank all
our fans and family.

I wanna thank everyone
for doing that.

My dad for buying
the first 500,000.

-Yeah.
-[laughter]

It went insane.
We don't know what happened.

-We can't explain it.
-[screaming]

I mean, once it exploded,
it was huge. It was overnight.

I just remember we were
touring and touring,

and we did an in-store, and I
remember it was like a riot.

It was like from, like,
being nobodies

to all of a sudden, you know,
you're everywhere.

♪ Oh, ahh! ♪

[cheering]

Everything was just
bigger, better, now.

That really set up
what the '80s was.

[cheering]

And for a kid who had nothing
but wanted everything,

I mean, that was very appealing.

When Poison took their show
on the road,

they feasted
on their newfound fame.

BOTH: We're just
two rock and roll dudes

in a loose party mood.
Ow-ooh!

♪♪♪

Mayhem, chaos, pure adrenaline,
sex, drugs, and rock and roll.

♪♪♪

[cheers and laughter]

So what do you want?

Ooh, let me tell you
what I want.

♪ I want action tonight ♪

♪ Satisfaction all night ♪

This is what makes life
worthwhile on the road.

I hope that's permanent marker.

Me, too.

♪♪♪

♪ Long legs and short skirts ♪

♪ These girls hit me
where it hurts ♪

If you can't have a good time
at a Poison concert,

you're a pretty fucked up
individual.

♪ I want action tonight ♪

♪ Satisfaction all night ♪

Everybody wants to have
a good time.

People want relationships.
They want love.

♪♪♪

I think when you go
to a concert,

the music's primitive,
and that's what this party

was meant to be then and now.

♪♪♪

Poison's nonstop touring meant
the party never ended.

[laughs]

And the band had no problem
keeping pace.

Probably my biggest downfall
early in my career

was I would party for
six and seven months at a time.

Everything got out of control.

As far as
the drugs and alcohol go,

it was like a Roman candle
blowing off at both ends,

and eventually, it's gonna get
to the middle and explode.

♪♪♪

Poison's toxic lifestyle
was taking a toll

on the diabetic lead singer.

In March of '87,

Bret collapsed after
the band's biggest gig to date

at New York's
Madison Square Garden.

I didn't know where I was at.

I didn't know where
the audience was.

I couldn't think of my name.

He just went down.
It was like, wow.

I mean, it looked like Tyson
hit him or something.

-[siren wailing]
-I woke up

in the emergency room.
That's all I remember.

When that whole thing happened,
you know,

word on the street was,
you know, he's a junkie.

And that's when I decided
to tell the world.

I said,
"Look, that's not the case.

I'm a diabetic.
I'm insulin-dependent."

Being diabetic and being on
the road definitely isn't easy,

I think, sometimes to deal with.

I mean, it definitely has
its ups and downs.

I do have a handicap,

and it's just something
I've learned to deal with.

The road would soon claim
another casualty--

Bret's relationship
with first love, Tracy Lewis.

The road is not conducive
to a successful relationship.

It's really, really hard.

It is very tough being
in a committed relationship

when there is
so much temptation.

♪♪♪

All this, as they say,
forbidden fruit,

floating around out there.

I was having a hard time
liking him anymore.

He was changing.

He really wasn't anywhere

close to--to the person
that he really was.

Bret says their love affair
came to a sudden halt

in the summer of 1987

when he called Tracy
late one night

from a Dallas laundromat
and heard another man's voice

in the background.

Waiting for my clothes
to wash and dry,

used the payphone
and made a phone call, um,

to my then-girlfriend,
but I will tell you this

as a guy who thought
I was in love,

to hear her talking
and whispering

and to hear another guy's voice
in the background

was pretty devastating for me.

No. No.

There was infidelity. There were
two people in the relationship.

So you do the math.

I literally hung the phone up,
and it was an awful feeling.

And so I sat in the laundromat

and wrote
"Every Rose Has Its Thorn."

♪ We both lie silently still
in the dead of the night ♪

I wrote that song
with no intention

of it ever being a hit.

♪ Although we both lie
close together ♪

That song was just for me.

♪ We feel miles apart inside ♪

♪ Was it something I said
or something I did? ♪

♪ Did my words
not come out right? ♪

"Every Rose Has Its Thorn"
was released as a single

in December of 1988.

