Poison’s Bret Michals recently opened up about his diabetes and how he decided to go public about it.
The rocker was thought to be a drug addict after his collapse during a show. Turns out, it was his diabetes. During his recent chat with A&E, Michaels recalled being called a drug addict:
“Probably a week later, when everything started coming out, they went into the heavy duty. ‘Was Bret Michaels a heroin addict? How much drugs are involved? Is this where his life is going?’”
Both the press and the people around him thought he was overdosing and even found syringes in his trash cans. But the truth was they were insulin syringes. He explained how he told people around him about his issue:
“‘Here he is at a pivotal moment in his career and he collapses on stage from drugs.’ And that’s when I came forth and told everyone, ‘Look, I’m a type one diabetic. This is what happened to me.’ I just never thought of addressing it because I didn’t want to make that the focal point of Poison.”
He added:
“The blessing that comes out of this at Madison Square Garden is you end up owning it and it forced my hand to own it. And that’s what made me even more connected to the fans. Now I’m massively connected to people that go through adversity and not just diabetes. Any adversity in your life.”
How Michaels Deals With Diabetes
Michael found out he had type 1 diabetes when he was six. He started Poison at 20, and he’s been with them ever since.
Even though he sees his diabetes as both a blessing and a curse, he’s been performing a lot and seems full of energy and thankful. In an interview, he said he has been checking his health. Doing this every morning might sound boring to some, but he admitted to enjoying the process. In the interview, he said of his health:
“I know this is the opposite of what you’d think from a rocker, but I love the morning. If I’m off the road, I’ll get up first thing in the morning on the ranch (in Arizona), check my blood sugar, take my insulin, hang out with my family. I love to go out and jump on my mountain bike. I need to kick out the rust and the dust. I like having a good time, but I don’t fool myself.”
The rest of the recent interview will drop on January 16. For now, you can see the snippet here.