Poison consists of Bobby Dall, Bret Michaels, C.c. Deville, Rikki Rockett.
Poison was also the name of both a shortlived British punk group who eventually became the thrash metal band Anihilated, and a German black metal band.
Poison is an American glam metal band which achieved popular success in the late 1980s and early 1990s. With more than 15 million albums sold in the United States alone, the band is one of the most commercially successful rock acts in history.
Formed by a group of aspiring rock musicians from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania who moved to Los Angeles, California in search of fame, Poison's music reflected its pedigree and, indeed, the pedigree of the music scene the band helped to create. Poison's roots, and those of glam metal in general, lay in America's East, and in particular, the sounds and images associated with New York's New York Dolls and KISS, Boston's Aerosmith, Illinois' Cheap Trick and Baltimore's Kix. These influences were transplated to California in the late 1970s, mutated following the release of Van Halen's debut in 1978, and ultimately ignited into a colourful music scene on L.A's Sunset Strip in the 1980s.
Poison's music, and that of glam metal, was characterised by simple, loud and anthemic guitar riffs, and its image, by flamoyant special effects, costumes, hair and make-up, and a preoccupation with hedonism.
Poison began life in 1984 as Paris, a band from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania comprising vocalist Bret Michaels, bassist Bobby Dall, guitarist Matt Smith and drummer Rikki Rockett. The band moved to Los Angeles, California in 1985 to begin playing in clubs there.
Smith, who was about to father a child and was concerned about the band's future, returned to Pennsylvania shortly after. The band auditioned for a replacement guitarist, eventually narrowing the field down to three candidates: Slash, who would later join Guns N' Roses, Steve Silva from The Joe Perry Project, and Brooklyn expatriate C.C. DeVille. Although Michaels and Dall did not initially get along with DeVille, the band eventually agreed that DeVille's "fire" made him the most appropriate candidate .