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Bad Company’s Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction is certainly good news for the band members. And, they say, about time. “It’s been a long time coming,” drummer Simon Kirke said recently via Zoom from England, where he was attending a memorial celebration for Bad Company guitarist Mick Ralphs. “It has rankled me a bit. I don’t want to appear arrogant, but we’ve been around a long time and we’ve influenced a lot of bands that are around now — and we were a pretty damn good band. “I’m not taking anything away from the (Rock Hall) committee; they had their reasons, but I think it’s a place that we deserve, and I’m very happy.” Kirke, 76, is seconded by frontman Paul Rodgers, 75, who said earlier this year: “It is pretty amazing and very cool to be part of an iconic American institution that celebrates music, musicians and sometimes unsung heroes behind the scenes. I know that our fans, friends and some media have wanted this for a long time, so they will be pleased at last. “Bad company struck deep chords” with audiences around the world," he adds. “At the time we didn’t really fully understand it, and even now it is difficult to quantify or analyze. Suffice to say we resonated with music fans — or you could say we were in the right places at the right times.” Bad Company has been eligible for induction since 1999 and received its first-ever nomination this year. It also finished second on the fan ballot, with more than 279,000 votes. It formed as a rock ‘n’ roll supergroup during 1973 in England. Rodgers and Kirke hailed from Free, Ralphs — who passed away June 23 at age 81 but was “elated” by the induction news — had left Mott the Hoople, and bassist Boz Burrell, who died in 2006 at age 60, was fresh out of King Crimson. “When we formed,” Kirke recalled, “there was sort of this new freedom in playing. We’d come from three disparate bands that did not end well. So we’d been released from our three separate hellholes, and we had this newfound life, all in our early 20s. We were all seasoned. We were like kids in a candy store.” For Rodgers, “When we put the band together it was because it felt right, and as songwriters there was a natural flow, an unspoken understanding and connection between us that still exists to this day. My mission was to go in whole-hearted and deliver our music from the heart and soul to the heart and soul — and let the fans decided if they liked it or not.” Other good things aligned for the fledgling band around its formation. Led Zeppelin’s manager Peter Grant took the new group on and signed it to that band’s new Swan Song Records. Bad Company’s self-titled debut was the first released by the label, in May 1974. It hit No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and No. 3 in the U.K., selling five-times platinum and launching enduring rock radio hits such as “Can’t Get Enough,” Movin’ On” and the song “Bad Company.” “(The success) didn’t take us completely by surprise,” Kirke said. “That first album was just loaded with slam dunkers. The lightning bolt hit me when we went back into the Rolling Stones Mobile (Recording Unit) to hear the first playback of the very first song we’d recorded, which was ‘Can’t Get Enough;’ I went, ‘F*** me’’ This is...wow!’ And we all looked at each other with these great, Cheshire cat grins. “We still had to pay our dues. We still had to tour and open up for other bands, do the little van thing around America. But Jesus, we knew we were onto something. It was just, like, this perfect storm.” Four of the Bad Company’s other 11 studio albums went platinum or better, as did the 1985 compilation “10 from 6.” All told, Bad Company sold more than 40 million records worldwide, with a cadre of other hits including “Feel Like Makin’ Love,” “Young Blood” and “Shooting Star.” The original Bad Company lineup broke up in 1982 and regrouped in 1998 to tour and record sporadically through 2019. Kirke and Ralphs, meanwhile, continued the band between 1986 and 1998 with the late Brian Howe and Robert Hart as frontmen. The group notched two more gold and another platinum album and scored more hits with “Holy Water,” “If You Needed Somebody,” “No Smoke” Without Fire," “How About That” and “Shake It Up.” Only the original members are being inducted, which Kirke — the only constant in Bad Company’s lineup — feels is proper. “(Howe and Hart) extended the band’s life and popularity,” he acknowledged, “but I think the die-hard Bad Company fans will recognize the original lineup as being the quintessential Bad Company. The six albums we put together with the original lineup are the ones most people remember and hold dear to their hearts. The others kind of belong to another generation.” As to what Burrell would make of the induction, Rodgers guessed “possibly cooly chuffed,” while Kirke noted with a laugh: “He would’ve been his usual, bitter self — I mean that in a fond way. Boz was that sort of little bit of a curmudgeon. I loved him to death, but I think he would probably get slightly tipsy and God knows what he would’ve said on the podium — leave it at that.” Rodgers and Kirke do plan to be at the podium at the Rock Hall induction ceremony in Los Angeles — and on stage to play, although specifics are under wraps. “We will be tipping our hat to Mick Ralphs, yeah, and playing one of his songs,” said Kirke, who still writes songs and is working on a stage musical about addiction. Rodgers released a solo album, “Midnight Rose,” in 2023 and is penning a memoir. Both confirm they will never tour again under the Bad Company moniker, but the group is also getting its due via the all-star “Can’t Get Enough: A Tribute to Bad Company,” released Oct. 24, with Rodgers and Kirke contributing to tracks by Halestorm, Blackberry Smoke and Def Leppard’s Joe Elliott and Phil Collen. “Once this ceremony is passed and the subsequent six or seven months go by, I think Bad Company will start to fade away into the distance — and that’s OK,” Kirke said. “It’s great to see younger paying tribute to us — Def Leppard, Slash, the Struts. The fact that they would make us part of their education, as it were, and tip their hat to us is a huge honor. The fact that the music is still alive and kicking speaks volumes.” The 2025 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony will stream live on Disney+ at 8 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 8. ABC will air a primetime special featuring highlights at 8 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026, with streaming available the following day on Hulu.
