Paul Rodgers

Paul Rodgers

Paul Bernard Rodgers, (born 17 December 1949) is an English rock singer-songwriter best known for being a member of Free and Bad Company. Both bands experienced big international success in the 1970s. Before establishing a career as a solo artist, he was also a member of The Firm and The Law. He has recently toured and recorded with Queen.

1960s: Free

Main article: Free (band)

Rodgers was born in the northern English town of Middlesbrough. He 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 Attractions). Rodgers appeared 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 group's bassist Andy Fraser. It was a number one hit in more than 20 territories and recognised by ASCAP in 1990 for receiving more than a million radio plays in the US alone. The song played a pivotal role in introducing Rodgers's stylistic metier, while helping to establish the sound of the British blues/rock invasion. At the time, Free and Led Zeppelin were the biggest grossing British acts. Free released four top five albums with a combination of blues, ballads and rock. The Multi Million Award was given to Paul Rodgers in 2000 by the British Music Industry when "All Right Now" passed two million radio plays in the UK.

1970s: Bad Company

Main article: Bad Company

Rodgers formed his next band, Bad Company, with Mick Ralphs, former guitarist of Mott the Hoople. Rodgers said: "Mick and I were trying to come up with names for the band. When I called him and said 'Bad Company', he dropped the phone."

Bad Company toured successfully from 1973 to 1982, and had several hits such as "Feel Like Making Love", "Can't 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 to spend time with his young family.

1980s

In the early 1980s, it was rumoured that Rodgers would sing with The Rossington-Collins Band (made of up the survivors of Lynyrd Skynyrd), but the pairing never came off.

In October 1983, Rodgers released his first solo LP Cut Loose. He composed all of the music and played all of the instruments. The album peaked at a disappointing number 135 on the Billboard's Pop Albums chart.

When his friend Jimmy Page started to come around to his house, guitar in hand and Led Zeppelin at an end, the duo's first live pairing was on the US ARMS (Action Research into Multiple Sclerosis) Tour (rock music's first big charity fundraiser) which had first been mooted by Eric Clapton and, besides Rodgers and Page, would include Jeff Beck, Joe Cocker Steve Winwood and others. The inspiration behind ARMS had been former Small Faces/Faces member Ronnie Lane 's own struggle with M.S. This led to Rodgers and Page's further teaming in the group The Firm , which resulted in two albums and two tours. Both Firm world tours managed only average attendance. Despite being panned by critics The Firm's two albums, The Firm and Mean Business, achieved moderate sales success and produced the radio hits "Radioactive" on which Rodgers played the guitar solo, "Satisfaction Guaranteed", and, in the UK, "All The King's Horses".

1990s

The Law, Rodgers's 1991 musical venture with former The Who and Faces drummer Kenney Jones, produced Billboard's number one AOR chart hit "Laying Down The Law" written by Rodgers, but the album peaked at number 126 on the Billboard's Pop Albums chart. A never-released second album can be found on the bootleg market. The album is often referred to as The Law II.

Rodgers acknowledged the influence of Jimi Hendrix by collaborating with Slash, Hendrix's Band Of Gypsys (Buddy Miles and Billy Cox) and recorded the track "I Don't Live Today", on the Hendrix tribute album In From The Storm. 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. A Canadian and US tour followed.

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 & Trevor Rabin to name a few.

For Woodstock's 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.

New studio album of 1997, Now to be re-released as a part of his first double CD set, Now and Live charted internationally in the top 30. The single "Soul Of Love" remained in rotation on more than 86 US radio stations for six months. His 1997 world tour included Russia, Japan, Canada, USA, UK, Germany, France, Romania, Bulgaria, Israel, Brazil, Greece and Argentina.

Rodgers and Bad Company hit Billboard's US BDS charts with the number one single "Hey, Hey" in 1999, one of four new tracks off Bad Company's The Original Bad Company Anthology. The second single release, Rodgers's "Hammer Of Love", reached number two. For the first time in 20 years, all the original members of Bad Company toured the USA.