♪ But I guess that's why
they say ♪

♪ Every rose has its thorn ♪

The power ballad became

the ultimate '80s anthem
of heartbreak...

♪ Like every night
has its dawn ♪

...and Poison's biggest hit.

♪ Just like every cowboy ♪

♪ Sings his sad, sad song ♪

♪ Every rose has its thorn ♪

But for both Bret and Tracy,

the song's success
was bittersweet.

It wasn't until
actually I heard it on the album

that I realized, oh, my gosh,

that's like a day
out of my life.

It felt a little like
everybody's peeking in

on our heartbreak.

♪ Every rose has its thorn ♪

♪ Yeah, it does ♪

When I play "Every Rose
Has Its Thorn" today,

it will always, um, have that
feeling of bittersweet in it.

That's what the song is about.

Some of
the most incredible songs

are born from the most pain,
and people can relate.

They've gone through it.
They've been there.

They felt it.

Obviously,
with Tracy and myself,

our lives have moved on
in different directions.

She was a wonderful, awesome
human being

and a big part of my life,

but the truth of the matter is,
is that song will always

be a bittersweet moment
in my life.

♪ Every rose has its thorn ♪

♪♪♪

♪ Ooh-yow ♪

In 1988, Poison released
their second album,

"Open Up and Say... Ahh!"

It sold over 7 million copies
and launched 3 top 10 hits...

♪ I'm always workin',
slavin' every day ♪

♪ Gotta get a break
from that same old, same old ♪

...including the party anthem,
"Nothing But a Good Time."

♪ Don't need nothin'
but a good time ♪

♪ How can I resist? ♪

The great thing about that song
is that it can appeal to anyone.

They knew the spirit
of the fans.

They just wanna go
and have a good time.

It was a message Bret took
to heart each and every night.

♪ Ain't lookin' for nothing ♪

I'm done with the show.
It's 12:00 at night,

and your heart's pounding,
and you walked offstage.

I shoot down a couple shots,
and I feel great,

and a couple shots lead
to a few more shots.

Then you wanna stay up,
so it leads to some substance,

and then you wanna go to sleep,
so you take this.

And then you realize
you have a problem.

The whole band
was dabbling with drugs,

but guitarist C.C. DeVille
was hitting the hard stuff

with a vengeance.

We were very successful.
We all had money

and everything that you
can want.

And then all of a sudden,
it was like,

your real life exceeds
your dreams,

and then if you still kinda
feel empty,

well, then the drugs, like,
I don't know, let me try that.

Maybe that's it.

♪♪♪

You've got the cocaine.
You've got the booze.

You've got the women,
and the next thing you know,

you've got separate tour buses,

and the only time you're
finding yourself together

is when you meet onstage
to play,

and I think that sometimes
success can be a disaster.

During the highly successful
1990 "Flesh & Blood" tour,

substance abuse began
to tear the band apart.

The tension between C.C.
and Bret was more than evident.

Let me start,
and you build on from there.

-Go--Hey!
-Okay.

Should I argue
with the foundation?

Welcome to the 1991
MTV Video Music Awards!

[crowd cheering]

At the 1991

MTV Video Music Awards,

Poison very publicly
came unraveled

when a wasted C.C. made
a spectacle of himself.

The whole time Cece was walking
to the stage,

he kept screaming to some guy.
I don't know who the guy was,

that he wanted to do
a solo record.

And I'm like, "Solo record?
What are you talking about?"

Let's get it on.
Let's start our party

the way a party should start.

[cheering]

Poison!

♪ When I hear the music ♪

♪ I'm gon' let it play ♪

I'll tell you straight out,
it was no surprise

that C.C. had
a huge drug problem,

and C.C. was a mess.

♪♪♪

Whoo!

♪ Just to see you ♪

Whoo!

♪ And I know you cannot wait ♪

And he was so high and so drunk,

and he had no clue
what he was doing.

♪ 'Cause, baby, we'll be ♪

His guitar cord comes out.
He doesn't know it.

I'm singing "Talk Dirty To Me,"
looking over.

I gotta tell you something.
It was a moment in time

when I wish I could just stop it
and--and just start over.

-[song ends]
-Thank you!

-[cheering]
-Whoo!

Poison!

It ain't perfect,
but it's rock and roll.

