NEW YORK (AP) — Bad Company singer-songwriter Paul Rodgers treasures one of his last phone calls with guitarist Mick Ralphs. It was to deliver the news that, at long last, they’d been inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
“I said to him, ‘Do you remember when we were looking for a band name and we called each other with silly names?’ And then I just called him up one day and I said, ’Bad Company’ and he dropped the phone and he said, ‘Oh yeah, that’s it. That’s the name,’” says Rodgers.
“I said, ‘From then, it’s a long way, but it seems like we just blinked our eyes a couple of times and here we are at the Hall of Fame.’ So at least I was able to tell him that.”
Ralphs died in June, just weeks after learning the induction news.
Rodgers and drummer Simon Kirke are the last surviving original members of the British supergroup that crafted such arena-rock staples as “Feel Like Makin’ Love,” “Can’t Get Enough” and “Rock ‘n’ Roll Fantasy.” They will be part of the celebrations Saturday at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles, which will stream live on Disney+. ABC will air a prime-time special on Jan. 1, available on Hulu the next day.
“The fans have just been so great throughout the years. We feel like we’re celebrated, but it’s just not been stamped officially. That’s the only difference,” says Rodgers.
Bad Company will join rock legend Chubby Checker, late soul singer Joe Cocker, pop icon Cyndi Lauper, hip-hop pioneers Outkast, rock duo the White Stripes and grunge masters Soundgarden in the class of ’25.
Salt-N-Pepa, the first female rap act to achieve platinum status, and the late singer-songwriter Warren Zevon will get in via the Musical Influence Award. The late record producer Thom Bell, pianist Nicky Hopkins and bassist Carol Kaye will each get the Musical Excellence Award.
Chappell Roan and The Killers will be special guests, as will Elton John, Olivia Rodrigo, Doja Cat, Questlove, Twenty One Pilots, Missy Elliott, Raye. Beck, Brandi Carlile, David Letterman, Flea, Iggy Pop, J.I.D, Killer Mike, Maxwell, Sleepy Brown, Taylor Momsen and Teddy Swims.
More stars attending will include Avril Lavigne, Bryan Adams, Donald Glover, En Vogue, Feist, Janelle Monáe, Jim Carrey, Joe Perry, Mick Fleetwood, Mike McCready, Nancy Wilson and Nathaniel Rateliff.
Rodgers this month begged off performing at the Rock Hall “to prioritize my health,” but he said Kirke will be there and “some outstanding musicians.”
Formed in 1973 in London, Bad Company brought together Rodgers and Kirke from the band Free, Ralphs from Mott the Hoople and bassist Boz Burrell fresh out of King Crimson. The group was managed by the legendary Peter Grant and signed to Led Zeppelin’s Swan Song label.
“We had everything we needed,” says Rodgers. “You can’t really have a better start than that for a fledgling band. We had the music. We had Atlantic Records behind us. It was a magic roller coaster ride, actually.”
Kirke said Bad Company appeared on a music scene that was then dominated by a lot of glam and glitter — think David Bowie, Queen, T. Rex and Gary Glitter — and went back to basics.
“When we got together, I think the communal goal was we just wanted to do something that was stripped-down, right to the point, gritty and a little cheeky, a bit of fun,” he says.
Right out of the gate, the band had killer songs in their pockets. Ralphs had “Can’t Get Enough,” “Movin’ On” and “Ready for Love” ready. Rodgers had “Rock Steady” and, with Ralphs, “Seagull.” And Rodgers and Kirke wrote the song “Bad Company,” with the lyrics “Bad company/’Til the day I die.” The band’s self-titled 1974 debut album hit No. 1 on the Billboard 200, going five-times platinum.
The band made six albums before disbanding following 1982’s “Rough Diamonds.” Bad Company later reformed with lineup changes and reunion tours. Original bassist Burrell died of cancer in 2006.
Kirke says Bad Company influenced many bands that followed, like Foreigner, Iron Maiden and Def Leppard. But he notes that Bad Company was influenced, in turn, by the Beatles and soul and blues artists.
“We just passed it on,” he says.
The induction ceremony comes a few weeks after the release of a tribute album — “Can’t Get Enough: A Tribute to Bad Company” via Primary Wave Music, a 10-track set that proves the band’s influence.
Def Leppard’s Joe Elliott and Phil Collen offer a rendition of “Seagull,” Rodgers teams up with Halestorm for “Shooting Star,” The Struts knock out “Rock ‘n’ Roll Fantasy,” Slash and Myles Kennedy and the Conspirators crush “Feel Like Makin’ Love” and members of Blackberry Smoke tackle “Run with the Pack.”
“What it’s really about is one generation inspiring the next generation and that’s really what Otis Redding did for me,” says Rodgers, honored that he gets to join Redding in the Hall of Fame.
“Music was my calling — not to receive accolades — but to express myself, my thoughts and my opinions about love and life through song and hopefully send out a positive vibration from my heart to others.”
