Paul Rodgers biography
Date of birth : 1949-12-17
Date of death : -
Birthplace : Middlesbrough, England
Nationality : English
Category : Arts and Entertainment
Last modified : 2012-01-13
Credited as : Singer-songwriter, Rock artist, member of Free and Bad Company
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Rodgers has been cited as a significant influence on a number of notable rock singers, including David Coverdale, John Waite, Steve Overland, Lou Gramm, Jimi Jamison, Eric Martin, Steve Walsh, Joe Lynn Turner and Jimmy Barnes.
"His voice is so tough and so masculine," says Alison Krauss, who grew up a big fan of Paul Rodgers, "he might as well be standing there with a gun while he's singing." With his throaty, impeccably controlled roar, Rodgers was born to sing over big guitars — which he did again and again, most notably with pioneering rockers Free and the Seventies hitmaking machine Bad Company. From "All Right Now" to "Can't Get Enough," his combination of macho blues power and melodic sensitivity still sets the standard for hard-rock frontmen. Rodgers was idolized by the late Freddie Mercury (whom he is now replacing in Queen) and Lynyrd Skynyrd's Ronnie Van Zant. "The sound of his voice represents a whole kind of man to me," says Krauss. "Incredibly masculine, sexy, hardworking."
Rodgers focused on his solo career in 2000 and released Electric, his 6th solo CD. In its debut week, the single "Drifters" was US rock radio's number one on the Most Added FMQB Hot Trax list, number two on Most Added R&R Rock and number three on Most Added Album Net Power Cuts. "Drifters" remained in the top 10 for eight weeks on Billboard's Rock charts. That year, he played sold-out concerts in England, Scotland, Australia, United States and Canada. After his appearance on TV's Late Show with David Letterman in New York, he met and jammed with B.B. King. That same year, Paul Rodgers, Jimmie Vaughan, Levon Helm, bluesmen Hubert Sumlin, Johnnie Johnson, James Cotton and others performed a sold out concert in Cleveland as a Muddy Water Blues: A Tribute to Muddy Waters.
In late 2004, after a successful live television performance, two of the four members of the British rock group Queen proposed a collaboration with Rodgers, in which he would sing lead vocals on a European tour. Rodgers thus joined Brian May and Roger Taylor (former bassist John Deacon retired in the late 1990s), with the group billed as Queen + Paul Rodgers and they subsequently toured worldwide in 2005 and 2006. The participants clearly stated, including on Brian May's own website, "that Rodgers would be "featured with" Queen as: "Queen + Paul Rodgers", not replacing the late Freddie Mercury". The group subsequently released a live album with songs from Queen, Bad Company and Free, called Return of the Champions, and a DVD of the same name. Both featured live recordings from their Sheffield Hallam FM Arena concert on 9 May 2005.
Discography
Solo:
-Cut Loose (1983)
-Muddy Water Blues: A Tribute to Muddy Waters (1993)
-The Hendrix Set (live EP, 1993)
-Paul Rodgers and Friends: Live at Montreux (1994, edited 2011)
-Live: The Loreley Tapes (live album, 1996)
-Now (1997)
-Now and Live (2CD compilation, 1997)
-Electric (2000)
-Extended Versions (live album, 2006) (10 of the 13 Loreley Tapes in different order)
-Live in Glasgow (2007)
-Live at Hammersmith Apollo 2009 (2010)
with Free:
-Tons of Sobs (1969)
-Free (1969)
-Fire and Water (1970)
-Highway (1970)
-Free Live! (live album, 1971)
-Free at Last (1972)
-Heartbreaker (1973)
-The Free Story (1973)
-The Best of Free (1991)
with Bad Company:
-Bad Company (1974)
-Straight Shooter (1975)
-Run With the Pack (1976)
-Burnin' Sky (1977)
-Desolation Angels (1979)
-Rough Diamonds (1982)
-The Original Bad Company Anthology (compilation CD, 1999, produced by Paul Rodgers for Bad Company)
-In Concert: Merchants of Cool (2002)
-Hard Rock Live (2010)
-Live at Wembley (2011)
with The Firm:
-The Firm (1985)
-Mean Business (1986)
-The Firm Live at Hammersmith 1984 (DVD, 1984, limited release video)
-Five From the Firm (DVD, 1986)