We should have walked right up
there and said, "You know what?

We are in no shape to do this."

We'd been on the road
for almost a year.

All of us were partying
too much.

C.C. happened to be doing
one substance.

I happened to be doing another.

And I'm not sure what Rikki
and Bobby were doing.

It was a perfect storm,
and it was a disaster

coming from north, south,
east, and west, and it just hit.

♪♪♪

We walk off the stage, and me
and C.C. are in a fistfight.

When you take someone
that's your friend,

and you're physically punching
each other in the face,

it is an awful feeling.

There's nothing good
comes from it.

And, you know, that was that.

That was the last time
Bret and C.C. spoke for years.

Me and C.C. had knocked
some teeth out.

He broke my nose.
He got a good shot in.

He did a great shot.
I got two back, though.

So I evened it up a little bit.

But just like all the great, um,
rock and roll bands

and great head butting

I think goes on between
singer and guitar player,

uh, we took it up a notch.

That energy,
that dichotomy was for real.

After six years together,
C.C. left the band.

His departure and decline
into drug addiction

served as another major
heartbreak in Bret's life.

C.C. was literally
killing himself,

and it's painful to watch
your friend go through it,

knowing
that you can't help him.

♪♪♪

As Poison soldiered on
without C.C.,

the bottle became
Bret's new best friend.

♪♪♪

We were out hitting the bars
almost every night,

bringing home, you know,
party after party after party.

We were having, like, little
backstage Poison parties

in his living room.

I had fallen
into a period of my life--

I call it a dark period
of the most awesome partying.

And I was filling a void

of feeling
that things were changing.

Bret's hard partying would
nearly cost him his life.

In May of 1994, after a night
of drinking on the Sunset Strip,

Bret hopped into his Ferrari
and started speeding home.

He lost control of his car

and crashed head-on
into a telephone pole.

I still look
at the photo sometimes,

and I look at that car
bent back over itself

where my head went through
the windshield,

I think, man, it was--
it is amazing I'm alive.

For me, no doubt,
the defining moment of my life,

and I realized that my partying

and my lifestyle at that point
was completely out of control.

♪♪♪

Bret wasn't the only one
going down a dangerous path.

♪♪♪

After his break with Poison,

C.C. DeVille holed up
in his Hollywood Hills mansion,

indulging all his worst habits,

found himself addicted
to alcohol and cocaine.

It became the house of horrors

because I-I just, like, it was
almost like a psychosis set in.

It was dark, dark, dark,
dark times. Very dark.

When you're proverbially
in the gutter,

morally in the gutter,
death is almost welcome.

There's been many times where
I'd be like, boy, you know,

to die here would be
a lot easier

than just having to go on.

Poison replaced C.C.
with guitarist Richie Kotzen.

♪ Lately I can tell
that something ain't right ♪

But as they toured
for their fourth album,

"Native Tongue,"
Bret couldn't help but notice

that the onstage magic
was missing.

♪ I just want to know if we've
got anything left at all ♪

♪ And I say ♪

I was looking over at Richie
and saying, man,

I just wish C.C. was there.

It always felt awkward.

It feels awkward with anyone
but C.C.

♪ Tell me what to do,
I cannot make it right ♪

Poison is Bobby, Rikki,
Bret, and C.C.

That is Poison.
That will always be Poison.

We had ourselves
a hell of a run.

We were also falling apart

in every way
that you could imagine.

Just give me that
fucking camera. I hate it.

♪♪♪

As the band struggled
to bounce back

from the loss of C.C.,

changing trends
in the music industry

moved Poison
out of the mainstream.

The media and a lot of the video
programs turned their back.

They told us,
"Don't send us another video."

That was the exact words.
They were like,

"You don't need to send this
to us. We're not gonna play it."

A year later, Capitol Records

rejected the band's
"Crack a Smile..." album.

It was just a bad omen
for Poison

that they had a whole album
of material. It never came out.

♪♪♪

♪♪♪

As a musician, when you hear
people talking about you

like you're a product,
like you're a can of soda,

and, "Yeah, they're not
worth this much,"

or "They're great,"

these are the same people
that loved you,

but all of a sudden,
the media changed,

and the trends changed,

and now you weren't hip
or cool anymore.

