Paul Rodgers

As frontman with 1970s favourites Free and Bad Company, Paul Rodgers was part of a golden age of raw, stripped-down blues-rock jams, most famously delivering his soulful, wailing vocals on the classic driving anthem "All Right Now." Born on 17 December 1949 in Middlesbrough, England, Paul Rodgers started singing at the age of 12 and grew up watching as The Beatles and The Rolling Stones changed the face of the British music scene. Like his heroes, he also discovered the explosive passion of American R&B stars like Wilson Pickett, James Brown and Muddy Waters and headed to London with his band The Roadrunners. Teaming up with guitarist Paul Kossoff to form Free in 1968, the band took off two years later when "All Right Now" reached number two in the UK, number four in the US and topped the charts in 20 other territories. Albums Fire & Water, Free at Last and Heartbreaker sold in their millions and established them alongside the likes of Led Zeppelin and Fleetwood Mac. Paul Rodgers' success continued when he formed supergroup Bad Company with Mott the Hoople's Mick Ralphs and King Crimson's Boz Burrell in 1973. Together they scored a string of hits including "Can't Get Enough," "Feel Like Makin' Love" and "Rock and Roll Fantasy" and transformed into tough, punchy, stadium rock giants. In the 1980s Paul Rodgers set out on a solo career with album Cut Loose and made two records with Jimmy Page and Manfred Mann drummer Chris Slade under the name The Firm. He was nominated for a Grammy Award for his 1993 solo album Muddy Water Blues, which featured a host of legendary guitarists including Slash, Jeff Beck, David Gilmour and Brian May and made the UK top 30 with Now in 1997, before joining Queen in 2004 and embarking on a world tour. He also performed with the Trans-Siberian Orchestra and returned to playing with Bad Company before covering a set of soul and blues tracks on his 2014 solo album The Royal Sessions. In 2018 he released Free Spirit, an album and DVD recorded live at London's Royal Albert Hall, featuring him re-visiting many of his classic hits including "All Right Now," "Wishing Well" and "Fire & Water." He returned to album-making in 2023 with Midnight Rose, his first new collection of solo material in nearly 25 years.