Bret Michaels

Bret Michaels

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Birth name: Bret Michael Sychak
Date of birth: 15 March 1963
Place of birth: Butler, Pennsylvania, USA
Nickname: Mike
Height: 5′ 9″ (1.75 m)

Famous Quote: “I am truly independently owned and operated. Any band that is out there chasing it is doing more destruction to music then someone who is out there playing what they truly feel. I’m addicted to creating and writing. I’ve had plenty of big hits and plenty of big misses. Thoroughly read all your contracts. I really mean thoroughly.”

Contact Address and Autograph: Addresses and fan mail information

Bret Michaels
BMIFC, PMB 346
23679 Calabasas Road
Calabasas, CA 91302-1502, USA 

Biography:  Bret Michael Sychak, (born March 15, 1963 in Butler, Pennsylvania) is best known as the lead vocalist of the glam metal band Poison and starring in the reality show Rock of Love & Rock of Love 2 with Bret Michaels on VH1. glam rock front man and eventual reality television personality Bret Michaels set his sights on a music career at a young age. After his family relocated from Butler to Mechanicsburg, Michaels performed in a few bands before forming Paris in 1984. The band moved from Harrisburg to Los Angeles, CA, renaming themselves Poison after hearing a group of angry parents protesting that rock music was poisoning their children. 

They toured the local club scene, gaining a large following, thanks to raucous live performances fueled by their hard-partying reputation. The heavily made-up band – complete with lipstick and eyeshadow – signed a recording deal with Enigma Records in 1986 and released their debut album Look What the Cat Dragged In, which featured their first hit “Talk Dirty to Me.” The record went on to sell over two million copies. Their next effort, Open Up and Say…Ahh! propelled Michaels and the band into the limelight, thanks to their most recognized hit, the ballad “Every Rose Has its Thorn.” By the end of the 1980s, Poison had become a top-selling band featured heavily in MTV’s video rotation.

Michaels formed the band Paris in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania in 1984. The original lineup for Paris was Leighton “Tugger” 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 the clubs there. Poison became one of the biggest heavy metal/Pop metal bands in the world and also recording several hit albums such as the 8 million seller Open up and say …Ahh!.

Bret Michaels recorded his first solo album in 1998 ‘A Letter From Death Row’ a soundtrack to the movie he directed, wrote and starred in. In 2003 Michaels released the solo 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.

The song “Talk Dirty to Me” appears in the video game Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock. Michaels also makes an appearance as the lead singer in the game for it, as well as his solo song “Go That Far”, re-recording the vocals for the in-game cover of the latter. Michaels’ song Every Rose Has It’s Thorn also appears in the Sony PlayStation game “Sing-Star”.

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, as well as releasing a soundtrack album. They also produced No Code Of Conduct in the same year. Their company also produced the feature film Free Money, starring Marlon Brando and Mira Sorvino. Michaels continued to work with Poison, finally going on tour in 1999 to support the band’s Greatest Hits album, a tour that featured a rejuvenated DeVille. The band enhanced its newfound popularity after taking part in an episode of VH1’s “Behind the Music” (1997-2006), which highlighted their well-known partying lifestyle. After a successful reunion tour, Poison hit the skids again with Hollyweird, a mess of an album that was panned by fans and critics alike. Meanwhile, Michaels made more headlines, thanks to a sex tape with Pamela Anderson that made the Internet and DVD rounds before he successfully stopped continued distribution.

Michaels appeared in an episode of the CBS sitcom Yes, Dear. 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. Jes was the winner of the series; She also had a boyfriend outside the show and claimed that the casting directors chose her off the street. However, she announced during the reunion show that she and Michaels were not right for each other and he should have chosen the runner up, Heather. Taking another path, in 2007, Michaels became the latest celebrity to land a reality show, starring in “Rock of Love With Bret Michaels” (2007- ), a “Bachelor”-esque style competition for the big-haired crowd, that pitted a group of female suitors against each other in a series of challenges including an album photo cover shoot and a phone sex competition that ultimately determined which one could keep up with Michaels’ notorious lifestyle. Michaels picked the eventual winner, Jes, from two finalists, but she obviously felt otherwise and said he had better chemistry with runner-up Heather. The show was renewed for a second season that aired in January 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”. 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. Michaels has suffered from Type 1 diabetes since 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). As a child, his family relocated to Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, where he attended Mechanicsburg High School.

Bret Michaels was associated with singer Susie Hatton during the early 1990s. He has two daughters with Kristi Lynn Gibson. Raine Elizabeth Sychak was born on May 20, 2000, and Jorja Bleu Sychak was born May 5, 2005. As of 2007, Michaels and Gibson are separated and share custody of their children. There are rumors that they still have a live in arrangement.

Is an insulin-dependent diabetic. Used to date singer Susie Hatton and later Pamela Anderson. He dedicated his “Show Me Your Hits – A Salute To Poison” album to the birth of his daughter Raine Michaels and girlfriend Kristi Gibson, who gave birth to Raine in 2000. The album was also dedicated to the rest of the members of Poison who allowed him to re-record some of Poison’s hit songs. Guests who performed on the album included Pauly Shore, Mark Kendall from rock band Great White, Tracii Guns from LA Guns and many more.

Often collaborates with longtime friend, Shane Stanley. Born and raised in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Shares a birthday with Twisted Sister lead singer Dee Snider. He is a judge on the 2005 season of Nashville Star on the USA Network. Daughter, Raine Elizabeth (born May 2000) with girlfriend Kristi. Second Daughter, Jorja Bleu (born 5 May 2005). She weighed 6lbs 8ozs. Is an avid fan of the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Michaels had a short but notorious relationship with Pamela Anderson. An explicit sex tape the couple made appeared on the Internet and it was released as a DVD on September 7, 2005 by Metro Studios. Michaels later stopped the sexually explicit tape from continued distribution although it is still widely available on the internet. Word of another sex tape, this time with unnamed girls from Rock of Love surfaced in early 2008. Michaels is a fan of the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League. He has a personalized guitar bearing the team’s logo, and played the national anthem at Three Rivers Stadium. His favorite player was Jack Lambert, and Michaels has been a member of fan club “Lambert’s Lunatics.”

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