♪ Please take the demon
from my head ♪

With Poison on hold,
Bret became

a Nashville songwriter, actor,
and independent filmmaker.

♪♪♪

While Bret shifted his career...

ex-band member C.C. DeVille
was waging a private battle

against his old enemy, cocaine.

The tricky thing is
as you do drugs,

the quality of your life
goes down to the point where

living and dying
is almost level.

And that's what's scary,

because it knocks you down
like that.

In 1996, at the age of 34,

he finally decided to get clean
by going cold turkey.

There's no great ending
to the story.

I mean, I just got sick
of being sick,

and I just said to myself,
"That's it.

You gotta get better,"
and I waited long enough

that when I said it was time
to get better, I meant it.

The fact of the matter
is that C.C.'s alive.

C.C.'s alive today
to tell about it.

Maybe the man upstairs has
a grand scheme. I don't know.

Lately, I'm trying to make
the most of while I'm here.

I'm scared to die only because
I'm scared to not be--

to be not be part of tomorrow.

♪♪♪

By 1998, Poison was ready
to get back together again.

Now that C.C.
was clean and sober,

the band decided
to tour America.

We started talking about going
back out on the road

and making music again,
and for me,

that was an incredible feeling.

It just was a time in my life

where I was just ready
to go back out.

♪♪♪

[humming guitar riff]

It's like,
even I get sick of it.

For the first time
in eight years,

Bret and C.C. were reigniting
their chemistry.

The reason the people are here
is to hear you play that.

The last time we toured,
it was like,

my solo was 25 minutes long.

Back then, you were high,
and when you're high,

you know what I'm saying?
You're...eh.

I know. We'll--We'll see.

Whatever was happening
with Poison,

trying to make a band work,
there's gonna be drama.

But when it's time to go
onstage...

changes completely.

You all come together
for that one moment,

and you go, this is everything
that we've been through.

This is everything that we are,

and this is everything
that we're going to be,

so let's go give it
to that audience.

Ladies and gentlemen!

Poison!

♪ When I hear the music,
let it play, I'm-a let it play ♪

♪ When I hear the music ♪

♪ Sure as darkness
I can see the day ♪

♪ When I hear the music,
let it play, I'm-a let it play ♪

There's a bond with Poison
that--it's unbreakable.

As much as we've beaten the hell
out of each other,

there's still a love
and a bond there.

♪ ...the music,
let it play ♪

-Whoa!
-♪ Let it play ♪

Look, I got chills.
Like, it's incredible.

For real.

♪♪♪

Your true fans don't go away.

What they play on the radio,
whether it moves up or down,

uh, sideways, your true fans
are there with ya,

and they showed up,
and I love 'em for it,

but it felt amazing to be
onstage with my buddies again,

and I look at these clips,
and I go, this is awesome.

And same exact party.

You know, four buddies
that grew up together.

It was incredible.

[shouts indistinctly]

[cheering]

The music's real.
We work hard at it.

And without Bobby, Rikki, C.C.,
I would not be sitting here

having this conversation
with you.

[cheering]

After Poison's
triumphant 1999 reunion,

Bret Michaels spent
the next few years

splitting his time between
the band and his solo career.

♪ When everyone turns to go,
I won't leave you ♪

♪ When everything new gets old ♪

♪ I won't listen ♪

Creatively, he was firing
on all cylinders.

♪ All I ever needed was you ♪

And in 2007,
Bret got a phone call

that would bring him
continued success.

VH1 asked him to headline
a dating show

called "Rock of Love."

"Rock of Love" tapped

into the perfectly symbiotic
relationship

between rock stars
and the women who love them.

Are we ready to rock
each other's worlds?

[cheering]

And when the cameras
began to roll,

Bret was ready to rock.

♪♪♪

What did you need?

Oh. Would you like me
to arrange it?

Yes.

♪ Please let me
introduce myself ♪

♪ I'm gonna get you off
like there's no one else ♪

Being one of the first people
to step into reality TV,

especially as a musician,
you have to see the big picture.

♪♪♪

We love Bret Michaels! Whoo!

♪♪♪

The show revved up
the rocker's music career,

turning him
into a pop culture icon

for a second time.

♪ My ring back ♪

♪ Bittersweet, bittersweet ♪

All of a sudden,
that new realm,

that new world of reality TV and
being an artist or a musician,

it just collided.

