Bret Michaels Net Worth, Career, Biography, Facts, Age, Life Story

Bret Michaels is an American rock star and reality TV personality who has a net worth of $16 million. Bret is best known for his role as the lead singer for the popular rock band Poison during the 80s and 90s. Outside of Poison, Michaels has released a number of successful solo albums over the course of his career. He also makes frequent appearances on various reality TV shows.

Early Life: Bret Michael Sychak was born on March 15th of 1963 in Butler, Pennsylvania. Raised in Mechanicsburg alongside two sisters, Bret was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes from an early age. While attending high school, he joined his first rock band as a teen. Around this time, he adopted the stage name “Bret Michaels.”

Career: Some of Michaels’ earliest connections in the music industry were Rikki Rockett and Bobby Dall – two future members of Poison. By 1984, they had been joined by Matt Smith to form the band Poison. After moving to Los Angeles, the group found greater opportunities in the city’s rising music scene.

Eventually, Smith was replaced by C.C. DeVille. As word spread across Los Angeles, Poison was eventually offered a record deal with Enigma Records. Look What the Cat Dragged In was their first album, and it initially fell under the radar. However, after Bret Michaels organized a popular music video for the track “Talk Dirty to Me,” Look What the Cat Dragged In went platinum.  The group quickly rose to incredible fame, headlining a concert at Madison Square Garden.

Over the next few years, Poison released tracks like “Every Rose Has Its Thorn” (a power ballad about Michaels’ breakup with his girlfriend) and “Nothin’ but a Good Time.” Both hits were on Poison’s second studio album, Open Up and Say… Ahh! The album achieved multi-platinum status, and it’s widely considered one of their finest. In 1990, they achieved multi-platinum status once again with Flesh & Blood.

However, conflicts within the band soon reached a fever pitch, and this arguments seriously impacted their ability to release successful music over the next period. In particular, Bret Michaels and C.C. DeVille got into fierce arguments – often while on stage. Behind closed doors, they were often getting into fistfights, and they allegedly brawled backstage after the 1991 MTV Video Music Awards. Eventually, C.C. DeVille left the band as a result.

Poison hired Richie Kotzen as a replacement, and they subsequently released the album Native Tongue. The album received mixed reviews and achieved gold status. Further issues arose with Kotzen, and he was replaced by Blues Saraceno. In 2000, Poison released Crack a Smile… And More!, which received better reviews. Michaels suffered several serious injuries after crashing his Ferrari, and subsequently embarked on a solo career while keeping his position within Poison.

Bret’s first solo album was 1998’s A Letter from Death Row, which accompanied his film of the same name. After experimenting with Country music, Michaels then released the album Songs of Life. His next album was the country-oriented Freedom of Sound. In 2010, he released the album Custom Built, which featured the chart-topping collaboration with Miley Cyrus, “Nothing to Lose.” In 2012, Bret Michaels toured alongside Def Leppard, one of the best bands of the 80s. In 2015, he released another album called True Grit.

Television and Film: In 1998, Bret Michaels wrote, directed, and starred in the film Letter from Death Row. The film was co-produced by Charlie Sheen. Later, Sheen and Michaels would produce various other films such as No Code of Conduct, Free Money, and In God’s Hands. In 2005, Michaels served as a judge on the reality TV show Nashville Star.

In 2007, he starred in his own reality TV show called Rock of Love with Bret Michaels. In 2020, Bret starred in another reality TV show called Bret Michaels: Life as I Know It. Michaels won Celebrity Apprentice 3 on NBC. Bret also appeared on shows like American Idol, Good Morning America, Yes, Dear, The Chris Isaak Show, Don’t Forget the Lyrics!, and The Masked Singer.

Relationships: During the filming of Bret Michaels: Life as I Know It, Bret proposed to his longtime partner Kristi Lynn Gibson. During their relationship, they had two children together. They announced their separation in 2012. Bret Michaels was also romantically involved with Pamela Anderson, and he was the other party in Anderson’s infamous sex tape. His attorney fought to obtain a federal jurisdiction preventing the distribution of the tape, although it was released on the internet and later on DVD.

Health Issues: Michaels had struggled with health issues throughout his career. During an early Poison concert, Bret collapsed on stage. After the media spread stories suggesting that it was the result of a drug overdose, Michaels was forced to admit that he had Type 1 diabetes. In 2010, he received hospital treatment after experiencing severe numbness in the left side of his body. Doctors determined that he had a heart issue, which may have been related to a brain hemorrhage he suffered weeks earlier.

Real Estate: In 2006, Michaels acquired a property in Scottsdale, Arizona for $2.205 million. The 6,300-square-foot home sits on a five-acre compound. In 2014, Bret purchased a property in Calabasas, California, for $3.05 million. A year later in 2015, he tried to flip the property for $3.649 million, and in 2016 he managed to sell it for just over $3.4 million. The 6,797-square-foot house features an extensive outdoor area with a pool and spa.

Not long after putting his Calabasas property up for sale, Michaels splurged on a $3.49 million property in Westlake Village, California. The property provides the rock star with tons of space, with 6,683 square feet of living space and 2.6 acres of land. The gated, luxurious house features high ceilings, stone archways, and a temperature-cooled wine cellar. Bret listed this home for sale in September 2020 for $4.5 million.