Bret Michaels Pursues 'Idol' Job Despite Health Woes

After suffering a massive brain hemorrhage in April, Michaels quickly rebounded by appearing on Celebrity Apprentice and returning to the concert circuit. And while the Poison frontman hasn't suffered any major setbacks on his road to recovery, Michaels' rep says the rocker is not quite back to 100 percent yet. "He still has pain from the chemical meningitis, short term memory loss and gets fatigued quicker than normal," Jenne Elias, the VP of Michaels Entertainment, told People. Michaels' doctor Joseph Zabramski estimates that 15 to 20 percent of people who suffer hemorrhages like Michaels' survive the initial shock, and of those who survive only 50 percent have a "good outcome" in terms of their recovery.

Nothin' But Good Times: Check out photos of Michaels' craziest days with Poison.

Michaels is back out on the road and showing no signs of slowing down. In fact, following reports that Michaels was being eyed as a possible replacement for Simon Cowell on the next season of American Idol, Michaels revealed that he will meet with producers in Los Angeles within the next couple weeks to explore the possibility of joining Ellen DeGeneres at the judge's table. "They did a poll and I think it was Madonna, P. Diddy, Howard Stern and myself, and I took 50% or 60% of the vote and that's tremendous," Michaels told Parade . "I would love to be a judge on American Idol. I think I would bring a lot to the table. I would have to bring my own personality. I think if they have someone in there to try to imitate Simon [Cowell], it would be a mistake; he's an original. Bring Bret Michaels in to be original to who and what I am. Bring someone who can bring a little grit, true grit back to the show."

Michaels previously told Rolling Stone that he suffered the hemorrhage in his Arizona home while watching "Skin-e-max." "I was going back and forth from SportsCenter to Busty Cops 3," he said. "Maybe that's what did it!" The rocker spent 12 days in Arizona's Barrow Neurological Institute before being discharged, but was readmitted after suffering from a "warning stroke" 16 days later. Despite the setback, Michaels still made it to the Celebrity Apprentice live finale in time to be named Donald Trump's winner, and has since had a clean bill of health.

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Song Stories

“(We're Not) The Jet Set”

George Jones and Tammy Wynette | 1973

George Jones and Tammy Wynette were still married when they recorded the tongue-in-cheek "(We're Not) The Jet Set." The lyrics, written by Nashville songwriter Bobby Braddock, who also penned Wynette's "D-I-V-O-R-C-E" and Jones' "He Stopped Loving Her Today," make fun of the good life by declaring, "We're not the Jet Set/We're the old Chevrolet set." Braddock recalled that while writing the song, he needed the name of a city that evened out the rhyme he had with "Riviera" and "Missourah." “I got out a Rand McNally atlas," he said. "In the first part are the maps. The last part is an alphabetical listing of cities. I wanted a rustic, small-time sound. I went to the listing for Missouri. And I found 'Festus.' I loved the sound of it."

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