Early Years
DeVille was born Bruce Anthony Johannesson in the Bay Ridge area of Brooklyn, New York. His interest in music began at age two while watching The Beatles perform on The Ed Sullivan Show. DeVille began playing the guitar at the age of five after he was given a $27 Japanese Telecaster copy. As his love of music grew, he began listening to bands such as Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, The Rolling Stones, David Bowie, Aerosmith, Van Halen, Cheap Trick, Queen, and especially Kiss.
At the age of 18, DeVille formed the band Lace in New York, which adopted a highly sexual, "glam" image. It was during this time period that DeVille began writing the song "Talk Dirty To Me", which would later appear on Poison's first album, Look What the Cat Dragged In.
DeVille began studying music theory at New York University, but never completed his studies. Instead, he moved to Los Angeles in 1981 and played in various bands, including Screaming Mimi, Lace Slip, St James, and Roxx Regime (which later changed their name to Stryper), before auditioning for Poison.
Read more about this topic: C.C. DeVille
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