Poison drummer Rikki Rockett has opened up about his decision to carry on the band’s legacy through his own project, Rockett Mafia, in a recent interview.
When asked about the upcoming Rockett Mafia show on August 29 and what led to the 2026 tour, Rockett explained how the absence of any Poison plans for the band’s 40th anniversary pushed him to take action on his own.
“Well, I’ve been doing some gigs with Rockett Mafia, it’s a fun thing that I put together a couple of years ago,” he said. “And you know, when I found out Poison wasn’t going to tour and do commemorate a 40-year anniversary, I thought, well, maybe I’ll do that.”
Rockett also addressed how he wanted to distinguish the project from anything Poison itself would do, particularly by performing the full Look What the Cat Dragged In record — something he noted the band would never do as a unit.
“But how can I do it that the way Poison wouldn’t do it or you know I don’t want to compete with like what Bret’s trying to do,” he continued. “I realized that Poison would never do the whole ‘Look What the Cat Dragged In’ record. Like just that wouldn’t be in our wheelhouse. We do a bunch of Poison songs. That’s how that would go. So I thought, well, maybe that’d be a cool thing.”
After consulting with agents and industry contacts, Rockett said the response was encouraging enough to move forward.
“So I kind of asked a few people, a couple agents, different people, is this a good idea or is it cheesy? And they’re like, ‘No, I think it’s a really good idea,'” he said. “So, I said, ‘Let’s do it. Let’s have some fun with this. It’s only going to be a year. It’s only going to be the issue.’ Because next year it won’t be the 40th.”
Rockett emphasized that the project is not meant to function as a tribute act, but rather as Rockett Mafia performing the Poison record in their own right.
“So we went for it and it’s been a lot of fun. Like, it’s been received really well,” he said. “Because we’re not trying to do it we’re not trying to be a Poison tribute band and I happen to be in it. We’re doing it like Rockett Mafia is doing the Poison Record. So, that’s the approach because otherwise it’d be super cheesy.”
The comments come as Poison frontman Bret Michaels has yet to announce any plans for the band’s live return, leaving Rockett to mark the milestone anniversary on his own terms.
Look What the Cat Dragged In was released in 1986, making 2026 the album’s 40th anniversary. Rockett clearly felt the milestone deserved recognition, even without the full band on board.
The debut record was a defining moment for Poison and for the glam metal era as a whole. It launched the band into mainstream visibility at a time when MTV was the primary gateway to rock stardom. Over the course of their career, Poison went on to sell 50 million records worldwide, cementing their place as one of the best-selling acts to emerge from the 1980s hard rock scene.
The anniversary has generated renewed interest in the band’s catalog, with retrospectives framing Look What the Cat Dragged In as a landmark release that helped define the MTV era of rock. Rockett’s decision to perform the album in full taps directly into that renewed attention.
With no Poison reunion on the horizon and Bret Michaels showing no public indication of a return to the stage with the band, Rockett’s Rockett Mafia project stands as the most active acknowledgment of the anniversary from within the band’s own ranks. For fans looking to mark the occasion live, the August 29 show may be the closest thing to a proper celebration they get this year.
