Current Members:

Bret Michaels
Bobby Dall
Rikki Rocket
C.C. DeVille

Former Members:
Blues Saraceno
Richie Kotzen
Matt Smith

Poison is an American glam metal band which originally achieved popular success in the late 1980s and early 1990s. They have sold more than 25 million albums worldwide.
Bret Michaels and Rikki Rockett had their first band in 1982 called Spectres when Michaels and Rockett were still in high school. Michaels said Poison is the "ultimate garage band," as they started out with something like ten members: "If you had an instrument, you could be in the band. Then, if you couldn't make it to practice, you were no longer in. After it's all done, there's four or five people left, and that's your band."
Poison began life in 1984 under the name Paris and consisted of lead vocalist Bret Michaels, guitarist Matt Smith, bassist Bobby Dall, and drummer Rikki Rockett. Moving to Los Angeles in 1985, they started playing the club circuit. The name Poison was picked by the band after a T-shirt worn by drummer Mick Shrimpton in This is Spinal Tap, as the band knew that they fit the stereotypes of rock stars in the movie. When asked why they were named Paris, all the members said in unison, "Une prostituee Francaise suggere le nom," roughly translating to "A French prostitute suggested the name."
Michaels, Dall, Rockett and DeVille signed to independent label Enigma Records in 1986 for approximately $US 30,000. Their debut album, Look What the Cat Dragged In was released on August 2, 1986. In 1987 the band also recorded a cover of the Kiss song "Rock And Roll All Nite" for Less Than Zero's soundtrack.

Poison's second album, Open Up and Say...Ahh!, which was released on May 21, 1988 would ultimately go on to sell 8 million copies worldwide. The record included the band's biggest hit, "Every Rose Has Its Thorn," along with other top 10 hits, "Nothin' But A Good Time", "Fallen Angel" and the Loggins and Messina cover "Your Mama Don't Dance." Poison's third album, Flesh & Blood, released on June 21, 1990, also was highly successful.
Despite Poison's success, DeVille's cocaine and alcohol addictions had begun to cause strife in the band. Conflict between Michaels and DeVille culminated in a fistfight backstage at the 1991 MTV Video Music Awards, provoked by DeVille's inept live performance. The band played Unskinny Bop during a commercial break. DeVille commenced playing with his guitar unplugged and later began playing the wrong song. Deville was fired and replaced by Pennsylvanian guitarist Richie Kotzen.
Poison's fifth album, Native Tongue was released on February 8, 1993. The record was strongly influenced by Kotzen's fresh songwriting contributions and guitar performance.

Poison began recording its sixth album, Crack a Smile, in 1994. Recording was brought to an abrupt halt in May 1994, when Michaels was involved in an accident in which he lost control of his Ferrari. Michaels suffered a broken nose, ribs, jaw, and fingers and lost four teeth. After his recovery in 1995, the band continued recording.

Hollyweird is the ninth Poison studio album, which was released on May 21, 2002. It was Poison's first full album of new material with C.C. DeVille back in the band. The album was heavily criticized by both critics and fans, with many feeling it had poor production quality. During the summer of 2004, Poison finally proved their recovery complete, although the band were largely inactive for 2005, taking time off in the confident knowledge that the band would still be stable on their return.

After a year off, Poison returned. They celebrated its 20th anniversary with a "20 Years Of Rock" tour in the summer of 2006, with fellow rockers Cinderella and Endeverafter opening.
In 2007 they released their covers album, named Poison'd! On July 13,2007, they performed at glam metal festival "Rocklahoma."