Bad Company

Bad Company had a pedigree before they'd played a note. Paul Rodgers, the singer, and Simon Kirke, the drummer, came from Free; Mick Ralphs had played guitar in Mott the Hoople; Boz Burrell had been King Crimson's bassist. They got together in London in 1973, and with Peter Grant, the man who managed Led Zeppelin, in their corner, they set out to play hard rock the way it ought to be played: unhurried, bluesy, and built around one of the great voices in the business.

The 1974 debut, Bad Company, arrived fully formed. "Can't Get Enough" is a strutting, swaggering opener, the title track slow and menacing, and "Ready for Love", "Rock Steady" and "Movin' On" keep up the lean, muscular groove. Straight Shooter followed in 1975 with "Feel Like Makin' Love", which drifts from a lazy strum into a crashing chorus, and "Shooting Star", and Run With the Pack in 1976 brought the sweeping "Silver Blue And Gold". All 3 albums made the top 5 in both Britain and America. Burnin' Sky came in 1977 and Desolation Angels in 1979 with "Rock 'n' Roll Fantasy", and a stack of their songs have become fixtures on classic rock radio.

The original lineup broke up in 1982, but the name kept coming back. Brian Howe came aboard in the second half of the '80s, and Robert Hart after him, with Holy Water arriving in 1990. Kirke was the one member who stayed from start to finish, and he and Ralphs are the only 2 who played on every studio album. The reunions ran on until 2019, when Rodgers had a major stroke, and in 2023 Kirke said the band would not carry on. Burrell died in 2006 and Ralphs in 2025.

They have sold 20 million certified albums in America and 40 million around the world, and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inducted them in 2025.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.