Devastated, CHEATED ON & Flat Broke…80s Icon Wrote CLASSIC at Laundromat at 3 AM!--Professor of Rock

Poll: What is your pick for the greatest BALLAD of the 80s?

The 80s was my coming-of-age decade. There will NEVER be another time for such an awesome era of music—Poison, Foreigner, Def Leppard, AC/DC and so many more. If I had the chance to go back, I'd be there in a heartbeat.

I’m 65 and still like all of those bands.

I'm 56 and Poison was my daughter's band that I listened to in the car. She won front row seats and go on stage for Nothin but a good time. She was like 7 and on my shoulders singing with Bobby Dahl. The DJ thought i was using her to get tickets for me when I told him they were her favorite band. So she got on the phone and ripped out all the lyrics to Fallen Angel and he gave her the tix. And in hometown if Pittsburgh. PS she's 25 now

This video is very close to my heart because my husband would always sing the chorus to me in only a way that he could… We loved Bret Michaels, but at the same time he joked around with me by singing… “Every Rose has its thorn.” Since he died a few years ago, it is quite common for me to think of him… Turn on the radio and literally, at that second hear, “every Rose has its thorn “and I know he is with me!❤

So many songs are about cheating! Professor, you should do a top 5 songs about cheating segment!

Beyond anything else he accomplished, for Bret Michaels to navigate the world of rock (in maybe the hardest partying genre of it) for decades as a Type 1 diabetic is really amazing.

It's 1987. I'm 17, and my first proper girlfriend has a Fisher record system and I hear Def Leppard for the first time. I'm now hooked on Rock music . Guns N Roses, Metallica, amongst many others . My girlfriend and I would listen to Every Rose has its Thorn unknowing what our future would hold . The relationship ended but the words and memories from all those years ago still play in my head and I'm transported back to the 80s. Now a grown man I listen to those lyrics, and in my mind, I'm 17 again.

I’m friends with Tracy, (the inspiration for this song). We met in 1985 when we were teens and she was my 16 year old next-door-neighbor in a condo in Tustin, California. She was gorgeous, extremely nice and already dating Bret at the time. She used to drive a piece of crap little red car and my friend and I regularly kept her car running so she could drive up to Hollywood to see Bret, bring him and his band-mates food and cheer him on. She adored Bret and only had eyes for him, constantly telling everyone how talented he was and how he and his band were going to be huge one day. When Poison’s album was released in May of 1986 they were still unknown outside of LA, but they started getting airplay on KNAC, the heavy metal station of SoCal at the time. Shortly after their album was released they opened for a Japanese heavy metal band called Loudness at a little former movie theater called the Pomona Valley Auditorium on August 3, 1986. The co-opening band was another that time unknown band called Cinderella. (There’s a crazy story about attending that night, but I’ll save that for another time.) Back to Tracy, she wasn’t a stripper when she met Bret, she was just a teenage high school girl from Orange County. In her defense, according to Tracy, she was totally devoted to Bret for years and only cheated on him when she found out from a “friend of Bret’s” rival band guy that Bret, (the love of her life), was cheating on her regularly while touring the US. The mystery person who told her used her moment of weakness when she was heartbroken, crying and devastated, to make his move on her. That’s the night Bret called from the laundromat in Texas. I know who the mystery guy is, but it’s not my place to say. Yes, Bret was hurt and it inspired him to write a timeless song of heartbreak. But Tracy was totally faithful to him until she reacted, when she had her own heart shattered at the news of Bret’s regular infidelity behind her back. Bret was the love of Tracy’s life and I believe he felt the same about her. Bad things happen sometimes, but in this case, the world could relate to Bret and Tracy’s deeply personal heartache.

My dad didn't listen to my music growing up like the Adam Reader's did. We mostly listened to his together. Getting him to listen to a mid or late 80s song was like pulling teeth. I knew I didn't have many shots. But when I played "Every Rose Has It's Thorn" for him, he loved it. He asked who the singer was. My dad said, "I think he's going to go far." I just shook my head and sad, "He already has dad. He already has." It was probably early 1989. He passed last summer. Thanks for bringing back that memory, Adam.

CC is such an underrated guitarist, but he’s amazing. His guitar solos send me to heaven. I love Poison, and Bret’s vocals were perfect for that band.

"Something to Believe In" is still my favorite Poison ballad. The line "Sometimes I wish I didn't know now...." meant alot to a 15 year old me at the time and still does.

This song and "Something to Believe in" are my two favorites of Poison. The phrase "Every Rose has its Thorn" has worked itself into our lexicon.

I went to High School with Bret. He was a sweetheart. I freaked out the first time I saw him on MTV. It was the same day I saw G N R Welcome to the Jungle for the first time. It was a good day! His last name Sychek is pronounced Sigh Check

I started high school in 89 and this song was everywhere. I believe there isn’t a girl my age that doesn’t think of someone they used to know when they hear this song.

I bought this album on cassette for my girlfriend when I was in the eighth grade. The cassette played all of the music backwards and I had to return it for another copy. I then bought myself a copy from Columbia House. When it arrived in the mail my mom saw the cover and said there was no way I would be allowed to listen to that. I told her to let me play her one song. I played Every Rose Has It's Thorn and she said let me keep the tape!

Unless you lived through this era of music, you really can’t understand how great of a time the 80’s were! Glad I was around to experience it!

I am from the 1960's generation, but I started listening to the 80's music, and this song was AWESOME...

"Every Rose Has Its Thorn" always takes me back to being 16, delivering newspapers out the window of my dad's 81 Pontiac T1000, "blasting" the radio in the wee hours of the cold CT winter.

If ever there was a time to go back to, it would definitely be the 80s, simply the best 👌