"Shooting Star" is a song by American rock 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 ...

. It is the third and final single released from Poison's 7th studio album ''

Hollyweird Hollyweird is the sixth studio album by American glam metal band Poison, released through Cyanide Music on May 21, 2002. It debuted at No. 103 on the Billboard 200 chart and No. 8 on the Independent Albums chart and sold 11,000 copies in its fi ...

'', which debuted at No. 103 on the ''Billboard'' 200 and No. 8 on the

Top Independent Albums The Independent Albums chart (previously titled Top Independent Albums) ranks the highest-selling independent music albums and extended plays (EPs) in the United States, as compiled by Nielsen SoundScan and published weekly by '' Billboard'' mag ...

chart after selling 11,574 copies its first week. The song was officially released as a single on November 5, 2002, in the United States, despite heavy promotion by the band and partnering with

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. It is considered to be one of the top ranked motorsports organizations in ...

driver ''

Derrike Cope Derrike Wayne Cope (born November 3, 1958) is an American professional stock car racing driver and team owner. He is best known for his surprise win in the 1990 Daytona 500. He last competed in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 15 Chevrolet ...

'' to race the Quest Motor Racing No. 37

Ford Ford commonly refers to: * Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford * Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river Ford may also refer to: Ford Motor Company * Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company * Ford F ...

car wrapped with the ''

'' paint scheme at The Great American Getaway 400 ''(formerly the Pocono 500)'' race on July 28, and the Pepsi 400 presented by Farmer Jack at

Michigan International Speedway Michigan International Speedway (formerly named as the Michigan Speedway from 1997 to 2000) is a D-shaped oval superspeedway in Brooklyn, Michigan. It has hosted various major auto racing series throughout its existence, including NASCAR, Cham ...

August 16–18, 2002 and steady airplay on AOR Radio stations, the single failed to achieve significant success. Physical copies of promotional

CD singles A CD single is a music single in the form of a compact disc (CD). Originally the ''CD single'' standard (as defined in the Red Book) was an 8 cm (3-inch) "mini CD" (''CD3''); later on the term referred to any single recorded onto a CD of any ...

for ''"Shooting Star"'' contained the song ''"Wasteland"'' as a

b-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph record, vinyl records and Compact cassette, cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a Single (music), single usually ...

also from their new album, ''

.'' As of 2025 Shooting Star is the band's most recent new single that was an original song and not a cover song.

Background and release

''Shooting Star'' was first revealed by the band on April 2, 2002, during the announcement and track list reveal of the band's upcoming seventh studio album ''

'' which would be released independently on ''Cyanide Records'', Poison's own record label on May 21, 2002. In a August 2002 interview with ''Kara Marie'' of ''The Pure Rock Shop'', when asked if a third single from

would be released, drummer

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 ...

acknowledged ''Shooting Star'' was receiving some radio airplay and was in test phase at the moment but did not confirm at that time that it would be released as the follow-up single to '' Squeeze Box''. On November 5, 2003 ''Shooting Star'' was released as the third and final single from

. Despite heavy rotation on AOR stations ''"Shooting Star"'' did not chart on major music charts such as the ''

Billboard Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100, also known as simply the Hot 100, is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), ...

'' or the ''

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 ...

's'' ''

Mainstream Rock Tracks Mainstream Rock is a music chart published by '' Billboard'' magazine that ranks the most-played songs on mainstream rock radio stations in the United States. It is an administrative category that combines the " active rock" and " heritage rock" ...

'' and it did not achieve significant commercial success or widespread recognition outside of the positive reactions fans gave to the song when performed live at select shows for their ''Hollyweird World tour''.

Content

Often regarded as "

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 ...

Pt. 2", ''"Shooting Star"'' continues the narrative of a young woman who left home to chase her dreams of finding success and fame in a big city. While ''"Fallen Angel"'' focuses on the disillusionment and downfall that comes with being overwhelmed, misled by the glamour of fame, "Shooting Star" presents a more determined and unwavering perspective. Instead of dwelling on loss and regret, the protagonist remains steadfast, embracing the struggle and doing whatever it takes to achieve success, reflecting a more resilient take on the pursuit of stardom.

