Pages

Friday, January 10, 2020

Casey James Calls 'American Idol' Duet with Bret Michaels 'An Honor'

'After the stuff I had been through with my motorcycle wreck, we immediately hit it off,' James says of Poison frontman.

Casey James is still riding high since finishing third on "American Idol," but his favorite moment on the show actually occurred after he'd been given the boot: his finale-night performance with Bret Michaels.

Their surprise duet on the Poison classic "Every Rose Has Its Thorn" was a highlight of the show, especially given the myriad health scares Michaels had survived in recent months. But that's only part of the reason James will always remember the moment. Turns out, he was unaware that he'd be performing with Michaels until 48 hours before the show aired.

"Well, they give us the songs, and they say, 'This is the song you're going to be doing, you're going to be doing a duet,' and I see the song and I'm like, 'Why are you having me do this song? I know Bret Michaels is ill, so who are they gonna have sing the song with me?' I was just very confused," James told MTV News. "Then, I think it was two days before the show — Bret Michaels, [producers] were calling him 'rock star,' that was, like, the code name for the guy I was playing with — and so they said, 'Rock star wants to see you.' And I'm like, 'OK, so I'm gonna meet the dude, or the female, or whoever it is that I'm doing the song with,' and I walked in and there he is, and I was like, 'You gotta be kidding me.' "


James said he was in awe of the Poison frontman at first, but the two quickly bonded ... over their respective near-death experiences, oddly enough.

"He's an amazing dude, and I think it says a lot about him, what the music does for him ... it's just unbelievable. And after the stuff that I had been through with my motorcycle wreck [in 2004], we just kind of immediately hit it off," James explained. "And for him to be coming back, and for me to be on the stage when that happened? I mean, what an honor. I'll never forget it for the rest of my life."

And though their on-air performance was certainly one for the "Idol" history books, James said that the duo's rehearsals were even more memorable, allowing him to fulfill a lifelong dream to jam with one of his musical idols.

"We had a lot of fun in rehearsals, we were laughing and playing," he said. "The coolest thing was when I first met him and we just immediately started jamming, and we were trying to figure out the arrangement for the song and the amount of time we had ... it was great. He's the nicest guy ever."

By James Montgomery/MTV/June 3, 2010

16 comments:

  1. It was totally awesome and unexpected, was the highight of the show.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I think it's awesome that they put them together! These two guys are both down to earth and appreciate the simple and important things in life because they are one of the blessed people in the world who have faced death and really know what's important! I don't think you could have put Casey with anybody better! It was the highlight of the WHOLE show...everyone went crazy! We loved it!

    ReplyDelete
  3. My Favorite part of the whole season! Casey James was my pick, but when he was paired up with Brett it even drove home more how much we liked his talent.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Casey was and is my favorite Idol and the duet with Bret Michels was the best Idol performance of the Idol Finale.

    ReplyDelete
  5. A great memorable performance by both Casey and Brett. This performance made the finale!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Casey should do more duets with Brett more often in future. It was FUN..tastic!
    Casey in de 1st idol to do d show with 2 different guitars. Brett & Casey, U ROCK }}}}}}}
    :-)~~~ (-:

    ReplyDelete
  7. The Casey/Bret duet was the best AI/Celebrity duet ever. I loved how they revealed Bret. I'm so old i was a fan of poison in the 90's and have watched every year of idol. This was seriously one of the best idol moments.

    ReplyDelete
  8. It was the highlight of the show. Casey really was amazing and looked so natural and at ease with 2 guitars... playing one & the other on his back ready to jam with Bret! I'm glad he had that opportunity. Fantastic duet!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Casey and Bret stole the show. Period.

    ReplyDelete
  10. was the best moment ever !!!..Huge fan of Brett ...so happy he is back ...and Casey is just awesome and is going to give us some good music just like Brett continues to do year after year ....would love to see both of them at the Hard Rock Casino in Biloxi ...would be just awesome experience !!!!

    ReplyDelete
  11. I think Casey has only just begun and has so much potential for greatness and this was a great example. He is awesome in person.

    Your biggest fan,
    Annette Henderson
    (Mrs. Robinson at the Keys on 5/14)

    ReplyDelete
  12. I think casey and brett did a jam-up job on the duet song. I also think that casey has just begun his singing career to the top! Casey was my number one idol on the show and will always be my favorite number one idol.I truey do wish him the upmost best in the future for him. It would be nice to see him in concert in my home town: Rome,Ga. real soon! hugs to you casey from your number one supporter and fan.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Casey was awesome with Bret on the finale. It was the highlight of the whole season!! He was so natural on that stage and in his element. Casey Rocks!! God Bless him and Bret Michaels!! Can't wait for Casey to get signed!!

    ReplyDelete
  14. go go Casey, phillipines's waiting for you<3

    ReplyDelete
  15. This duet was the most awesome surprise performance of the Idol finale (and season, for that matter). I absolutely LOVED it!!! My two favorite blond, blue-eyed rocker guys on one stage; Bret coming back after being so critically ill, and Casey rockin' two guitars: It doesn't get any better than that! They both looked and sounded AWESOME; an absolutely EPIC performance!!!

    ReplyDelete
  16. I see Casey, a bigger star than Lee or Crystal!Go Casey, be yourself!Don't let fame or people change you! You and Brett were awesome, no matter what the juges thought.

    ReplyDelete