Poison drummer Rikki Rockett is still cancer free, a year after starting an experimental treatment to treat his oral cancer. He issued the following update yesterday (March 8th):

“One year ago today I started a clinical trial for immunotherapy one week after my daughter, Lucy's 3rd birthday. I was faced with oral cancer that was not responding to radiation or chemo.

My decisions:

1.) Have surgery that would render me unable to ever speak again.
2.) Try a different chemo that would only buy me time.
3.) Try a clinical trial of a new drug combination of immunotherapy. However, if it didn't work, it might be too late to change course and save me.

I rolled the dice and began a trial at UCSD Moore's Cancer Center led by Dr. Ezra Cohen and Dr. Sandip Patel. Leaders in the immunotherapy field. Dr. Cohen was the lead Dr. for Head and Neck Cancer. I was more scared than I have ever been, but nine weeks later when I got my first PET/CT/MRI the cancer had shrunk over 90%!!! A mere nine weeks later I was 100% cancer free on July 13th, one day before my son, Jude's 7th birthday.

One year later I am still cancer free and preparing for the Poison 2017 30th anniversary tour. I have Dr. Cohen, Dr. Patel, Tony Le, my amazing girlfriend Tc Smith, my friend Cortni Miller and the all the fantastic staff at UCSD Moore's Cancer center and last but certainly not least, God to thank. My little girl Lucy would touch my neck and say, "All gone Daddy" almost every day. It was gone…”

Poison will be performing all their greatest hits as they headline select dates for the first time in over a decade.This spring will see all four original members, Bret Michaels, Bobby Dall, Rikki Rockett and CC DeVille, join together to play these limited headline dates in the US and Canada.

These select dates will coincide with Poison’s co-headlining tour with Def Leppard and special guest Tesla throughout the spring and summer. The first Poison headline date will be Raleigh, NC on April 28th, followed by Charlotte, NC on April 29th. Huntington, WV (May 7th), Albany, NY (May 9th), Rapid City, SD (May 26th), and Grand Forks, ND (May 27th) have all been added as stand-alone headline dates with several more in the works.

Although they have co-headlined in the past with Def Leppard, Mötley Crüe and KISS to name a few, these will be their first headline dates in select markets in over ten years.

States singer Bret Michaels: “I’m really looking forward to the Poison tour. It’s going to be incredible playing all the hits and putting on a hell of a high-energy rock show for the three generations of awesome fans.”

Poison who started as a street level independent band has remained one of the music industry’s top acts, with multi-platinum album sales and sold out tours since first bursting onto the music scene. They have sold over 40 million records and DVDs worldwide, and have charted twelve Top 10 hits and are set to perform some of their greatest hits including “Nothin’ But A Good Time”, “Every Rose Has Its Thorn”, “Talk Dirty To Me”, “Unskinny Bop” and “Something To Believe In”.

Find Poison’s complete live itinerary at this location.