"I Won't Forget You" is a

power ballad A sentimental ballad is an emotional style of music that often deals with romantic and intimate relationships, and to a lesser extent, loneliness, death, war, drug abuse, politics and religion, usually in a poignant but solemn manner. Balla ...

by the American

glam metal Glam metal (also known as hair metal or pop metal) is a subgenre of heavy metal music, heavy metal that features pop music, pop-influenced Hook (music), hooks and guitar riffs, upbeat arena rock, rock anthems, and slow Sentimental ballad#Powe ...

band

Poison A poison is any chemical substance that is harmful or lethal to living organisms. The term is used in a wide range of scientific fields and industries, where it is often specifically defined. It may also be applied colloquially or figurati ...

, originally from the album ''

Look What the Cat Dragged In ''Look What the Cat Dragged In'' is the debut studio album by American glam metal band Poison, released on May 23, 1986, by Enigma Records and Capitol Records. Though not a success at first, it steadily built momentum and peaked at #3 on the US ...

''. Released as a single in 1987 on the Enigma label of

Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007), and simply known as Capitol, is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-base ...

, the song peaked at number 13 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in The US, and is considered one of Poison's best songs.

Background

The song, along with "

Talk Dirty to Me "Talk Dirty to Me" is a single from American glam metal band Poison. Released on February 18, 1987, it was the second single from their debut album '' Look What the Cat Dragged In''. The song peaked at No. 9 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, becomi ...

", "

Fallen Angel Fallen angels are angels who were expelled from Heaven. The literal term "fallen angel" does not appear in any Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic religious texts, but is used to describe angels cast out of heaven. Such angels are often described ...

" and " Ride the Wind", was the subject of a lawsuit in 2011 by members of the defunct band Kid Rocker, who claimed that the songs were based on Kid Rocker songs played to the Poison guitarist

C.C. DeVille Bruce Anthony Johannesson (born May 14, 1962), known professionally as C.C. DeVille, is an American musician, best known as the guitarist of the rock band Poison. The band has sold more than 50 million albums worldwide, including 15 million in ...

before he was a member of Poison. The live, daytime concert footage for the official music video for "I Won't Forget You" was recorded at the 1987

Texxas Jam Texxas Jam was the informal nickname of an annual summer rock concert called the Texxas World Music Festival (1978–1988). It was held in Dallas at the Cotton Bowl, and in Houston, at either the Astrodome or the Rice Stadium on the campus of R ...

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

. Nighttime concert footage was filmed at the

Cumberland County Civic Center Cross Insurance Arena (formerly Cumberland County Civic Center) is a multi-purpose arena located in Portland, Maine. Built in 1977, at a cost of US$8 million, it is the home arena for the Maine Mariners (ECHL), Maine Mariners of the ECHL. There a ...

Portland, Maine Portland is the List of municipalities in Maine, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maine and the county seat, seat of Cumberland County, Maine, Cumberland County. Portland's population was 68,408 at the 2020 census. The Portland metropolit ...

. Despite the song's success, it was dropped from the band's live shows in 1988 and did not return to the setlist until 2003, as noted by the vocalist

Bret Michaels Bret Michael Sychak (born March 15, 1963), known professionally as Bret Michaels, is an American singer and musician. He is the frontman of rock band Poison, which has sold over 65 million albums worldwide and 30 million records in the United St ...

that year when the band was about to play the song.

Reception

"I Won't Forget You" is widely regarded as one of Poison's best songs. In 2017, ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' and ''

OC Weekly ''OC Weekly'' was a free alternative weekly paper distributed in Orange County and Long Beach, California. It was founded in September 1995 by Will Swaim, who acted as editor and publisher until 2007. The paper was distributed at coffee shops, ...

'' ranked the song number eight and number six, respectively, on their lists of the 10 greatest Poison songs.

Personnel

- Lead Vocals, Acoustic Guitar, Backing Vocals *

- Lead Guitar, Rhythm Guitar (Used in the choruses and sporadically in the verses), Backing Vocals *

Bobby Dall Robert Harry Kuykendall, also known as Bobby Dall (born November 2, 1963), is an American musician best known as the bassist for the rock band Poison. Dall had ambitions of studying law, but ultimately turned to music instead. He began playing ...

- Bass, Backing Vocals *

Rikki Rockett Richard Allan Ream (born August 8, 1961), known professionally as Rikki Rockett, is an American musician, best known as the drummer for the band Poison. The band has sold more than 50 million albums worldwide and 15 million records in the Unite ...

- Drums, Backing Vocals

Charts

References

1980s ballads 1986 songs 1987 singles Songs written by Bobby Dall Songs written by Bret Michaels Songs written by Rikki Rockett Songs written by C.C. DeVille Poison (American band) songs Enigma Records singles Capitol Records singles Glam metal ballads {{metal-song-stub