Nirvana killed hair/glam metal in the early 90’s. An adage as old as time. Is it true? Yeah, it definitely was to a large extent. A lot of metal musicians definitely blamed the demise of their popularity on the grunge wave that swept the globe after the first chord of ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ hit MTV rotation, but Poison‘s Bret Michaels ain’t one of those bitter metal musicians.
According to a new interview he did with AZ Central, he offered a refreshingly mature and self-reflective take on the initial baton passing between 80’s metal and the ‘Seattle Sound’. Per Michaels:
“I blame nobody. There was definitely a change in the music business but I only blame myself. There was a lot of partying.” He went on to state that he was actually a fan of the grunge wave: “Grunge was great. We used Nirvana’s director, Sam Bayer, on 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?”
Michaels goes on to explain that life (and trends) are cyclical, and that it’s just all part of the bigger game of life:
“I don’t have a victim mentality. I take responsibility for things that happen. You own it and you just keep rocking. That’s what happened. Within a couple years, everything comes right back around. All you can do is just be who you are and stick to your guns. And it all came back bigger and better than ever.”
In the end, though, we’d agree with Michaels that it’s all worked out pretty well for Poison, Mötley Crüe and the rest of their peer group. Their latest stadium tour has thrown up incredible sales numbers night after night. Michaels seems acutely aware that the fans are what makes it all possible, saying “A rock audience is a lot like a country audience. They’re very loyal. So they never got the Post-it Note that said, ‘You’re not supposed to like this.'”
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