Bret Michaels recently detailed the story about Poison’s guitarist audition process in the 1980s and revealed how the band chose C.C. DeVille over Slash, as reported by 107.3 The Eagle.
Bret Michaels talks about turning down Slash
The Poison frontman talked about the difficult circumstances the band faced during their initial days in Los Angeles and the decision-making process that led to their final lineup.
“So here’s the story. We were living behind a dry cleaner so we could rehearse in downtown Los Angeles. And our first guitar player, Matt [Smith], was out there with us. We had no money. We were living on sleeping bags on the floor. I can’t make any of this up. I won’t embellish anything. We were living in sleeping bags, dry cleaner, downtown L.A.,” Michaels said.
He went on to explain that their original guitarist, Matt Smith parted ways with the band to support his pregnant girlfriend, which led to the audition process.
“Our guitar player’s girlfriend had been out with us for a little bit. She was pregnant, and Matt did the right thing. We had no money. There’s no way they could have existed the way we were living. And he did the right thing as a good human being and went home. And so we started auditioning — Rikki [Rockett, Poison drummer], Bobby [Dall, Poison bassist] and myself — and the three guitar players that came down… There was a ton of ’em, ’cause Poison was a popular band on the club scene,” he continued.
Michaels revealed that the final decision came down to three guitarists, including the future Guns N’ Roses legend.
“But back then, you’re not making anything; you’re surviving. And that didn’t stop us. And the truth is, it came down to Slash, a guy named Steve Silva at that time that was playing with The Joe Perry Project, who was great. Slash was great, and C.C. [DeVille, current Poison guitarist]. And each of ’em learned a couple of the songs we had written,” Michaels said.
The band held a vote to make their final decision. Michaels himself was torn between the two finalists.
“And we had a band vote, and I was on the fence between Slash and C.C. I was on the fence. I’m, like, ‘But Slash has this style, and C.C. has this style.’ But in the end it worked out incredibly great for both Guns N’ Roses and Poison,” he concluded.
Slash went on to become an integral member of Guns N’ Roses and back in the 80s, Michaels sparked a feud with the band and frontman Axl Rose.
Recently, Rose also responded to a fan who requested a deep cut during one of Guns N’ Roses’ recent shows.
The Latin American leg of Guns N’ Roses’ tour began on October 1st. During their concert in Florianopolis, Brazil, on October 21st, a fan continuously shouted the name of the track “Think About You” from the album ‘Appetite for Destruction; while the band members were moving around on stage. Eventually, the singer recognized the request and shared a brief story with the crowd.
“I heard that request, but we haven’t played that in a while.” Rose said. “But I just want to say it made me think. I had Chinese food today and I got a fortune cookie that gave me a Chinese fortune in Brazilian Portuguese that told me to think about life.”
The crowd cheered and then the singer added, “I kind of went, f**k that!”
To something more important
At the show in Florianópolis, a fan yelled for Think About You. Axl heard it and responded, thus acknowledging the song’s existence
I need one of you Brazilians going to these next shows to do this with Breakdown. I need proof he knows it exists! pic.twitter.com/BkyjkbqQ8M
— Jen ⚡️ (@TheGNRGiirl) October 23, 2025
