BRET MICHAELS on his trademark bandana: “it's my super power”
27-03-2025
In a new interview with USA Today, POISON frontman Bret Michaels called his trademark bandana his “super power”. “It’s my own feeling of identity,” he said. “Somehow I became ‘Bandana Man’.” But he added that there is a practical dual purpose to his cranial complement. “It keeps all of the sweat out of my eyes when I’m exercising or performing,” he said. “And I sweat.”
Lass than three years ago, Bret spoke to Shaggy of the 94.9 and 104.5 The Pick radio station in Idaho Falls, Idaho about his video tutorial on how to fold a bandana like a headband. Regarding how he developed the technique, Bret said: “Through trial and error, which is the story of my life. People have been laughing about the TikTok video. I do these for fun and inspiration — just crazy moments. If they get a chance, the fans, to check out… I’m telling you — if you’re ever gonna wear a bandana, I have figured out the patented diamond fold, the Bret Michaels diamond fold, that works every time. It’s simple. But I went through a lot of trial and error. And I’m giving it to the fans. It’s on the house. [Laughs] It’s a free one on the house. And people literally have been… even my buddies are texting me, ‘Dude, thank you. This has been battle for years, going to a concert or getting on my Harley and taking a ride.’ So I’ve unleashed the diamond fold… And it came with much trial and error, trust me. Over the years, I’m, like, ‘There’s gotta be a better way. I’ll just go right back to the drawing board.’ And I finally figured out the diamond technique that’ll adjust to any head size. [Laughs]”
Back in 2010, Michaels told “The Oprah Winfrey Show” that he kept his trademark bandana on the entire time when he was rushed to the hospital after suffering a brain hemorrhage.
“It’s like Superman without the cape. I said, ‘If I’m going out, I wanna go out rocking,'” Michaels told Winfrey. “Leave the boots on [and] some form of a bandana.”
In 2013, in a video interview with People magazine, Michaels admitted to having an extensive collection of the popular head gear. “I don’t have an exact count,” the 59-year-old musicians said, “but I’m going to say at least a thousand different bandanas.”
As a reality TV star, Michaels has appeared in an extensive library of hit shows including VH1‘s smash show “Rock Of Love”, winning the highest-rated season of NBC‘s “Celebrity Apprentice” and Travel Channel‘s “Rock My RV”, currently featured on the Discovery+ streaming platform. Fans have eagerly binged his TV hits on Hulu, Amazon Prime, Tubi, PlutoTV and AppleTV.
Bret was born in Butler, Pennsylvania on March 15, 1963. Rising to fame as the frontman of POISON, one of rock’s most iconic and enduring bands, he helped define rock ‘n’ roll on the Sunset Strip. POISON‘s massive success includes selling over 30 million records worldwide and numerous hit singles. Bret’s solo career has charted its own course with multiple solo albums. His “Custom Built” album included guest appearances by Joe Perry (AEROSMITH) Loretta Lynn, Jimmy Buffett, Ace Frehley (KISS),Michael Anthony (VAN HALEN) and members of LYNYRD SKYNYRD.
POISON‘s “The Stadium Tour” with MÖTLEY CRÜE, DEF LEPPARD and JOAN JETT & THE BLACKHEARTS was originally scheduled to take place in the summer of 2020 but ended up being pushed back to 2021, and then to 2022, due to the coronavirus pandemic.
POISON‘s last album of new material was 2002’s “Hollyweird”. An album of covers, “Poison’d”, followed in 2007.
Back in 2018, Dall said that POISON “should” be making a new studio album but claimed that he didn’t know if it would happen. “I’m not going to bullshit you and say there’s any new music in the process of being made,” he told All That Shreds. “Would I like there to be? Yes. But, it’s a matter of everyone having the time. Everybody in the band has other commitments. Some members have younger children than others. So between those two issues, it’s difficult, and, you know, there are health issues as we get older. Should we be making a new record? Yes, definitely. But will it happen? I don’t know.”
In a 2017 interview, Rikki acknowledged that part of the reason the band hasn’t been motivated to work on new music has been the fact that fans rarely show interest in hearing fresh material performed live when classic rock groups go on tour. “We could write the second coming of ‘Talk Dirty To Me’, and I don’t know if people wanna hear it or not, and that’s a frustrating thing; it really is,” he said. “AEROSMITH was able to do it, but not everybody is. I mean, even THE ROLLING STONES have had problems with that in the last few years. So… I don’t know. But I do think it’s important to stay viable. For the ‘über fans,’ it’s always a really, really good thing. And that’s what you do it for — you do it for you, you do it for the real fans, the real true fans.”
More recently, Rockett admitted that he and other members of POISON harbored some resentment toward Michaels, whose frequent tours as a solo artist caused the band to take a five-year break from the road.
“I think we need to get away from each other and do other things, but at the same time, I think he spent a little too much time away,” Rockett said. “There’s definitely some resentment, but not resentment like I want him to fail. I want him to do good. I just want POISON to be important too, and I would like him to put a little more energy into POISON.”
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