ADVERTISEMENT

AOL Radio

Listen to AOL Radio Now
play arrow
Top Country - Today's Hottest Hits
Taylor Swift, Brad Paisley, Rascal Flatts
play arrow
'90s Country - '90s Biggest Hits
Garth Brooks, Reba McEntire, George Strait
play arrow
New Country First - Today's new country hits
Keith Urban, Toby Keith, Sugarland
Online Radio Guide

Exclusive Interviews

Chats with your favorite country stars.

Exclusive Performances

Watch live, in-studio performances.

Blogroll

Bret Michaels Teams With Miley Cyrus on Country-Rock Single

Bret Michaels, Miley Cyrus duetBret Michaels is getting a little love on country radio ... along with a little resistance.

The Poison frontman and reality TV star has recorded a country-rock single, with help from a country girl at heart, Miley Cyrus. 'Nothing to Lose' is the name of the new song that pairs the heavy metal icon with the pop princess.

"Bret and I had a great time in the studio together just hanging out and making music," Miley reports. "He's so passionate about music, and it shows. It's such a rad collaboration, because it shows that two artists that seem so different on the outside can come together and organically create something that we are both proud of."

The 46-year-old Bret has received a bit of backlash for choosing 17-year-old Miley to sing harmony on the song, which includes sexually suggestive lyrics. "I never sat down and said, 'Look at the content. Look at the lyrical content ... There is nothing I have to be defensive about," he tells US magazine. "There is no reference to her and I. It's not even a duet! I just thought it was a beautiful song."

Bret explains that he wrote the song several years ago but just recently played it for Miley when the two were in the studio recording her cover of Poison's classic hit, 'Every Rose Has Its Thorn.' "[Miley was] like, 'This is an incredible song, it's beautiful. Maybe I could [add] some stuff to it, some harmonies,'" Bret recalls. "She was excited that she didn't have to follow any rules."

As for crossing over to country, Bret doesn't have to be as defensive. He's earned country cred by writing with several of Nashville's top tunesmiths throughout the years. In 2005, he released a country-leaning rock album, 'Freedom of Sound,' and was a judge on the country music reality-competition show, 'Nashville Star.'

Bret has recorded five versions of 'Nothing to Lose' -- three featuring Miley (one rock-leaning, one country-leaning and one acoustic) plus two solo versions. Listen to Bret and Miley's country version below.


Buy 'Nothing to Lose' | Download Bret Michaels Songs

Bret Michaels on AOL Music | Miley Cyrus on AOL Music

All the AOL Music info you want to know

Johnny Cash Museum Planned for Nashville

The Boot

Jeffrey Mayer, Wire Image/Getty Images Johnny Cash fans may soon have another…

Elton John, Baby Zachary: Icon Fears…

AOL Music Blog

Dave M. Benett, Getty Images Elton John is a proud gay man and recently…

Think I Give a Damn About a Grammy?…

Spinner

Getty|Redferns|Getty The day after the 2012 Grammy nominees were announced,…

See all AOL Music »

Add a Comment

Sign in »
*0 / 3000 Character Maximum

19 Comments

Filter by:
Staple Kat

What a beautiful song. It's sad how a lot of people's minds work on these comment boards. I suppose they see what they want to see, which says a lot about those people.
For me, I think it is really neat (for lack of a better word) that someone I was into as a kid would end up singing with someone my daughter is into now. My daughter can't sing as well as Miley yet, but I can't wait for the day when I get to record a song with her. Until then, I live vicariously through a song like this.
Great job, Brett. Great job, Miley. And keep saying whatever you want, too. I LOVE how many people you tick off!

March 18 2010 at 12:35 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Baxter

It amazes me that there is so much negativity over this. Accept it for what it is, a beautiful song done well.

March 08 2010 at 1:28 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Cheyenne

I am not a Miley fan. But I have to say this is a good song. Good job Bret and Miley.

March 03 2010 at 9:42 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
gonzo1

an ACTUAL song , with ACTUAL lyrics , that ACTUALLY has some semblance of meaning . and a rather GOOD song at that !!!i think it's possible that it raises a little more than " eyebrows " , i think it raises a little " jealouse ire " ; envy the green-eyed monster!!!

March 03 2010 at 5:30 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Lucky

After reading your comment... I have to ask two questions:

a) Did you graduate high school? Your grammar and spelling are atrocious. You should consider a refresher course at your local community college.
b) If you haven't graduated high school, then I'm not surprised you're a Miley fan. Does your mother know you're online?
Please, if you're going to try to defend the Disney whore, at least use spell check. I used to like her. She was cute, fresh, and wholesome... And then she decided to attempt to create an "older" fanbase by dating other celebrities and changing her wardrobe from "cute and fashionable" to "courtesy of LiLo." SHe has a good voice, but the way she's going about "growing up" is losing her popularity points and making her into a laughingstock.

March 03 2010 at 5:15 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
RASHAD CARTER

BRAVO, to Bret and Miley!!!!! This song touches the hearts of men and women across multiple generations. Wise move, and great creative work.

To the People who are Idiots....There is a lot that can be done with a well written song. It all depends on how you look at it. ARE YOU EVEN LISTENING?

If instead of listening to the music, you spend the whole time thinking,"This is a young girl and he's an old man," then you will not understand the lyric set-up of the song, and you will fail to understand the obvious masculine feminine dynamic of the piece.

You must be willing to listen to the song and forget about who is singing. Do the two artists convey the message of the piece? YES.

The song is about a very human issue of love and pain faced by both men and women alike. It takes guts to let people in! I think the song had a feminine quality to it from a compositional standpoint anyhow, and Miley's youth and impressive vocal abilities actually helped cement that femininity perfectly. It was a successful collaboration for them musically. He allowed her to demonstrate her underestimated talent, while displaying his own matured talent, they sounded great together! They would have been fools both to turn down this momentum. Great artists know when a good thing is going on, and not to waste it for they are rare.

March 03 2010 at 4:29 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Jeff

To all the chronic pain in the ass complainers.........this song was very good and good to see her push ahead with her career. Nice voices!

March 03 2010 at 1:42 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
George

YOU HAVE TO HAND IT TO BRET, HE KNOWS HOW TO KEEP GETTING INTO THE SPOTLIGHT.

March 03 2010 at 1:40 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
abc23

This is a good song nothing wrong with it at all.Your a bunch of old farts.

March 03 2010 at 1:35 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
rashalynn

I'm not a big fan of Miss Cyrus, but I have to say the harmonizing is very nice. I don't see a problem there. As kickapoobeaver said it is great PR. Nice job Mr. Michaels and Miss Cyrus.

March 03 2010 at 12:44 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply