Bret Michaels has opened up about the health challenges behind his long and successful music career.
In an Instagram post from June 2025, the Poison singer explained that his type 1 diabetes could affect his touring plans following a frightening health episode.
“Unfortunately, the highs and lows of living with diabetes since I was six years old occasionally just kick my butt,” Michaels wrote. “Last night, I went on stage and even added a song or two to the set to prove to myself and the fans that I could do it. At the end, my blood sugar walking off the stage was a real-life 39.”
The CDC classifies blood sugar below 70 mg/dL as low for people with type 1 diabetes, while severe hypoglycemia begins at 54 mg/dL.
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“I vow in the near future, I’m going to take the time needed,” he told his fans. “Please forgive me if I have to move some of the shows around until I get this under control.”
Even so, Michaels has made managing his condition a priority throughout his decades-long career.
“I wake up and the first thing I do is check my continuous glucose monitor,” Michaels told People in 2024. “I take an injection, and then the next thing I do is get up and—good, bad or indifferent, no matter how I’m feeling—get into a workout routine. It helps level out my blood sugar.”
He continued, “Then I jump into the fun and the business of the day, and just try to take every day like that.”