Former Packers quarterback Don Majkowski joined The Glam Band onstage at Stadium View for an epic Poison flashback
GREEN BAY - Don Majkowski already has the guitar chops and a nickname that rocks, so all that’s keeping the former Green Bay Packers quarterback from becoming an honorary member of The Glam Band might be the stage garb.
Nothing that some tight pants, animal prints and hairspray can’t fix.
“I think we put that out there as our hook: ‘Hey Majik, every postgame that we’re playing from here on out, we’re going to have a wig and some green and gold spandex on standby for you to come up onstage,” said Eric Johnson, who is drummer Skitch Rockett in the crazy popular Green Bay/Fox Valley ’80s hair metal tribute band. “The lipstick is always ready.”
Majkowski was wearing a more subdued khaki shorts, white T-shirt and flip flops when he took in the group’s celebratory show outside Stadium View Sports Bar, Grill & Banquet Hall after the Packers’ home-opener win over the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday. The band spotted “The Majik Man,” as he became known in 1989 when he led the Packers to their best season in 17 years, and coaxed him up onstage.
Guitarist Will Ricketts (Will E Stradlyn when the wig and bandanna are on) passed him his acoustic guitar and a pick, and the next thing you know Green Bay was having a flashback to a moment in its rock 'n' roll history. It was in September 1990 that Majkowski, who was in his fourth season with the Packers, joined Poison onstage at Brown County Veterans Memorial Arena to sing the band’s hit ballad, “Every Rose Has Its Thorn,” for the launch of the Flesh & Blood Tour.
The city of Green Bay and Poison frontman Bret Michaels have never forgotten.
So, of course, 34 years later, it was that same song the 60-year-old Majkowski did with The Glam Band. How could he not? But not before first throwing the Wisconsin Area Music Industry’s reigning Tribute Act of the Year for a loop by starting out with “Let Her Cry” by Hootie & The Blowfish.
The Glam Band’s playlist covers a lot of territory, from Mötley Crüe and Def Leppard to Twisted Sister and Ratt, but any way you look at it, Hootie falls well outside the glam metal perimeters.
“We were able to fake our way through it a little bit,” Johnson said. “But hey, it’s Don Majkowski. We were happy to just share the stage and follow along with what he was doing.”
Once Majkowski went into his signature “Every Rose Has Its Thorn,” Johnson said it was “a lot of smiles, a lot of laughs and a lot of people grabbing pictures.”
The same thing happened last year when the band was playing the home opener postgame party at Stadium View and spotted Majkowski in the audience and got him to come up. To the delight of the crowd, he did “Every Rose” and Billy Idol’s “Rebel Yell” with them.
Who had more fun, the band or the quarterback, is a toss-up, but Johnson said he and his bandmates were touched when Majkowski’s wife, Kelly, sent a note afterward thanking them for that opportunity in 2023. The band has been able to get to know him a little bit since then.
“Just a really nice, humble guy,” Johnson said.
Majkowski was a 9-year-old KISS fan when he started playing guitar
Glam Band singer Dennis Peters (aka Dennis Lee Roth onstage) talked with Majkowski during Civic Media’s “Maino and the Mayor” radio show Friday. Peters does a regular entertainment segment on the show on Fridays; Majkowski was special guest.
Peters extended an invitation for Majkowski, who was among the dozens of Packers alumni introduced at halftime of the home opener, to come join the band again at Stadium View, but Majkowski said he was still recovering from recent arm surgery and wouldn’t be able to play. He planned to be there to watch, as he and his wife are both big Glam Band fans.
Now that he and Kelly, who is from Menomonee Falls, are empty nesters, this is the third Packers season they’re spending several months in Green Bay. He enjoys talking with fans, going to the games at Lambeau, hanging out at Nicky’s Lionhead Restaurant in De Pere (a popular Packers players haunt from back in the day) and Hinterland in the Titletown District, making personal appearances and giving alumni tours at Lambeau Field, he told hosts John Maino and Jim Schmitt during his radio appearance.
He started playing guitar when he was 9, the same age he discovered KISS. He’s self-taught.
“Always loved being able to go onstage,” he said during the interview. “That’s a rush, you know. It’s really cool.”
“You’re welcome to come up anytime you want,” Peters told him. “You’re a Glam Band hall of famer, my friend.”
Majkowski ultimately couldn’t resist the stage invite Sunday. Diehard Packers fans of a certain age recognized him right away, Johnson said, but once Peters introduced him as the man who brought the glory back to the Packers, “the place just erupted.”
The Glam Band has had its share of cool rock moments as its popularity has soared in recent years, including playing a private midnight party for country superstar Eric Church and his band and crew at Lambeau Field in 2022. Sharing the stage with a Packers Hall of Fame quarterback is right up there — one of those only-in-Green Bay things.
“We were honored. He’s a legend,” Johnson said. “Our position is ‘Hey, you never have to ask. If you’re out, come on up. You’re always welcome.’”
Kendra Meinert is an entertainment and feature writer at the Green Bay Press-Gazette. Contact her at 920-431-8347 or kmeinert@greenbay.gannett.com. Follow her on X @KendraMeinert.
This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Former Packers quarterback Don Majkowski hits the stage with Glam Band
