Born on March 15, 1963 in Butler, Pennsylvania as Bret Michael Sychak, rock star Bret Michaels was popularized along with his band, Poison in the 1980s. When he was just a child, his family moved to Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania and it was there that he honed his interest in music. In 1984, he formed the band Paris, which later renamed to Poison. The band then moved to Los Angeles to begin touring the clubs in the city. As a band, they have sold numerous copies of their 12 albums to date, the first being Look What the Cat Dragged In in 1986 and the latest being Poison'd! in 2007. The band's current members also include C.C. DeVille, Bobby Dall and Rikki Rockett.
Aside from music, Michaels ventures include a film production company, Sheen/Michaels Entertainment, which he established with actor Charlie Sheen. The company produced the film A Letter From Death Row in 1998, with Michaels working as writer, director and star in the movie.
As an actor, Michaels appeared in an episode of Yes, Dear and also served as judge in 2005's season of the reality singing competition, Nashville Star. In 2007, he starred as the bachelor in VH1's reality dating competition, Rock of Love. The season ended with Jes as the winner of the series, but she announced during the reunion show that she and Michaels were not meant for each other, and that he should have chosen the runner up, Heather to be the winner. Thus, the competition continued and another season of the series took place. Ambre Lake won, but the relationship didn’t push through and season 3 began. The Playboy model Taya Parker emerged victorious and yet there were more plans to have a fourth season for the series. Bret has since joined The Celebrity Apprentice, which he ended up winning in 2010. He followed this up with his own show called Bret Michaels: Life As We Know It.
(Photo courtesy of VH1)