Forget “Rock of Love” — it’s “Rock of Life” for singer Bret Michaels.
In a recent interview, the Poison frontman, 60, spoke out about his prior life-threatening health issues, including a 2010 brain hemorrhage and stroke — and why he’s grateful to be alive.
“It’s been a crazy roller-coaster ride,” Michaels told People.
“After all the adversity I’ve been through, I just feel grateful to be here. If I were to go today — and I hope I don’t — I would die with a full heart.”
In addition to his recent health struggles, Michaels has also battled Type 1 diabetes since he was 6.
“I was almost at ketoacidosis, which is when the organs shut down,” he told the outlet of his diagnosis many years ago. “It was the first time I’d ever seen my father cry.”
He recalled being in and out of the hospital a lot when he was little, and even had to take insulin four to five times per day — but it was something that made him stronger in the end.
“It was scary,” Michaels told the outlet. “But my parents told me, ‘You’ve got to choose not to be a victim.’ “
In 1987, he shared with the world that he was a diabetic after he passed out onstage due to insulin shock while performing at Madison Square Garden, according to the Villages-News.
The rocker recalled that some thought he must have been a heroin addict — but that wasn’t the case.
Michaels’ battles with his health didn’t end there. According to People, in 1994, he crashed his car into a telephone pole while racing some friends, resulting in a broken nose and ribs.
In 2009, he was hit in the head by a part of the set while performing during that year’s Tony Awards.
And, in 2010, while he was in the process of competing on the show “Celebrity Apprentice,” the musician had a brain hemorrhage and a stroke, on top of an emergency appendectomy.
He ended up winning his season of the competition show.
He described the hemorrhage as having a “thunderclap” in your brain during a 2020 interview with Yahoo! Entertainment.
“It just the weirdest sound,” he told the outlet. “The pain is like an elephant standing on your skull. That’s what a brain bleed does. The pressure is what normally kills you eventually. And so I knew I was in trouble and my adrenaline — after years and years of being diabetic through some horrific situations — immediately my adrenaline was on 10.”
Michaels explained to Yahoo! that he could “barely speak,” was rushed to the emergency room and claimed he didn’t remember the next three days.
But luckily, Michaels survived the hemorrhage and was able to work again.
He has two daughters with his on-again, off-again partner, Kristi Lynn Gibson: Raine Michaels, 22, and Jorja Bleu Michaels, 17.
The “Every Rose Has Its Thorn” singer is going on an American tour, which will begin in July.