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Photos: Bret Michaels

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  1. Just happy to be here

    Bret Michaels attends the "Celebrity Apprentice" Season 3 finale after party at Trump SoHo in New York on Sunday, May 23. (Astrid Stawiarz / Getty Images) Back to slideshow navigation
  2. Get a job!

    Michaels, left, celebrates after being "hired" by Donald Trump, as Holly Robinson Peete looks on during the finale of "Celebrity Apprentice" on Sunday, May 23. (NBC) Back to slideshow navigation
  3. Business class

    Michaels is shown fourth from right as part of the cast of Donald Trump's latest "Celebrity Apprentice." The rocker, 47, was in critical condition on April 26 after suffering a brain hemorrhage. Trump, center in red tie, issued a statement that he was "deeply saddened" to hear of Michael's medical condition. "He's a great competitor and champion," Trump said, "and I hope he will be fine." (Mitch Haaseth / NBC) Back to slideshow navigation
  4. Work it out

    Michaels, left, and former Olympian Michael Johnson are seen in an episode of "Celebrity Apprentice." (Ali Goldstein / NBC) Back to slideshow navigation
  5. Watch your head!

    Michaels, center, performs with former Poison bandmates C.C. DeVille, left, and Bobby Dall right, at the Tony Awards at Radio City Music Hall in New York on June 7, 2009. Michaels was hit in the face with a set piece during the performance. (Andrew H. Walker / Getty Images) Back to slideshow navigation
  6. Straight off the bus

    Michaels performs during the kickoff of the "Rock of Love Bus Tour" at The Pearl concert theater at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas on Jan. 31, 2009. (Ethan Miller / Getty Images) Back to slideshow navigation
  7. He wants to be their rock

    Michaels was the center of attention on the VH1 series "Rock of Love," where women competed for the affection of the musician turned reality star. (Scott Odgers / VH1) Back to slideshow navigation
  8. Oh, that old trick

    Michaels busts out the guitar for the contestants on the first season of "Rock of Love." (Scott Odgers / VH1) Back to slideshow navigation
  9. Story of their lives?

    Michaels, left, and Rikki Rockett of Poison attend the premiere of the film "Rock Star" in Westwood, Calif., on Sept. 4, 2001. (Vince Bucci / Getty Images) Back to slideshow navigation
  10. Familiar script

    Pamela Anderson, right, dated Michaels in 1993-94. A version of a sex tape the couple made appeared on the Internet and was released on DVD in 2005 before Michaels stopped it from being distributed. Anderson also famously starred in another tape with her rocker husband Tommy Lee of Motley Crue. (S. Granitz / WireImage) Back to slideshow navigation
  11. All about the hair

    The members of Poison, from left, C.C. Deville, Michaels, Bobby Dall and Rikki Rockett, attend the MTV Video Music Awards in Los Angeles on Sept. 11, 1987. The band was at the forefront of the glam metal scene and the album "Open Up and Say ... Ahh!" was a multi-platinum seller. (Lennox Mclendon / AP) Back to slideshow navigation
  12. Take your Poison

    Michaels, center, and guitarist Bobby Dall prance on stage during a 1987 concert at the Long Beach Arena in Long Beach, Calif. (George Rose / Getty Images) Back to slideshow navigation
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Rolling Stone
updated 5/25/2010 6:05:00 PM ET 2010-05-25T22:05:00

Rolling Stone has finally convinced rock & roll survivor Bret Michaels to fess up to what he was watching on TV when his near-fatal hemorrhage struck last month.

The truth: "I was going back and forth from 'SportsCenter' to 'Busty Cops 3,'" the Poison frontman and Celebrity Apprentice finalist admits. "Maybe that's what did it!" he says about the intensity of the "Skin-e-max" flick.

Michaels says his recovery playlist includes loads of classic rock, from Aerosmith to Kiss and AC/DC, and adds he heard Don McLean's "American Pie" with fresh ears after being discharged from the hospital in Arizona where he spent two weeks recovering from sudden bleeding at the base of his brainstem. "When I heard lines like, 'This'll be the day that I die' ... I get chills just thinking about it," he says.

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Sunday night, the guy known for sloppy groupie hook-ups on VH1's reality-dating juggernaut "Rock of Love" will enter Donald Trump's boardroom for one last time as perhaps the most improbable "Apprentice" finalist ever. Michaels gets why people underestimated him, but says he's a real contender. "None of them thought I was going to get out of bed," he says. "I said it on the show: Don't mistake my kindness for weakness." As Rolling Stone reported, Michaels' next reality show will be a more sober look at his struggle to balance his family with his rockin' lifestyle in VH1's "Life as I Know It."

Yesterday on Oprah, Michaels got teary-eyed as his daughters and "Celebrity Apprentice" costars sang his praises. "I think of all the crazy, crazy things I've done in my life, I'm just thankful to be here," he said.

Check out the full interview in the next issue of Rolling Stone, where Michaels opens up about his new album, Custom Built, how CC DeVille and his Poison bandmates reacted to his health scare and how he's finally tamed his partying on newsstands nationwide Friday, May 28.

Copyright 2013 by Rolling Stone.com

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