2000-present

Rodgers focused on his solo career in 2000 and released Electric, his 6th solo CD. In its debut week, the single "Drifters" was US rock radio's number one on the Most Added FMQB Hot Trax list, number two on Most Added R&R Rock and number three on Most Added Album Net Power Cuts. "Drifters" remained in the top 10 for eight weeks on Billboard's Rock charts. That year, he played sold-out concerts in England, Scotland, Australia, United States and Canada. After his appearance on TV's Late Show with David Letterman in New York, he met and jammed with B.B. King. Rodgers said: "The thrill was definitely not gone... for me. B.B. is a blues giant." That same year, Paul 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.

The spring of 2001, Rodgers returned to Australia, England and Scotland for the second run of sold-out shows. That summer he toured the US with Bad Company.

Paul Rodgers and Bad Company released their first live CD and DVD Merchants of Cool in 2002. It included all the hits and a new single "Joe Fabulous" penned by Rodgers which hit number one at Classic Rock Radio and Top 20 on mainstream rock radio in the USA. In its debut week, the DVD sales sound scanned at number three Canada, and number four in the US. The Joe Fabulous Tour kicked off in the USA and sold out in the UK. While in London, Rodgers performed with Jeff Beck at the Royal Festival Hall. Rodgers was invited by long-time fan Tony Blair to perform at the Labour Party Conference. "I had the entire Labour Party singing the chorus of "Wishing Well", a song I wrote and shared with Free, ...'love in a peaceful world'. 'Love in a peaceful world'... over and over and over hoping the words would sink in but we went to war" recalled Rodgers. Twice in 2002, Rodgers performed on Britain's TV show Top of the Pops 2.

In 2003, Rodgers toured as a solo artist for the first time in two years playing 25 exclusive US dates. In his solo band are guitarist Howard Leese (Heart), bassist Lynn Sorensen and drummer Jeff Kathan. BBC TV/radio host Jools Holland invited Rodgers to record "I Told The Truth" for Holland's album Small World Big Band. The CD also featured Eric Clapton, Ronnie Wood, Peter Gabriel, Michael McDonald, Ringo Starr and others. This led to Rodgers performing two sold-out nights at London's Royal Albert Hall with Holland and his 18-piece rhythm and blues orchestra, and several UK TV appearances.He also appeared with Jeff Beck, performing some songs from Beck's back catalogue (along with several other notable musicians, including John Mclaughlin, Roger Waters and the White Stripes) for part of a week-long series of charity concerts put on by Jeff Beck at the Royal Festival Hall in London.

In autumn 2004, Rodgers took part in an all-star line-up of some of the world's greatest guitarists and thousands of fans gathered at London's Wembley Arena to celebrate the 50th birthday of the Fender Stratocaster guitar. In 2005, he took part in the 50th anniversary celebration of the Four Tops.

Early in 2004, Rodgers joined Mitch Mitchell and Billy Cox (Hendrix's Cry of Love), Buddy Guy, Joe Satriani, Kid Rock's Kenny Olson, Alice in Chain's Jerry Cantrell, Double Trouble, Indigenous, Kenny Wayne Shepherd and blues legend Hubert Sumlin (Howlin' Wolf and Muddy Waters) and performed three sold-out shows in Seattle, Portland and San Francisco as "Experience Hendrix". Once again, Rodgers only played 25 concerts in the USA and Canada. He performed at Wembley for the fiftieth anniversary celebration for the Fender Stratocaster, along with David Gilmour who played Strat #001, Ronnie Wood, Brian May, Joe Walsh, Gary Moore, Rodgers sang and played a custom designed Jaguar Fender Strat. Rodgers was invited by The Four Tops to be part of their fiftieth anniversary TV/DVD concert celebration at Motown's Opera House and performed alongside Aretha Franklin, Dennis Edwards & The Temptations Revue, Sam Moore, Mary Wilson, Ashford and Simpson and The Four Tops. "The call from THE TOPS' Duke Fakir just about knocked me out. I've been a fan since I was a boy and had no idea that they even knew I existed!" exclaimed Rodgers. For years the media and fellow musicians have referred to Rodgers as "The Voice"'. But The Four Tops' Duke Fakir says, "Paul Rodgers is the soul of Rock!"

Paul Rodgers and Queen at the NEC, Birmingham, 6 May 2005.

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. The participants clearly stated, including on Brian May's own website, "that Rodgers would be "featured with" Queen as: "Queen + Paul Rodgers", not replacing the late Freddie Mercury". The group subsequently released a live album with songs from Queen, Bad Company and Free, called Return of the Champions, and a DVD of the same name. Both featured live recordings from their Sheffield Hallam FM Arena concert on 9 May 2005. The DVD features "Imagine" from Hyde Park. "For one glorious summer" opined music critic Sean Michaels "we were all Paul Rodgers".

Queen + Paul Rodgers also released a single featuring "Reaching Out", "Tie Your Mother Down" and "Fat Bottomed Girls". There are many bootlegs from nearly every show of the 2005/2006 tour in audio, as well as a few in video form of the 2005 European tour, and in October 2005 in Aruba, the United States (two concerts) and Japan; then North America in March/April 2006 playing 23 venues, including Chicago, Philadelphia, Detroit, Toronto, Seattle, Vancouver and Portland. From a live performance in Japan, the band released a DVD in 2006 called Super Live in Japan.

The summer of 2006 saw Rodgers again focused on his solo career with a world tour, which commenced in Austin Texas, U.S. in June, then on to Japan, finishing in Glasgow, Scotland, in October 2006.

On 15 August 2006, Brian May confirmed through his website that "Queen + Paul Rodgers" will begin producing a new studio album beginning in October, to be recorded at Roger Taylor's home.[1]

In April 2007 Rodgers released a live album of his 2006 tour, recorded in Glasgow, Scotland 13 October 2006, with a DVD of the same show released the following month.

On 27-28 December 2007, Rodgers surprised many by joining the Trans-Siberian Orchestra during their Winter 2007 Tour in Houston, Texas and Dallas, Texas. Unannounced, he joined the band at the end of their show to sing "Bad Company" and "All Right Now".

On 27 June 2008 Rodgers and Queen performed at the Concert for Nelson Mandela to celebrate Mandela's 90th birthday.

Private life

Paul Rodgers married Machiko Wada in 1971, and has two children by that marriage, Steve and Jasmine. The two children are also musicians and singers who formed a band, Bôa, in the 1990s. Paul and Machiko divorced in 1996.

On 26 September 2007, Paul married former Miss Canada, Exercise Physiologist and Artist Cynthia Kereluk in a surprise outdoor wedding ceremony on their 10th anniversary in Canada's Okanagan Valley.

Discography

Solo

• Cut Loose (1983)
• Muddy Water Blues: A Tribute to Muddy Waters (1993)
• The Hendrix Set (live EP, 1993)
• Live: The Loreley Tapes (live album, 1996)
• Now (1997)
• Now and Live (2CD compilation, 1997)
• Electric (2000)
• Live in Glasgow (2007)

Free

• Tons Of Sobs (1968)
• Free (1969)
• Fire and Water (1970)
• Highway (1970)
• Free Live! (live album, 1971)
• Free At Last (1972)
• Heartbreaker (1973)
• The Best Of Free (1991)

Bad Company

• Bad Company (1974)
• Straight Shooter (1975)
• Run With the Pack (1976)
• Burnin' Sky (1977)
• Desolation Angels (1979)
• Rough Diamonds (1982)
• The Original Bad Company Anthology (compilation CD, 1999, produced by Paul Rodgers for Bad Company)
• Merchants of Cool (2002)

The Firm with Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin

• The Firm (1985)
• Mean Business (1986)
• The Firm Live at Hammersmith 1984 (DVD, 1984, limited release video)
• Five From the Firm (DVD, 1986)

The Law with Kenney Jones of The Who

• The Law
• The Law II (Unreleased)

Queen + Paul Rodgers

Live Albums

• Return of the Champions (CD/LP/DVD, 2005)
• Super Live in Japan (DVD, 2006; Japan only)

Studio Albums

• The Cosmos Rocks (CD 2008)

Singles

• Reachin' Out/Tie Your Mother Down (CD Single, 2005, Europe only)
• Say It's Not True (Download/CD Single, 2007)
• C-lebrity (Download/CD Single, 2008)

Other Albums

• The A-Z of Queen, Volume 1 (2 DVD Tracks Only)

References

External links

• Official Paul Rodgers Site including tour dates
• Queen + Paul Rodgers Official Site
• Free Bad Company Paul Rodgers Fan website
• MSS Magazine Interview
• Radio Interview with Chris Comer & Rob Ervin 21 May 2002