Bret Michael Sychak (born March 15, 1963), professionally known as Bret Michaels, is an American singer-songwriter and musician. He gained fame as the lead singer of the glam metal band Poison who have sold over 40 million records worldwide and 15 million records in the United States alone. The band has also charted 10 singles to the Top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100, including six Top 10 singles and a number-one single, "Every Rose Has Its Thorn".\n', '

Besides his career as the lead singer, he released several solo recordings including the soundtrack album to the movie A Letter from Death Row, Songs of Life, in 2003. Michaels has appeared in several movies and TV shows, including as a judge on the talent show Nashville Star. He starred in the hit VH1 reality show Rock of Love with Bret Michaels and its sequels, then released Rock My World. In 2006, Hit Parader ranked Michaels at #40 on their list of greatest Heavy metal singers of all-time.\n', '

Michaels was born Bret Michael Sychak on March 15, 1963, to Wally and Marjorie Sychak, north of Pittsburgh in the city of Butler, Pennsylvania, and grew up in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania. He attended Mechanicsburg Area Senior High School. He has two sisters, Michelle and Nicole. He claims that his parents had originally intended for him to have the middle name "Maverick", after the title character in the popular James Garner TV Western series Maverick. He is of Carpatho-Rusyn (from his paternal grandfather), Irish, English, German, and Swiss descent. Bret\'s great-uncle Nick Sychak fought at Omaha Beach in the Invasion of Normandy and was killed in action in France in 1944.\n', '

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