♪♪♪

But I was about to go through
a pretty low moment in my life.

♪♪♪

In 2000, Bret found
a new experience

that rocked his world--

fatherhood.

♪ When I hold you
in my arms ♪

Daughter Raine Elizabeth
was born to Bret

and girlfriend
Kristi Lynn Gibson.

They welcomed a second daughter,
Jorja Blue, five years later.

♪ Give you love,
give you strength ♪

♪ Get you through
your darkest days ♪

♪ You are my flesh,
you are my blood ♪

♪ And I will always
stand by you, I will ♪

The love that I have
for my two daughters,

Raine and Jorja, is it's
truly unconditional love.

♪ Give me your hand,
I'll pull you through, I will ♪

There's no words that quite
describe the emotion

of what you feel
when you have a child.

I truly understand
what it means, too,

when you say,
"I will die for you."

No words spoken.

Don't need to say anything.
I would die for my kids.

♪♪♪

My family,
Kristi and Raine and Jorja,

it's a big part of who I am.

Kristi and I,
we are extremely close.

She is an incredible, incredible
human being,

not just as a mom,
but as a great person,

and so we just,
every day make it work.

♪♪♪

Bret strived to balance
family life

with his time on the road.

♪ World keeps turning ♪

♪ A lesson you keep learning ♪

♪ Sometimes things don't
turn out like they should ♪

♪ But it's all good ♪

♪♪♪

But one night before a show
in Texas,

things began to go
horribly wrong.

I'm in San Antonio,

and I have this unbelievable
pain in my lower stomach.

And I thought, uh, for sure,
that it was just the flu.

I'm like,
I can get through this.

♪♪♪

Next thing I know, I ended up
in the emergency room

with an emergency appendectomy.

[monitor beeping steadily]

After successful surgery
to repair his burst appendix,

Bret was forced off the road
and sent home to recuperate.

I get home,
sit down on my couch,

and I'm flipping channels,
and it was instant.

There's a...

...into my brain.

I had
a subarachnoid brain hemorrhage.

The appendectomy blood clot
floated up, shot through

up into my brain and exploded.

Literally, it explodes
in your brain,

and there is no pain
like that pain,

and there's no way
to get rid of it.

[siren wailing in distance]

I end up in ICU

on the verge of living or dying,
you're not sure.

And I'm thinking,
"Isn't this gonna kill me?"

FEMALE REPORTER:
After complaining

of a severe headache Thursday,
the 47-year-old suffered

an apparent
subarachnoid brain hemorrhage.

From the pain, you sort of go
into your own form of a coma.

♪♪♪

And...I woke up
three days later.

Yeah, this is--
this is a big deal,

and thankfully, Bret Michaels
is conscious at this point.

NARRATOR:
After undergoing brain surgery,

Bret was confined
to a hospital bed for weeks.

While recuperating, he lost
his ability to walk and talk.

I was driven to walk
and talk again.

I crawled onto that hallway,
up and down,

driving everyone crazy
'cause middle of the night,

I just kept going.

Started to feel strong.
Went home.

And the first thing
I did when I got back

is I picked up
my youngest daughter JJ.

♪♪♪

And I have a TIA,
which is a stroke.

[siren wailing]

Left side of my body
completely went numb.

Back in the emergency room,

and I'm like,
this can't be happening.

♪♪♪

While running tests,
Bret's doctors discovered

another very serious issue.

They said,
"Something else is wrong."

I'm like, "Oh, no. Please
don't--what's wrong now?"

They come back in
with a specialist,

and it ends up I have a hole
in my heart.

♪♪♪

Talk about a low moment
in your life.

That's a low moment.

♪♪♪

Talk about trying to dig in
and find that inner faith,

inner strength,
whatever you wanna call it.

That's--That's when you gotta
dig in deep.

-[monitor beeping steadily]
-When you're laying there,

and it's gonna take you
and the help

of the great people around you
to--to survive.

♪ I felt so cold and empty ♪

♪ Like a lost soul
out of place ♪

I can't let fear creep in.
It's there.

It's always knocking
at the door,

but I don't wanna spin
in that direction.

♪♪♪

I said if I get a chance...

♪ And give me something
to believe in ♪

I've always been grateful,
but you're gonna see

a mega level of gratefulness.

