"Every Rose Has Its Thorn" is a power ballad by American glam metal band Poison. It was released in October 1988 as the third single from Poison's second albumOpen Up and Say... Ahh!. The band's signature song, it is also their only number-one hit in the U.S., reaching the top spot on December 24, 1988, for three weeks and it also charted at #11 on the Mainstream Rock chart. It was a number 13 hit in the UK. "Every Rose Has Its Thorn" was named number 34 on VH1's "100 Greatest Songs of the 80s", #100 on their "100 Greatest Love Songs" and #7 on MTV and VH1 "Top 25 Power Ballads".
Background and writing
In an interview with VH1's Behind the Music, Bret Michaels said the inspiration for the song came from a night when he was in a laundromat in Dallas waiting for his clothes to dry, and called his girlfriend on a pay phone. Michaels said he heard a male voice in the background and was devastated; he said he went into the laundromat and wrote "Every Rose Has Its Thorn" as a result.
Music video
The music video to "Every Rose Has Its Thorn" was directed by Marty Callner. It starts out with a forlorn Bret Michaels in bed with a young woman, they both look unhappy. He gets up, does the heavy sigh that is at the start of the song and walks away to play the acoustic guitar, the video then goes into video clips of the band's tour. The same young woman is seen driving a Thunderbird in the rain, listening to "Every Rose Has Its Thorn" on the car's radio. The video was shot at the Brown County Veterans Memorial Arena in Green Bay, Wisconsin, and in an empty warehouse nearby. The video ends with Bret Michaels playing the last of the song on his acoustic guitar and walking away.
Chart performance
"Every Rose Has Its Thorn" became the group's only number-one single on the Billboard Hot 100; it climbed to the top during the last two weeks of 1988 and the first week of 1989. Billboard ranked it as the No. 3 song for 1989.
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
All-time charts
Albums
The song originally appeared on the album Open Up and Say... Ahh!. It was later included in greatest hits compilations such as ', ' or Best of Ballads & Blues. Live versions of the song appeared on the following albums:
An acoustic version appeared as a bonus track on Poison's 2000 album Crack a Smile... and More! Bret Michaels re-recorded the song in 2001 for his solo album Ballads, Blues & Stories. A country version by Bret Michaels appears on
Freedom of Sound
Custom Built
Personnel
Bret Michaels – Lead Vocals, Acoustic Guitar
C.C. DeVille – Lead Guitar, Keyboards, Backing Vocals
The song was made available to download on February 12, 2012 for play in Rock Band 3 Basic and PRO mode utilizing real guitar / bass guitar, and MIDI compatible electronic drum kits/keyboards plus vocal harmonies. The song appeared in 2009 music game Band Hero.
Cover versions
American recording artist Miley Cyrus recorded a version of the song for her 2010 album Can't Be Tamed.
In early 2013, composer Bret Michaels recorded yet another version. This time, it was as a duet with the country music singer Loretta Lynn and can be found on his album Jammin' with Friends. He performed an acoustic version in the episode "Happy Endings" of TV series Revolution.
