Free

Renowned for their timeless hit "All Right Now," Free laid essential groundwork for hard rock by distilling British blues into a raw, minimalist form that foreshadowed the proto-metal sound later embraced by 1970s acts such as Foreigner, Foghat and Bad Company. The band originated in London in 1968 when guitarist Paul Kossoff, then playing with Black Cat Bones, was brought by acquaintance drummer Tom Mautner to witness vocalist Paul Rodgers fronting Brown Sugar. Kossoff and Rodgers elected to start a new group, bringing in Simon Kirke on drums once Mautner returned to university studies and enlisting 16-year-old bass phenom Andy Fraser from John Mayall's Bluesbreakers; guided by Alexis Korner, who also proposed the name Free, the new outfit joined the Island roster and released their blues-inflected debut Tons of Sobs in 1968.

Their self-titled 1969 album broadened the group's foundation in roots music by weaving in covers such as Albert King's "The Hunter" alongside sturdy ballads like "Lying in the Sunshine." Though the first two releases struggled commercially, 1970's Fire and Water achieved major success thanks to the elemental "All Right Now," a Top Five single driven by Rodgers' raw, powerful delivery. After topping the bill at 1970's Isle of Wight festival, the musicians appeared poised for lasting fame, yet Highway fell short of expectations and a demanding tour produced the 1971 live set Free Live before internal tensions and mutual recriminations caused the band to split.

Rodgers subsequently launched Peace while Fraser started Toby; meanwhile Kossoff and Kirke joined bassist Tetsu Yamauchi and keyboardist John "Rabbit" Bundrick to cut the album Kossoff, Kirke, Tetsu and Rabbit. When these side projects failed to gain traction, the original members reunited for 1972's Free at Last, which yielded the hit "Little Bit of Love." Persistent substance issues plagued the lineup, however, as Kossoff's long-standing heroin dependence grew more severe; Fraser soon departed to form Sharks alongside Chris Spedding, leaving Rodgers and Kirke to handle most of 1973's Heartbreaker with a heavily impaired Kossoff relegated to the sidelines. The group fractured permanently soon afterward: Rodgers and Kirke went on to establish Bad Company, Kossoff created Back Street Crawler, and he ultimately succumbed to a drug-related heart attack on March 19, 1976.