Bret Michaels Recalls Fistfight with Bandmate C.C. DeVille at 1991 VMAs: 'Craziest Moment in Our Career'

Mar. 15, 2025

Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic

Bret Michaelsis opening up about a darker time inPoison’s history.

He remembers hearing the opening riff to “Talk Dirty to Me” seconds later. “I’m like, ‘Holy f—, we’re supposed to be playing ‘Unskinny Bop’ and we’re now live doing ‘Talk Dirty to Me.’ "

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C.C. DeVille and Bret Michaels of Poison performing in 2011.Tim Mosenfelder/Getty

Tim Mosenfelder/Getty

DeVille then stepped on his guitar cable mid-performance, unplugging it for a few as the rest of the band played on. They made it through the song — but backstage, things got ugly.

“It was an instant knock down, drag out fistfight,” Michaels recalls. “Here we are fighting, rolling on the ground, underneathCindy CrawfordandArsenio Hallwho are trying to move out of our way because they have to go out and introduce the next band.”

“A couple of broken noses and loss of a tooth or two and we parted ways that evening, for a little while,” Michaels says.

C.C. DeVille and Bret Michaels perform together in 2012.Victor Chavez/WireImage

Though Poison’s original lineup did cease to exist after that night in 1991, the rest of the band moved forward with guitarist Richie Kotzen for several years. In 1996, Michaels and DeVille were able to make amends, and the band returned to its original lineup.

Speaking with PEOPLE in April 2023, Michaels hinted that Poison has more rocking to come. In 2025, he said, “Poison is going to come back together as the original four, reunited and undivided.”

He also called DeVille “one of my best friends now.”

“There’s a brotherhood and a love there,” he added. “We’re never breaking up.”

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source: people.com