Bret Michaels Makes 'Magic' With Michael Anthony, Joe Perry on New LP

Bret Michaels and musicians C.C. DeVille, Rikki Rockett and Bobby Dall performs at the after party for the premiere of Warner Bros. Pictures' 'Rock Of Ages' at Hollywood and Highland in Los Angeles, California on June 8, 2012.

While gearing up to take Poison on tour with Def Leppard this summer, Bret Michaels found time to assemble an all-star cast of guests for his new LP, Bret Michaels and Friends: Get Your Rock On, due out in September.

"Every song on it is a collaboration with other musicians," says Michaels. "And it's such a diverse range of people, from Loretta Lynn and Joe Perry [who play on a reworking of the Poision hit "Every Rose Has Its Thorn"] and Jimmy Buffett to Lil Jon, Michael Anthony, Ace Frehley, all the Skynyrd guys, guys from .38 Special and Blackfoot and Rascal Flatts' Jay [DeMarcus]. These are friends and people I've played with, partied with, jammed with throughout the years."

A new rendition of Poison's "Nothin' But a Good Time" unites Frehley, Anthony and Lil Jon. "Ace Frehley is the real deal," says Michaels. "He laid down this amazing solo and then Michael Anthony came in, he did the backups, and I was like, 'Just play some Michael Anthony licks.' He did, and that's what made magic on the song."

While many of the featured artists are now friends of Michaels, they started off as his rock & roll heroes. That's most apparent on his rendition of "Sweet Home Alabama." "I did [it] with all the guys from Lynyrd Skynyrd, the guys from Blackfoot and .38 Special," he says. "That was amazing because probably my first foot in the door as a child was traditional country, then I got turned onto the Beatles and Stones. Then I immediately fell in love with Southern rock, which was kind of a perfect mixture of country and rock."

Michaels isn't done recruiting collaborators. He hopes to get Zakk Wylde to come in and redo "Go That Far," the theme from Rock of Love. And after checking out Cheap Trick in concert recently, he got another idea. "I'd like to get Rick Nielsen to come in to play on 'Talk Dirty to Me,'" he says. "I think that'd be great to have him come in and put his style on a song that I remade in an over-the-top, punk-metal fashion."

Though Michaels says, "This could be the never-ending record," he's focused on finishing the LP and can't help but get excited about the prospects of future collaborations. "If I was to do another one of these records, it's overwhelming the amount of possibilities," he says. "I've been onstage with Jimmy Page, he's come and played with Poison in Reno, Nevada, and it was an amazing night. And last year, I played with Toby Keith and partied with him. The list is endless."

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Bret Michaels Makes 'Magic' With Michael Anthony, Joe Perry on New LP

Bret Michaels and musicians C.C. DeVille, Rikki Rockett and Bobby Dall performs at the after party for the premiere of Warner Bros. Pictures' 'Rock Of Ages' at Hollywood and Highland in Los Angeles, California on June 8, 2012.

While gearing up to take Poison on tour with Def Leppard this summer, Bret Michaels found time to assemble an all-star cast of guests for his new LP, Bret Michaels and Friends: Get Your Rock On, due out in September.

"Every song on it is a collaboration with other musicians," says Michaels. "And it's such a diverse range of people, from Loretta Lynn and Joe Perry [who play on a reworking of the Poision hit "Every Rose Has Its Thorn"] and Jimmy Buffett to Lil Jon, Michael Anthony, Ace Frehley, all the Skynyrd guys, guys from .38 Special and Blackfoot and Rascal Flatts' Jay [DeMarcus]. These are friends and people I've played with, partied with, jammed with throughout the years."

A new rendition of Poison's "Nothin' But a Good Time" unites Frehley, Anthony and Lil Jon. "Ace Frehley is the real deal," says Michaels. "He laid down this amazing solo and then Michael Anthony came in, he did the backups, and I was like, 'Just play some Michael Anthony licks.' He did, and that's what made magic on the song."

While many of the featured artists are now friends of Michaels, they started off as his rock & roll heroes. That's most apparent on his rendition of "Sweet Home Alabama." "I did [it] with all the guys from Lynyrd Skynyrd, the guys from Blackfoot and .38 Special," he says. "That was amazing because probably my first foot in the door as a child was traditional country, then I got turned onto the Beatles and Stones. Then I immediately fell in love with Southern rock, which was kind of a perfect mixture of country and rock."

Michaels isn't done recruiting collaborators. He hopes to get Zakk Wylde to come in and redo "Go That Far," the theme from Rock of Love. And after checking out Cheap Trick in concert recently, he got another idea. "I'd like to get Rick Nielsen to come in to play on 'Talk Dirty to Me,'" he says. "I think that'd be great to have him come in and put his style on a song that I remade in an over-the-top, punk-metal fashion."

Though Michaels says, "This could be the never-ending record," he's focused on finishing the LP and can't help but get excited about the prospects of future collaborations. "If I was to do another one of these records, it's overwhelming the amount of possibilities," he says. "I've been onstage with Jimmy Page, he's come and played with Poison in Reno, Nevada, and it was an amazing night. And last year, I played with Toby Keith and partied with him. The list is endless."

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Bret Michaels New Album to Include Duets With Loretta Lynn, Jimmy Buffett

Bret Michaels performs at the St. George Theatre in Staten Island, New York.

Bret Michaels' upcoming solo album, Get Your Rock On, will include a few friends. "Loretta Lynn and I are gonna redo 'Every Rose Has It’s Thorn' together," he tells Rolling Stone. "And, for me, growing up in a family that my father loved country music and Coal Miner’s Daughter, this is gonna be a really awesome time."

How did the two come together? "I met her at Thanksgiving and it was really great. We were out at her ranch in Hurricane Mills and we sat there, me and her, and after everyone, the whole family and my crew sort of dissipated we sat there and started writing some songs together," he says. And one of the ideas she had was redoing 'Every Rose Has It’s Thorn' and I thought it would be unbelievable for me and her to do that together."

Among the other guests on the album are Def Leppard guitarist Phil Collen and Jimmy Buffett. "The song 'Get Your Rock On' has Phil Collen from Def Leppard playing guitar with me and it also has Sal Costa from My Darkest Days, really, really good guitar player and good friend," he says. "Jimmy Buffet and I did a live version of 'Margaritaville' together."

Michaels says the two duets, with Lynn and Buffett, will be "two bonus tracks." And of the rest of the record he says, "It is just straight up in your face rock & roll."

"Every Rose Has It's Thorn" is just one of the songs that came from his Thanksgiving jam session with Lynn. There will be more. "There are two songs we wrote together. One of them is going to appear, she’s a doing a new album with T-Bone Burnett, we’re gonna go down and do one on that," he says. "And then we’re gonna do one [on] an album that’s called Me, My Guitar And I, it’s a record that will come out either later in the year or sometime next year."

Michaels will be very busy in 2012, with Poison hitting the road this summer with Def Leppard in addition to his two planned solo albums. He gets off to a raucous start tonight at the Saban Theater in L.A., where he'll close out the Grammy Foundation Music Preservation Project's Salute To Live Music. The night, which will be co-hosted by Sharon Osbourne and Steve Vai, will also feature Shelby Lynne, Robert Cray, A Fine Frenzy, Dave Koz, Ledisi and more.

"Sharon Osbourne hosting this, you’re talking about one of the biggest personalities with Sharon, Steve Vai, one of the best musicians and coolest guys, that’s a good day," he says. Though Michaels did notice one thing about all of the acts on the roster. "I think everyone on the bill has either gotten a Grammy or been nominated except for me. I am the Susan Lucci of rock & roll without a nomination," he says laughing.

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