Poison’s Bret Michaels recently joined AZ Central for an interview and stated he wasn’t aware that he and Alice In Chains were in a fight, referring to the massive success that they achieved while opening for Poison.
Formed in 1983, Poison enjoyed massive success in the mid-1980s and mid-1990s with their number 1 single, ‘Every Rose Has Its Thorn,’ and several other chart successes. After their breakthrough debut, ‘Look What The Cat Dragged In,’ they released ‘Open Up And Say… Ahh!’ and ‘Flesh & Blood.’
Their ‘Flesh & Blood’ album spawned two top 5 hits and ended up being their best-selling album. While the band was enjoying the album’s success, glam metal was on the edge of losing popularity due to the rise of the grunge movement. While touring for ‘Flesh & Blood,’ Poison recorded their first live album titled ‘Swallow This Live’ in 1991.
A month before ‘Swallow This Live’s release, Nirvana released their breakthrough hit ‘Nevermind,’ and Alice In Chains released ‘Dirt.’ Grunge’s rise and the success of these albums affected Poison’s record sales. Besides, the band went through several lineup changes, which negatively affected their creative process.
Speaking to AZ Central in a recent interview, Bret Michaels revealed whether there was animosity between Poison and the grunge bands like Nirvana and Alice In Chains. Michaels said that although it was rumored there was bad blood between them, Poison actually worked with Nirvana’s director in the video to ‘Stand.’ He added that Alice In Chains’ first arena concert was opening for Poison. Bret praised Alice In Chains’ success by recalling his first reaction to the band’s performance, which made him realize that they were a band that Poison should pay attention to.
Here is what Bret Michaels told AZ Central:
“Grunge was great. We used Nirvana’s director, Sam Bayer, in the video to ‘Stand.’ Alice In Chains’ first arena show was opening for Poison. I was like, ‘I didn’t know I was in a fight with Alice In Chains. They were just at my house riding go-karts,’ you know what I mean?”
According to Bret Michaels, there were no issues between Poison and Alice In Chains. As he recalls, the band opened for Poison for their first arena performance and even spent time in his house riding go-karts