Critical reception

In a review by ''Predro B.'' of ''Sputnik Music'' stated that Shooting Star ''"offers little new for long-time fans"'', and tracks like "Shooting Star" and others from ''"

"'' hold their own against the band's classic hits, describing the song being seen as a testament to Poison's ability to produce quality music even in their later years. Cultural commentary journalist ''Matty Wishnow'' from ''Past Prime'' criticized the song, saying ''"Shooting Star and Wishful Thinking are back to back sequels to

that do nothing to update the idea or the song."'' in a article published online on April 21, 2021. Commenting further on his scathing review, Wishnow continued on by stating the songs "Shooting Star", "Wishful Thinking" and "Devil Woman" from

all ''"try to channel both

The Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for over six decades, they are one of the most popular, influential, and enduring bands of the Album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the band pione ...

and

AC/DC AC/DC are an Australian rock band formed in Sydney in 1973. Their music has been variously described as hard rock, blues rock and Heavy metal music, heavy metal, although the band calls it simply "rock and roll". They are cited as a formativ ...

in its dark, bluesy misogyny. Unfortunately,

isn't even a fraction of those bands on their best day"''. Wishnow ended his review by pointing out that the songs lyrics, instrumentals, and overall production is ''"distasteful and lacks any of the melody or humor required to even marginally redeem it. In the end, all we are left with is harmonica, plodding rhythm guitar and a lot of bile."''

magazine journalist ''Gary Graff'' ranked ''"Shooting Star"'' as the 6th best Poison song of all time in a article on March 28, 2023. Graff commented on the song describing it as: ''"A sequel of sorts to 1988's "Fallen Angel," this chugging rocker from Hollyweird has a thicker, heavier tone than much of the band's previous material with an opening riff that straddles '80s glam and '90s alt-rock. This time, Angel is fist-pumping throughout a compact, tightly executed track."''

Personnel

Credits adapted from

liner notes Liner notes (also sleeve notes or album notes) are the writings found on the sleeves of LP record albums and in booklets that come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or cassette j-cards. Origin Liner notes are descended from the prog ...

of ''

''. *

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 ...

- lead vocals, rhythm guitar, keyboards *

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 ...

- lead guitar, 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 guitar, backing vocals *

- drums, backing vocals

Commercial performance

Despite the song's album debuting with strong sales in its first week with 11,574 sales as an independent release without a major record label promoting the album, peaking at #103 on the

Billboard 200 The ''Billboard'' 200 is a record chart ranking the 200 most popular music albums and EPs in the United States. It is published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists. Sometimes, a rec ...

chart and No. 8 on the

Independent Albums The Independent Albums chart (previously titled Top Independent Albums) ranks the highest-selling independent music albums and extended plays (EPs) in the United States, as compiled by Nielsen SoundScan and published weekly by '' Billboard'' mag ...

chart, when released as the third and final single from the album on November 5, 2002, ''Shooting Star'' did not chart on any major

music charts A record chart, in the music industry, also called a music chart, is a ranking of recorded music according to certain criteria during a given period. Many different criteria are used in worldwide charts, often in combination. These include ...

and failed to gain traction on major radio stations with the exception of some

airplay Airplay is how frequently a song is being played through broadcasting on radio stations. A song which is being played several times every day (spins) would have a significant amount of airplay. Music which became very popular on jukeboxes, in n ...

on AOR radio stations.

Track listing

Release history

"Shooting Star" is on the following albums:

References

{{Poison 2002 singles 2002 songs Poison (American band) songs Bret Michaels songs Songs written by Bret Michaels Songs written by Bobby Dall Songs written by C.C. DeVille Songs written by Rikki Rockett Glam metal ballads