The Day CC Deville Ruined Poison’s Career Live at The MTV Video Music Awards

Afterwards Bret Michaels kicked his ass then fired him

Poison. 1991 MTV Video Music Awards.

It would be CC Deville’s final performance with Poison for many years. It was what we call in IT an RGE. Resume Generating Event.

As a addict on hiatus myself, this is hard for me to watch:

Crate amps. That’s clearly the problem.

First, understand how important this performance was. This was the VMA’s. It was a really big deal at the time. This was how you crossed over to other genres to make more money back in the day. Their performance would determine if they found a new audience and kept touring another three years making millions or went home.

CC Deville wasn’t high that night, he was in a different dimension. How he was able to hold the guitar let less play is remarkable.

Someone showed me this a few years ago and asked what drug I thought he was on.

My answer was, “Yes.”

Notice how the song starts 30 seconds in on the video. It wasn’t clipped. CC just grabbed his guitar and started playing.

Never mind the commercial break. Fuck Arsenio’s intro. I’m playing Unskinny Bop right the fuck now.

Some people say it’s Brett’s fault for using the words talk dirty like it was a prompt for CC to play that when he finally got his guitar plugged back in.

They were only supposed to play one song. The song was Unskinny Bop.

Arsenio Hall was such a pro. He threw them a life saver. But CC was too busy stroking the furry wall to grab it.

Immediately after getting off stage, Brett beat the crap out of CC then kicked him out of the band. CC was impervious to pain at the time so history called it a draw. If I were Brett I’d be beyond livid too. Poison was Brett and CC. No CC no Poison.

CC destroyed everything they had worked for because he got waaaaay too high on the wrong night. It wasn’t like like they had just got famous. They had been at the top for 4 years.

Worst of all, I can watch it 30 years later. Clapton was so drunk he couldn’t hold the guitar in Boston one night 50 years ago? I can’t pull that right up and watch it. Courtney Love throwing her shoes at Madonna ain’t got shit on one of the most spectacular meltdowns caught on live television.