HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO PAUL RODGERS! Born Paul Bernard Rodgers on December 17th 1949 in Middlesbrough, England. He is an English-Canadian rock singer-songwriter, best known for his success in the 1960s and 1970s as vocalist of Free and Bad Company. After stints in two less successful bands in the 1980s and early 1990s, The Firm and The Law, he became a solo artist and occasionally toured with Bad Co. He recently toured and recorded with Queen and is once again out with Bad Co. touring. Rodgers has been dubbed The Voice by his fans. A poll in Rolling Stone magazine ranked him number 55 on its list of the 100 Greatest Singers of All Time. Rodgers has been cited as a significant influence on a number of notable rock singers, including David Coverdale, John Waite, Steve Overland, Lou Gramm, Jimi Jamison, Eric Martin, Steve Walsh, Joe Lynn Turner, Paul Young, Bruce Dickinson, Robin McAuley, Jimmy Barnes, Richie Kotzen and Joe Bonamassa. In 1991, John Mellencamp called Rodgers the best rock singer ever. Freddie Mercury, the original Queen vocalist, in particular liked Rodgers and his aggressive style. Paul Rodgers played bass (he later moved onto vocals) in local band The Roadrunners, which just before leaving Middlesbrough for the London music scene changed its name to The Wildflowers. Other members of this band were Micky Moody (later of Whitesnake) and Bruce Thomas (later of Elvis Costello and The Atrractions. Rodgers made a mark on the British music scene in 1968 as singer/songwriter for bluesy rockers Free. In 1970, they shot up the international radio charts with All Right Now, which Rodgers wrote with the groups bassist Andy Fraser. It was a number one hit in more than 20 territories and acknowledged by ASCAP in 1990 for having received over a million radio plays in the US. The song played a role in introducing Rodgerss vocal style, while helping to establish the sound of the British blues/rock invasion. For a short time, Free were alongside Led Zeppelin as among the highest grossing British acts though Frees status did not sustain. Free released four albums with a combination of blues, ballads and rock that were Top Five successes in the UK. When in 2000, the song All Right Now achieved the mark of two million radio plays in the UK, an award was given to Rodgers as one of the two writers. After the first break-up of Free in the spring of 1971, Rodgers briefly formed a three-piece band called Peace. Peace supported Mott the Hooples UK tour in 1971, but broke up when Free reformed in 1972. Two songs by Peace were included on the 2000 Free compilation Songs of Yesterday. Rodgers formed his next band, Bad Company, with Mick Ralphs, former guitarist of Mott the Hoople, Free drummer Simon Kirke, as well as Boz Burrell, former vocalist and bassist of King Crimson. Bad Company was the first act signed to Led Zeppelins new record label, Swan Song. They toured successfully from 1973 to 1982, and had several hits such as Feel Like Makin Love, Cant Get Enough, Shooting Star, Bad Company, and Run with the Pack. Rodgers also showcased his instrumental talents on several tracks: Bad Company and Run With The Pack featured him on piano; Rock and Roll Fantasy on guitar; and on the ballad Seagull Rodgers played all of the instruments. Bad Company earned six platinum albums until Rodgers left in 1982 at the height of their fame stating that he wanted to spend time with his young family. It was revealed in April 2011 that after Jim Morrisons death, the rest of The Doors wanted Rodgers to replace him. Rodgers has said that he was unreachably rural at the time, and the moment passed. In the early 1980s, it was rumoured that Rodgers would sing with The Rossington-Collins Band (made up of the survivors of Lynyrd Skynyrd). In October 1983, Rodgers released his first solo LP Cut Loose. He composed all of the music and played all of the instrumentsm. When his friend Jimmy Page started to come around to his house, guitar in hand and Led Zeppelin at an end, the duos first live pairing was on the US ARMS (Action Research into Multiple Sclerosis) Tour, which would include Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, Joe Cocker, Steve Winwood and others. The inspiration behind ARMS had been former Small Faces/Faces member Ronnie Lanes own struggle with M.S. This led to Rodgers and Pages further teaming in the group The Firm, which resulted in two albums and two tours. The Firms two albums, The Firm and Mean Business, achieved moderate sales success and produced the radio hits Radioactive, Satisfaction Guaranteed, and, in the UK, All The Kings Horses. The Law, Rodgers 1991 musical venture with former The Who and Faces drummer Kenney Jones, produced Billboards number one AOR chart hit Laying Down the Law written by Rodgers. A second album can be found on the bootleg market. Then Rodgers teamed with Journey guitarist Neal Schon and released The Hendrix Set, a live 5-track CD, recorded in 1993 with Rodgers interpretations of Hendrix songs. His Grammy-nominated solo CD, Muddy Water Blues: A Tribute to Muddy Waters was released in 1993. Rodgers wrote the title track and was backed by guitarists Brian May, Gary Moore, David Gilmour, Jeff Beck, Steve Miller, Buddy Guy, Richie Sambora, Brian Setzer, Slash and Trevor Rabin. For Woodstocks 25th anniversary in 1994, Rodgers pulled together drummer Jason Bonham, bassist Andy Fraser (from Free), guitarists Slash and Schon at the last moment to perform as the Paul Rodgers Rock and Blues Revue. Rodgers and Bad Company hit Billboards US BDS charts with the number one single Hey, Hey in 1999, one of four new tracks off Bad Companys The Original Bad Company Anthology. The second single release, Rodgerss Hammer of Love, reached number two. For the first time in 20 years, all the original members of Bad Company toured the US. Rodgers focused on his solo career in 2000 and released Electric, his sixth solo CD. The single Drifters remained in the top 10 for eight weeks on Billboards Rock charts. That same year, Rodgers, Jimmie Vaughan, Levon Helm, bluesmen Hubert Sumlin, Johnnie Johnson, James Cotton and others performed a sold out concert in Cleveland as a Muddy Water Blues: A Tribute to Muddy Waters. Bad Company released their first official live CD and DVD, In Concert: Merchants of Cool, in 2002. In late 2004, after a successful live television performance, two of the four members of the British rock group Queen proposed a collaboration with Rodgers, in which he would sing lead vocals on a European tour. Rodgers thus joined Brian May and Roger Taylor (former bassist John Deacon retired in the late 1990s), with the group billed as Queen + Paul Rodgers and they subsequently toured worldwide in 2005 and 2006. This is but the tip of the Paul Rodgers iceberg, look up his bio and read in depth on this amazing man. Heres Rock And Roll Fantasy from the 1999 reformation of Bad Company along with Gary Rossington..... Enjoy!
Posted on: Wed, 17 Dec 2014 17:25:20 +0000