On this day in 1991, Poison get into fistfight following their performance at the MTV Video Music Awards.
Back in 1991, Poison were at their commercial peak. Having released their third album, Flesh & Blood, the previous year, and riding high off the success of singles like ‘Unskinny Bop’, the group were an obvious choice to perform at the MTV Video Music Awards.
However, when the group took to the stage to perform ‘Unskinny Bop’, frontman Bret Michaels asked the crowd if they were ready to “Talk dirty to me”. Thinking he was supposed to play the group’s breakthrough hit, guitarist C.C. DeVille began to play ‘Talk Dirty To Me’ instead.
Complemented by unsubstantiated rumours that he intoxicated during the performance, Michaels and DeVille engaged in a fistfight backstage after the song, leading to the first major rift in the band.
Soon after, C.C. DeVille was fired and replaced by Richie Kotzen, who would stay with the group until 1993, and play on their next album, Native Tongue. Kotzen was later replaced by Blues Saraceno, before DeVille rejoined the band in 1996.
Check out Poison’s MTV Music Video Awards performance:
