Profile courtesy of MySpace LayoutsFormed in 1973, Bad Company came to life when Rodgers was looking to start anew after the disintegration of the legendary Free.
His powerhouse vocals were a main ingredient during Free's impressive five-year run; a period of time that saw the release of seven extremely influential albums that featured Free's minimalist blues-rock approach.
Included among Free's dynamic body of work is the 1970 smash, "All Right Now," one of the most recognizable rock anthems ever recorded.
Rodgers had met Mott The Hoople guitarist Mick Ralphs when both Mott and Free had toured together. After jamming together and listening to several new songs that Ralphs had penned, Ralphs made the decision to leave Mott and form a new band with Rodgers.
The duo recruited Kirke and former King Crimson bassist/vocalist Boz Burrell and christened themselves Bad Company, the name inspired by the 1972 Robert Benton Civil War film of the same name. Hooking up with Led Zeppelin manager Peter Grant.
Bad Company became the first band signed to Zeppelin's Swan Song label. "I had to fight to get the management and the record company to accept the name Bad Company," explains Rodgers. "They thought it was a terrible name. Peter Grant called a meeting and the band met beforehand. I told them that I had been through this before with Free as Island Records had wanted to call us the Heavy Metal Kids. We agreed to go in and tell them that we were going to be called Bad Company and that was the end of the story. As soon as Peter heard how strongly I felt about the name, he became very supportive and turned the record company around."