Bret Michaels was born Bret Michael Sychak on March 15, 1963 in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania. But he was raised in Harrisburg, PA. While there he spent the majority of his time riding motorcycles and listening to rock music. He cites Kiss, AC/DC,, Sweet, and Aerosmith as early musical influences. He began his musical career in a band called Lazer. Fron there, he formed the band Sprectres, with fellow Poison member Rikki Rockett. A year or so later, the two met Bobby Dall and the three formed a band called Paris. This was the beginning of Poison. In 1983, the three moved to Los Angeles and guitarist C. C. Deville joined the group.

Bret has said in many interviews that he had his share of partying in those early days. However, he has also had to deal with the very real and, at times, life-threatening, business of suffering from diabetes since the age of 6. This disease forces hime to monitor his blood sugar and take several insulin shots each day. Life on the road with this desease has also caused more than a few misunderstandings. People have often mistaken Bret for a drug addict after they have found his used syringes in the trash in his hotel rooms. One maid even called the police to report that she had found his needles. Bret had to go to the police station to prove that he was a drug user.

Since Poison took a break from recording in the early '90's, Bret has stayed busy in the entertainment industry by becoming active in the world of acting and movies. He made his acting debut as a rock singer in the pilot on the short-lived series Burke's Law. In late 1995, he moved to Nashville to begin shooting a movie script that he had written called A Letter From Death Row. He was a very busy man on this movie shoot. He not only wrote, starred in, directed ,and produced it, but he also wrote the soundtrack, did his own stunts, did some of the camera work, and catered the food. He showed the completed movie to his good friend, Charlie Sheen, who offered to appear in it. This project spawned the creation of Sheen/Michaels Entertainment which would produce several other projects before its apparent demise.

Quick Facts

BIRTHDAY: March 15
BIRTHPLACE: Pittsburgh, PA
Height: 5' 10"
Weight: 142 pounds
Influences: Kiss, AC/DC, Sweet, Aerosmith
First Concert: Sweet
Former Jobs: Cook, busboy, delivery man, maintenance worker
Instruments: Guitar, piano, harmonica
First Band: Laser
Favorite Movie: Rambo
Favorite Actors: Sylvester Stallone, Mel Gibson, Rutger Hauer
Favorite Actresses: Jami Gertz, Kelly LeBrock, Brigitte Nielsen
Favorite Book: The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton
Marital Status: Single, but has had a girlfirend for several years. One daughter.

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