BRET MICHAELS's 'Parti-Gras' Tour Was 'A Fantastic First-Year Success'

POISON frontman Bret Michaels, hot off last year's "The Stadium Tour", the son of a veteran and a lifelong type 1 diabetic, is well-documented for his unbroken upbeat spirit, charitable donations in each city he performs and constantly delivering a positive high-energy show of big hits for the fans. His creation of this summer's "Parti-Gras" tour was no exception, a unique concept which Michaels produced and created that seamlessly intertwined his POISON and solo hits with those of other great artists and friends that joined the tour, including members of JOURNEY, SUGAR RAY, NIGHT RANGER and JEFFERSON STARSHIP.

Rick Franks, president of North American touring at Live Nation, states: "Bret Michaels debut summer 2023 'Parti-Gras' tour, which was created and produced by Bret, was a fantastic first-year success for his concept in select cities. In fact, in true Bret Michaels fashion, he over-delivered. As Bret promised me while he was on the 2022 'Stadium Tour', he absolutely brought a celebration of the fans, the bands and the music to create a night of all-killer hits, no filler."

"I could not have had a better time this summer," said Michaels. "With three generations of fans coming together for an awesome night of big hits and big fun — it truly has been the feel-good tour of the summer I wanted it to be."

"Bret brought nothing but good times and good vibes to every single slam-packed amphitheater across the country," states Bret's co-manager Bruce Flohr of Red Light Management (Dave Matthews, Chris Stapleton, Luke Bryan, PHISH). "As he always does, Bret also had a charitable element to all of his shows, giving back to the communities he entertains, as well as steadfastly honoring our veterans and hometown heroes on stage while making sure to keep on it a celebration of our freedoms with no political messaging involved. As Bret himself states, 'Always one big happy musical family.'"

In the words of former MTV Networks president Judy McGrath, "Bret naturally brings people together, and is a cultural touchdown that lives by his own motto: music is a universal language meant to unite us not divide us."

Live Nation is looking forward to the return in 2024 of the Michaels summer version of "Parti-Gras" 2.0 and is excited to see who he will bring out to deliver hit after hit, and who his surprise special guest will be at each show. Michaels is doing just that as he continues on with his "Fall Ball Parti-Gras" into the holidays and into 2024.

Five months ago, it was reported that Bret was putting the finishing touches on his new inspirational book titled "Bet On Yourself: Don't Crash & Burn… Crash & Learn", tentatively set for a fall 2023 release. The book will serve as a motivational, inspirational and entrepreneurial guide where Bret will take readers on a journey, highlighting lessons, pulling from highs and lows of his own life in an effort to realize the unbroken fighting spirit in all of us.

Michaels rose to fame in the 1980s as the singer of POISON, which still tours periodically. He later became a reality TV personality in such shows as dating contest "Rock Of Love" and on "The Celebrity Apprentice". Most recently, Michaels was one of the contestants on Fox's smash hit "The Masked Singer".

This past January, Michaels told SFL Music about the secret to his success: "Here's the secret from me. I have a book. It's my first one, there's three volumes. The first one is simply called 'Bret Michaels Auto-Scrap-Ography'. Just so you know, I made the book pictures that you could match to the stories. There's nothing worse than a five-hundred-page autobiography, but there's not one photo of the friends you're talking about. I'm like no, no. I want every story to be short, to the point and show the people and time stamped photos that I lived. But the secret for me, as I've said in the book, is that it's bet on yourself. Find a way to have fun, but you've got to get it done. Never, ever let go of being hands-on. That's my opinion. Again, I want to make sure I state, in my opinion, you got to bet on yourself. Who's gonna believe in me if I don't believe in me? You'd better realize it's not gonna be easy and when someone said no, it just made me come back fighting harder to prove them wrong."

Released in 2020, "Auto-Scrap-Ography" provided a humorous, real and raw inside look at Michaels's journey through highs and lows, and how he overcame every adversity life has thrown in his way: from his extremely humble beginnings, growing up in a small Pennsylvania town and learning to rise up in the face of adversity, battling a life-threatening illness daily as a type one juvenile diabetic; to the massive success as a solo artist and with POISON; to rocketing to the top of the music world, reality TV, and entrepreneurial branding; to the causes closest to his heart: his charitable and philanthropic efforts around the world; and continuing through present day, as Michaels was revealed as the fan favorite Banana on "The Masked Singer".