Bad Company, Paul Rogers To Reunite
Paul Rodgers will reunite with his Bad Company bandmates Simon Kirke and Mick Ralphs for just one night, on August 8th in Hollywood, Florida at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino. Rodgers told Billboard that the reunion plans initially came about to protect the Bad Company name against a group of other musicians who are planning on hitting the road using the band’s name.
While Rodgers said, “It’ll be great to see the guys and play and go back down that road again just for one night,” he also added, “By doing this one-night stand with Bad Company, we will be cementing our right to the trademark ‘Bad Company’ for touring, and anyone who attempts to challenge us and tour misusing our trademark and mislead the fans will be liable to legal action.”
Since Rodgers quit the band in 1982, Kirke and Ralphs have continued to record and tour under the Bad Company name using other musicians.
Rodgers said the show will be based solely around Bad Company’s classic hits and album cuts: “I think it should be pure Bad Company and nothing else. We’re gonna dig into the catalog a little bit. There are some great songs there I’d like to revisit, like ‘Simple Man,’ and of course the favorites, too,” such as “Can’t Get Enough,” “Bad Company,” “Feel Like Makin’ Love” and “Rock ‘N’ Roll Fantasy.”
Paul Rodgers says that unlike many harder rock bands, Bad Company never got caught up in copying themselves: “If we’ve had, like, a hit, like a ‘Can’t Get Enough’ or a ‘Feel Like Making Love’ or a ‘Run With The Pack’ or a ‘Shooting Star,’ we never tried to say, ‘Oh, let’s write another one like that.’ We look for a song that is…delivers a simple message in a fairly tough way. Not too sentimental.”
The band will feature Rodger’s bassist from his solo band, Lynn Sorenson, who will be filling in for Bad Company’s late bassist Boz Burrell, who died in 2006.
Tickets for the show will go on sale Saturday, July 5th. The show will be recorded for inclusion on an upcoming Bad Company compilation due out before the end of the year, and also filmed for a DVD.
Rodgers is currently working on the upcoming Queen + Paul Rodgers album, tentatively titled The Cosmos Rocks, which is due out this fall. Their world tour kicks off in September.