Poison drummer Rikki Rockett has addressed his decision to perform the band’s debut album “Look What the Cat Dragged In” in full with his side project Rockett Mafia, following the news that Poison has no plans for a 40th anniversary tour. Rockett explained his reasoning in a recent interview with 101 WRIF.
“Well, I’ve been doing some gigs with Rockett Mafia, it’s a fun thing that I put together a couple of years ago,” Rockett said. “And you know, when I found out Poison wasn’t going to tour and do commemorate a 40-year anniversary, I thought, well, maybe I’ll do that.”
“But how can I do it that the way Poison wouldn’t do it or you know I don’t want to compete with like what Bret’s trying to do,” he continued. “I realized that Poison would never do the whole ‘Look What the Cat Dragged In’ record. Like just that wouldn’t be in our wheelhouse. We do a bunch of Poison songs. That’s how that would go. So I thought, well, maybe that’d be a cool thing.”
“So I kind of asked a few people, a couple agents, different people, is this a good idea or is it cheesy?” Rockett added. “And they’re like, ‘No, I think it’s a really good idea.’ So, I said, ‘Let’s do it. Let’s have some fun with this. It’s only going to be a year. It’s only going to be the issue.’ Because next year it won’t be the 40th.”
“So we went for it and it’s been a lot of fun. Like, it’s been received really well,” the drummer noted. “So, because we’re not trying to do it we’re not trying to be a Poison tribute band and I happen to be in it. We’re doing it like Rockett Mafia is doing the Poison Record. So, that’s the approach because otherwise it’d be super cheesy.”
The Rockett Mafia show is scheduled for August 29, marking the 40th anniversary of Poison’s debut album.
The planned Poison 40th anniversary tour never materialized after a major financial dispute between the band members derailed the entire project. Rockett revealed that frontman Bret Michaels demanded six dollars for every dollar his bandmates would earn from the tour, making the proposed run unworkable. The drummer stated that he, guitarist C.C. DeVille, and bassist Bobby Dall were all on board with the anniversary plans, but Michaels’ insistence on taking a disproportionately larger share of the earnings ultimately killed the deal.
Rockett moved forward with the Rockett Mafia tour independently, launching a series of shows in May 2026 that continues through the summer. The tour has been performing Poison’s 1986 debut album “Look What the Cat Dragged In” in its entirety at each stop, with the final currently scheduled date being a September 27 festival appearance in Oregon. The response from fans has been overwhelmingly positive, with Rockett emphasizing that the approach is meant to honor the album rather than come across as a tribute act.
The dispute between the band members has been an open wound in the Poison camp for months. Despite the tensions, Rockett has expressed optimism that the band could still return to the stage together in the future. The drummer has stated that Poison was made an offer for a potential 2027 return, which the band is expected to discuss with management. That would mark the 41st anniversary of the debut album rather than the 40th, but it would still give fans a chance to see the original lineup perform live once again.