♪ Something to believe in ♪

A gear I never even knew
was in the car.

♪ Give me something
to believe in ♪

I got that chance again,

and I just let it rock
from there.

♪ Something to believe in ♪

After surgery to repair
his heart,

Bret was back on his feet.

♪♪♪

I am grateful to be here.

You talk about adding on
to "Behind the Music,"

I am grateful to be here
on many different levels.

[laughs]

♪♪♪

Are you ready?!

-[cheering]
-Please welcome...

Bret...Michaels!

♪♪♪

Just months after
leaving the hospital,

Bret was ready to take
the stage once again

with Poison and his solo band.

♪ I remember ♪

I still have the pain
in my brain.

Still got body not quite
working right.

♪ Doctor told me
I've got a disease ♪

♪ That's gonna keep me sick ♪

But I know one thing about me.
I have to go out and try.

♪ So damn depressed ♪

And it was
the most incredible show,

but I couldn't move
like I like to move.

I couldn't quite talk
like I like to talk.

But it was an incredible,
unbelievable moment in my life.

♪ Play me good time music ♪

You know when some people say,
"I'm grateful for fans"?

♪♪♪

I am beyond grateful, because
they were life-saving to me.

Their good will and good spirit
was--was a big part

of why I'm sitting here today.

♪♪♪

My love of the fans
is always the same.

I will be in that parking lot
throwing a football,

partying with people,
having a great time,

and it's about the fans.

♪♪♪

[cheering]

Thank you!

♪♪♪

Bret has never stopped writing
and producing new music,

evolving into one of rock's
most consistent forces.

♪ Love and pain and sacrifice ♪

The cool thing about Bret--

he does stuff
that's a little outside

of what he would do with Poison.

It's about being able to share
music with your fans

and challenge the way
they hear you.

Nobody does it better than him
in a lot of ways.

All right, let's go.

♪♪♪

Bret has worked with
Loretta Lynn and Miley Cyrus.

♪ Won't you fall down on me ♪

♪ So close
I can feel you breathe ♪

♪ Ah, ah, ah ♪

And he had
a profound musical connection

with Stevie Nicks.

To be able to work
with someone like Stevie Nicks,

everything I dreamed about
what music would be like

if I went to Los Angeles
came true.

We went in the studio,
and we sat there,

and it was one of the most
magical nights of my life.

♪♪♪

But Bret's
most impactful collaboration

was with his daughter Jorja...

♪ Broken ♪

...who is following
in her dad's footsteps

as an aspiring singer
and songwriter.

♪ Choking ♪

I was having a tough time
with my diabetes,

and, uh, was having
some severe highs and lows

and trying to get it
into control,

so I was fighting with that.
I was getting a little down.

And my daughter was going
through what--what

everybody's going through
with social media.

And I could tell that Jorja
was really down.

And we just started
writing lyrics.

And together,
we wrote "Unbroken,"

and it is truly
about perseverance.

♪ On broken wings, I shall fly ♪

♪ And from these ashes,
I shall rise ♪

♪ Unbroken ♪

I love my daughters, and you
hope that you set an example

and lead by that example.

I have a fighting spirit.

I don't want them to think
that every day you wake up

and it's, oh, man,
everything's going great.

What I try to teach 'em
is how to handle

when adversity comes at you.

♪ I shall remain ♪

♪ Unbroken ♪

♪♪♪

All those ups and downs
that he had,

he's still just Bret Michaels,
man,

giving everything's he got--
that's so infectious.

You have to have perseverance.

That determination, that energy
that defines who you are...

♪♪♪

...you have to take that risk
if you wanna succeed.

♪♪♪

You just have to stay
in the game.

You have to constantly face
the challenges.

You gotta love
what you're doing.

♪ Mama's fallen angel ♪

But the most important thing--
you gotta bet on yourself.

♪ Win big,
Mama's fallen angel ♪

♪ Lose it all,
rolling the dice of her life ♪

[song ends]

[cheering]

♪ Never coming back
until I touch the midnight sun ♪

♪ Ride the wind,
never coming back again ♪

♪ Ride the wind ♪

♪ Never coming back until
I touch the midnight sun ♪

♪ Ride the wind,
never coming back again ♪

♪ Ride the wind ♪

♪ Never coming back until
I touch the midnight sun ♪