NIKKI SIXX Says He Never Apologized To BRET MICHAELS For Comments About POISON

Despite Bret Michaels' claim to the contrary, MTLEY CRE bassist Nikki Sixx says that he never apologized to the POISON singer for derogatory comments CRE made about Bret's band.

In a brand new interview with The Arizona Republic, Michaels was asked if was looking forward to this summer's POISON / MTLEY CRE tour. "There was a lot of controversy between MTLEY CRE and POISON, just some comments they had made about how 'We're not gonna do that kind of tour,'" Michaels replied. "I had said something on stage, like 'Wouldn't it be awesome if for POISON's 25th anniversary and MTLEY CRE's 30th, for there to be a tour we did together?' And a couple of the members of their band made some pretty derogatory comments. I just said, 'The hell with it. I'm gonna do my own tour.' Then, Nikki said, 'I'm really sorry about some of the comments some of the members made. I really want to do this.' So I think it's gonna be a great tour."

Responding to Bret's remarks from The Arizona Republic interview, Sixx wrote on his Twitter, "Just to clarify, Bret Michaels recently said I apologized to him about derogatory comments that MTLEY made about POISON in the past and that isn't what I said. What I did say was 'I personally never had anything against you guys as a people but MTLEY just sorta thought you sucked as band but let's give the fans what they want and go out and have a good time.'"

Sixx previously said about CRE's decision to embark on a tour with POISON and "special guest" NEW YORK DOLLS, "One of the things MTLEY CRE said was that we would never tour with POISON because we were sort of punk / heavy metal / glam, we came out of the very, very early '80s and took what we did very... it was very important to us. And then bands came after us and we wanted to kind of separate from them. And we had never planned on touring with any of the bands from that era. There was no animosity it was just that we put a very clear line. But when the [NEW YORK] DOLLS signed on, it made it seem like it was the right time to do that this tour."

In a February 2004 online posting, Sixx shot down reports that his then-band BRIDES OF DESTRUCTION would be touring later that year with POISON and KISS. "No way in fucking hell would we (BRIDES OF DESTRUCTION or MTLEY CRE) ever, ever tour with a fucking band like POISON," he wrote. "We have had talks with KISS and I told them very clearly that we would not do the tour if they used POISON. That would be the death of us... I will not be attached to that kind of fake bullshit..." When questioned about his comments in a May 2004 interview with the Stamford Advocate, Sixx explained, "I was in negotiations and said it depends who else is on the tour. If you're going to do a nostalgia thing, we're not interested. If you go get JET or THE DARKNESS, it sounds like fun. All of a sudden they come back with KISS, the BRIDES and POISON! There ain't no way in hell I'm doing that tour. I will not play with fucking POISON. There are followers and leaders. I'm not into followers."

During a July 2005 interview with the Fox 2 TV network, Sixx famously closed out the four-minute chat by calling the interviewer "an asshole" after he was asked the question, "Who rocked harder in the '80s: MTLEY CRE or POISON?"

When POISON drummer Rikki Rockett was questioned in an August 2006 interview with DelcoTimes.com about Sixx being abrasively vocal in his displeasure about being categorized alongside POISON, Rikki replied, "Nikki really needs to get over it. I don't think a forty-something-year-old man should be acting like that; you'd think with all that Nikki has been through, he wouldn't care about these dumb little rivalries."