Nikolas Helbing/Courtesy of Eagle Rock Entertainment & AXS TV
Nikolas Helbing/Courtesy of Eagle Rock Entertainment & AXS TVThe latest episode of the AXS TV series Brian Johnson’s A Life on the Road features Bad Company frontman Paul Rodgers chatting with the AC/DC singer about the success and enduring popularity of Rodgers’ famous supergroup.
In a sneak peek at the episode, Rodgers discusses how he felt about the immediate success of Bad Company, which he founded in 1973 with his Free band mate, drummer Simon Kirke, Mott the Hoople guitarist Mick Ralphs and King Crimson bassist Boz Burrell, and whose 1974 self-titled debut album went to #1 on the Billboard 200 chart.
Rodgers says the achievement was “unbelievable,” while admitting that he never sought to be a rock star.
“I just wanted to make great music,” Paul explains. “When I came down to London from [my U.K. hometown of] Middlesbrough, I wanted to survive, obviously…because I didn’t have any skills…and [to] make music.”
He adds, “Music takes me where I go…I don’t lead it, I follow it. And that’s what the story of my life is.”
Rodgers also discusses why he decided to leave Bad Company in 1982.
“I was thinking, ‘We’re flying so high here. If something doesn’t give, somebody’s gonna die,'” Paul recalls. “And [Led Zeppelin drummer] John Bonham‘s death [in 1980] really sort of made everybody go, ‘OK, this is kind of serious now’…And I just felt, ‘Well, I’m gonna step back.'”
He continues, “I didn’t want to quit music, but I wanted to quit the thing of touring and making an album and touring again, and…the grind of it all.'”
Rodgers returned to touring with Bad Company again in 1998, alternating that with solo projects and other musical endeavors.
“[I]t’s fantastic, really, that people still love the music that we laid down then,” he declares.
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