Former Poison frontman -- and the pride of Mechanicsburg, PA -- Bret Michaels is set to release a tell-all book this June. You heard correct, folks: Christmas is coming early this year. Roses and Thorns: The Rock 'n' Roll Fantasy to My Reality will prove to set itself apart from Motley Crue's The Dirt and Aerosmith's Walk This Way, two similar books that exposed the super-secret world of nailing rock 'n' roll groupies. What the previous two books lacked, in lieu of the obvious hand sanitizer, was Michaels' unique take on being a bona fide reality TV star, commandeering the titular role on VH1's Rock of Love, now in it's third, absolutely amazing season.
Most red-blooded Americans have a soft spot for '80s hair bands (at
least one song, admit it), but Michaels will be able to elaborate on
his dealings as the object of affection of no less than 75 hand-picked
young women all vying to be his rock of love. That admission alone
should sell no less than 5 million copies, but I suppose I will just
have to wait until this summer to see if my prediction will hold up.
Michaels became a household name cutting his teeth with hair-metal rockers Poison in the early 1980s. Michaels sang lead vocals while sharing much of the spotlight with the much-maligned cocaine fiend CC DeVille (not his real name), the band's lead guitarist. The band's second album, 1988's Open Up and Say...Ahh! went on to sell 8 million copies, back in a time when people actually bought albums. That album contained the band's smash hit ballad "Every Rose Has Its Thorn," quite possibly the one thing people yell at Michaels the most when they see him on the street.
What makes Michaels so unique, as I have mentioned, is his turn as Bret Michaels, the star of VH1's deliciously catty Rock of Love series. With his brilliant piece of broadcast history, Bret Michaels has endeared himself to a whole new slew of fans that may or may not admit to actually listening to any of his solo records. For all intents and purposes, I watch the show religiously and enjoy just about every single minute of it. I wasn't old enough to appropriately be a big fan of Poison, but I respect their place in the pantheon of Sunset Strip hair metal bands. None of that matters, though, because Rock of Love has catapulted Bret Michaels onto pop culture's radar, and his show will most likely sell more than its fair share of copies of Michaels' book (including my copy).
I constantly revel in the genius of Bret Michaels, and upon hearing he was writing a book, I just had to sit there and applaud. The man is on fire these days, and I assume he lives rather comfortably, even in this financial climate. I selfishly hope Bret Michaels never finds true love just so I can see VH1 squeeze out yet another groundbreaking season of Rock of Love. Even if he does find that one lady who he can settle down with, I can take some solace in the fact I will at least have his life's story prominently displayed on my bookshelf.
Read the original article at Billboard here.
Bret Michaels and Poison will reuinite for a summer tour that comes to Phoenix on August 29.
