He is a singer with supreme grace whose voice led not one, but two great classic rock bands - "Free" and "Bad Company". Members of "The Doors" wanted him as a Frontman after Jim Morrison's died, he was a candidate to replace Ian Gillan after leaving "Deep Purple", he worked with Jimmy Page and even collaborated with members of "Queen".
(Photo: Celebrity Net Worth)
So here are 20 interesting facts about Paul Rodgers, and there's also a playlist ...
1. He was born in the North Yorkshire area of England on December 17, 1949, as Paul Bernard Rodgers.
2. He began his musical career as a bass player in the band "The Roadrunners", which also included guitarist Micky Moody, who would later become a member of "Whitesnake".
3. The band changed its name to "The Wildflowers" and Rodgers was asked by singer Colin Bradley to take on the singing role as well, as he was interested in moving on and playing rhythm guitar, thus revealing his incredible singing ability.
4. In 1968, when he was only 18, he formed the band "Free" together with guitarist Paul Kossoff, bassist, Andy Fraser, and drummer Simon Kirke.
5. The band released in 1969 their debut album "Tons of Sobs" and later that year their second album which was simply called "Free".
6. The band's big break came with the third album "Fire and Water" which included the iconic hit "All Right Now", whose performance at the 1970 "Isle of Wight" festival gave the band world fame.
7. But the great success also brought with it problems and after the release of the fourth album "Highway" in 1970, friction began between Fraser and Rodgers, and the band temporarily disbanded in 1971. Even after the band was able to settle down and return to activity, it did not last long And it finally disbanded in 1973 after releasing two more albums "Free at Last" from 1972 and "Heartbreaker" from 1973.
8. As early as 1973, Rodgers formed the supergroup "Bad Company" together with drummer Simon Kirke his bandmate from "Free", guitarist Mick Ralphs who came from "Mott the Hoople" and bassist Boz Burrell who came from "King Crimson". The quartet was led by Peter Grant, manager of "Led Zeppelin".
9. The band's debut album - "Bad Company", was released in 1974 and became "Swan Song Records" first album. As well known this label was formed by members of "Led Zeppelin". The album received rave reviews and jumped straight to number one on the US Billboard 200.
10. Although the style of the album was a combination of hard rock and blues rock, this album is ranked 40th on the list of the 100 greatest metal albums of all time, by the esteemed Kerrang magazine! And of course in the list of "1001 albums, you need to hear before you die".
11. Just three months after the release of their debut album, "Bad Company" went on to record the album "Straight Shooter" which includes songs like "Good Lovin 'Gone Bad" and the immortal "Feel Like Makin' Love", a song that Paul Rodgers wrote back in 68 during his tour with "Free".
12. Rodgers released with the band four more successful albums before leaving it, the last being "Rough Diamonds" from 1982.
13. In 1983 Rodgers released his first solo album "Cut Loose". He wrote all the songs on the album and played all the instruments in it.
14. In 1985 he joined Jimmy Page and they formed the band "The Firm" which includes bassist Tony Franklin and drummer Chris Slade. The band released their debut album named "The Firm" that year, and later the album "Mean Business" in 1986.
15. In 1990 he formed the band "The Law" together with the drummer Kenney Jones who is known, among other things, for his work with "the Faces". The band's debut album from 1991 featured Chris Rea, Bryan Adams, and David Gilmour, among others.
(Photo: https://kenneyjones.com)
16. In 1993, Rodgers released a tribute album to Muddy Waters, called "Muddy Water Blues: A Tribute to Muddy Waters". The album featured many good artists such as Brian May, Buddy Guy, David Gilmour, Jeff Beck, Neal Schon, Gary Moore, Richie Sambora, Slash, Steve Miller, Jason Bonham, and more.
17. Rodgers later focused on his solo career and released his third studio album "Now" in 1997 and his fourth album "Electric" in 2000.
18. In 2006, Rogers began collaborating with Brian May and Roger Taylor, members of the band "Queen". They went on tour together under the name Queen + Paul Rodgers, releasing two live albums and one studio album called The Cosmos "Rocks" in 2008.
(Photo: Junko Kimura)
19. In 2014, Rodgers released an album of blues cover versions called "The Royal Sessions".
20. In 2023, Rodgers stated that during the last 7 years he suffered no less than 13 strokes, two of them substantial (one in 2016 and another in 2019) and the rest minor. The events caused his speech to be impaired. Rodgers underwent a long recovery procedure which allowed him to return to singing.
21. That same year Rodgers released his first solo album of new material in almost 25 years called "Midnight Rose".
22. Except hid mighty voice and him being a bass player, Rodgers also plays guitar, keyboards, accordion, and drums.
23. He appears in the 55th place in Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 100 greatest singers of all time.
And now for the playlist, we have prepared especially for you: Click Here