Simon Kirke

Simon Kirke supplied the drumming for Free and Bad Company, a pair of blues-tinged hard-rock outfits that ranked among the 1970s’ most successful. He was born in London, England, on July 28, 1949, into a household without musicians, yet his interest surfaced early when he joined his school choir. The Beatles ignited his enthusiasm for rock shortly after he entered his teens, prompting him to take up the drums and join a local outfit called the Maniacs, where he handled both percussion and lead vocals—an uncommon combination then. After finishing high school he struck an agreement with his parents: if he failed to establish himself as a working drummer within two years, he would enroll in college. Just months before that deadline expired he secured a spot with Black Cat Bones. There he became close with guitarist Paul Kossoff, who urged him to quit and start a new band with singer Paul Rodgers; bassist Andy Fraser, formerly of John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers, completed the lineup, and Free officially formed in 1968. The quartet fused blues and hard rock to considerable influence, most memorably on the 1970 album Fire and Water and its strutting hit single “All Right Now.” Promise gave way to strain once Kossoff’s serious drug problem began affecting his playing, and after several albums the group disbanded in 1973; Kossoff died three years later. Kirke soon reunited with Rodgers in Bad Company, a band stylistically close to Free. Adding bassist Boz Burrell, ex–King Crimson, and guitarist Mick Ralphs, ex–Mott the Hoople, the new quartet became one of the first acts signed to Led Zeppelin’s Swan Song label. Their 1974 debut, Bad Company, quickly turned into a hard-rock landmark and yielded enduring radio staples such as “Can’t Get Enough,” “Ready for Love,” and the title track. Later releases never surpassed the first album, yet the band remained among the decade’s leading rock acts until splitting in 1982; subsequent reunions without Rodgers produced uneven results before he returned in the late 1990s. Outside those two groups Kirke appeared on recordings by Jim Capaldi, Mick Jones, Mick Ralphs, Ringo Starr, John Wetton, Ron Wood, and many others. In 2003 he embarked on his first solo tour and joined the Rock N’ Roll Fantasy Camp with fellow classic-rock musicians. His debut solo album, Seven Rays of Hope, arrived in 2005, followed by Filling the Void in 2011 and All Because of You in 2017, the last of which featured a ukulele version of his Bad Company composition “Feel Like Making Love.”