POISON: New Video Interview With RIKKI ROCKETT

Patrick Musumeche of FullMetalRock.com conducted an interview with POISON drummer and owner of Rockett Drum Works, Rikki Rockett, when the band performed in Houston, Texas on June 10, 2011. Rikki spoke about the past, the present and the future of POISON; what started him behind the sticks; what it takes to make it this long in the music business; and why he began Rockett Drum Works. You can now watch the chat below.

In a recent interview with Cindy Scull of the Dallas/Ft. Worth, Texas radio station 97.1 The Eagle Rocks, Rockett was asked how POISON ended up touring with MTLEY CRE this summer after members of MTLEY CRE had less-than-kind words to say about POISON during the last few years. "Bret [Michaels, POISON singer] was doing some solo gigs, he was up in Canada, and somebody before the show, I think it was, mentioned about, 'Oh, you guys are doing a tour with MTLEY CRE,' or something like that," he said. "And so he mentions it on stage. He goes, 'Hey, how would you like us up here with MTLEY CRE?' All of a sudden, somehow, that got convoluted that he was trying to book a tour through the press, and that's not the case at all. He just mentioned it to the fans because he had heard something up there. So then we just kind of let it go. We said, 'OK, well, if nobody wants do it.' A couple of months later, we got a call from the CRE's management, and they said, 'You know what?! That's a pretty good idea. Would you like to do it?' And we said, 'Yeah, that makes sense to us.' I think it was a combination between their folks and some of the Live Nation guys and the fans. I think the fans were like, 'This is one combination we have not seen from either of these two bands. We haven't seen them on the same stage.' I think the last time we played a show in the States with MTLEY was Day On The Green in 1989, or something like that."

POISON's tour with MTLEY CRE and the NEW YORK DOLLS kicked off on June 7 at Dallas' Gexa Energy Pavilion, before continuing on to more than 40 other cities and major venues across North America, including Los Angeles' Hollywood Bowl on June 14, Toronto's Molson Amphitheatre on June 28, Detroit's DTE Energy Music Center on June 29, and Chicago's FMB Amphitheatre on July 1.

To celebrate POISON's 25th anniversary, 35 of the multi-platinum band's top hits and fan favorites have been gathered for "Double Dose Of Poison: Ultimate Hits", a new career-spanning 2CD and digital collection which was released May 3 by Capitol/EMI.

According to Nielsen SoundScan, "Double Dose Of Poison: Ultimate Hits" sold 2,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release.

"Double Dose Of Poison: Ultimate Hits" features all of the band's charting singles, including the #1 smash ballad "Every Rose Has Its Thorn", Top 10 hits "Nothin' But A Good Time", "Unskinny Bop" and "Something To Believe In", and other big hits and fan favorites, including "Talk Dirty To Me", "I Want Action", "Your Mama Don't Dance", "Fallen Angel", "Ride The Wind" and many more, including standouts from the band's most recent album, 2007's "Poison'd!"