Paul Rodgers has confirmed that he will miss this weekend’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony, ending hopes of a reunion of sorts at the event.
Bad Company are set to be honored as part of the Hall’s class of 2025, having received their first nomination, while Oasis, nominated for the past two years, have been made to wait for a place at rock’s high table.
They’ll be joined by Seattle heavyweights Soundgarden, the White Stripes, and revered session player Carol Kaye.
There were hopes that Bad Company’s surviving members — vocalist Rodgers and drummer Simon Kirke — were set to grace the stage together at the ceremony event to honor their late band mates, guitarist Mick Ralphs and bass player Boz Burrell. However, Rodgers’ health issues have put an end to that.
“My hope was to be at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony and to perform for the fans, but at this time, I have to prioritize my health,” he writes on Instagram. “I have no problem singing; it's the stress of everything else.”
Rodgers, who co-founded the band after the demise of Free, has suffered a series of strokes in recent years. That ultimately forced the band’s retirement in 2023, with their last show taking place in 2019, when they opened for Lynyrd Skynyrd in Las Vegas. Former Heart member Howard Leese has been the band's lead guitarist since 2008.
However, the announcement doesn’t mean that Bad Company will be wholly absent at the ceremony, with the singer adding, “Simon, along with some outstanding musicians, will be stepping in for me — guaranteed to rock.”
David Bowie had unintentionally set the wheels of Bad Company in motion when he opted to work with Ralphs and Mott the Hoople. Their collaborative track, “All the Young Dudes,” was a huge hit, haunting radio stations across the early '70s and beyond. It was a song Ralphs says was the band's “salvation” at a point when they were losing sight of their rock and roll roots, but it also proved their undoing with Ralphs admitting to Guitar Player that “we got so closely associated with David Bowie that we couldn’t get away from that.”
Both he and Rodgers began writing for Bad Company with ready-made hits in their respective back pockets, forging a formidable songwriting partnership in the process.
Rodgers has joked that a whole generation was conceived to “Feel Like Makin’ Love” – a song totally transformed by Ralphs’ crushing power chords.
“Mick could take my guitar riff ideas, even if I played them acoustically, and translate them into electric,” Rodgers told GP last year. “Mick came up with a great addendum to the ‘Rock Steady’ riff by sliding his finger up a couple of strings instead of just playing the bass notes. He did that with all his playing. If you listen to ‘Silver, Blue and Gold’ [from 1976’s Run With the Pack], he plays to the song, and it really enhances it. His sound is unique, and his chordal focus is impressive.”
Soundgarden are also expected to perform at the Rock Hall ceremony, with a cast of Seattle-centric vocalists filling in for the late Chris Cornell. However, Kaye, who launched a tirade against the Rock Hall earlier this year, will not be present.
