BAD COMPANY singer Paul Rodgers, drummer Simon Kirke and guitarist Mick Ralphs have commented on the news that their band is among the 2025 inductees into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. Other inductees in the Performer category are SOUNDGARDEN, Chubby Checker, Joe Cocker, Cyndi Lauper, OutKast and THE WHITE STRIPES.
“It is pretty amazing and very cool to be part of an iconic American institution that celebrates music, musicians and sometimes unsung heroes behind the scenes,” Rodgers told Billboard. “I know that our fans, friends and some media have wanted this for a long time, so they will be pleased at last. I am looking forward to seeing some old friends, reconnecting with (fellow inductee) Chubby Checker — maybe do the twist?”
Kirke said that he is “very happy” that BAD COMPANY is finally being inducted into the Rock Hall. “It’s been a long time coming… I’m not taking anything away from the [Rock Hall] committee; they had their reasons, but it’s a welcome addition, if you will.”
Ralphs, who will be unable to attend the November 8 ceremony in Los Angeles after suffering a debilitating stroke in 2016, stated via e-mail that “I am elated and think that BAD COMPANY‘s induction into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame is fantastic!”
BAD COMPANY has been eligible for induction since 1999 and received its first nomination this year.
The induction ceremony will once again stream live on Disney+, and an edited version will air on ABC at a later date.
In a recent interview with U.K. radio veteran Paul Stephenson of VRP Rocks, Kirke spoke about the British supergroup’s Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame nomination, which was announced in February 2025 after decades of eligibility. Asked how it felt to finally be nominated, Simon said: “What can I say? If I was truly honest, I would say it’s about time because we’ve been around for so long.
“So, yeah, I’ve already spoken with Paul about what song we’re gonna play, and it’s gonna be ‘Can’t Get Enough’. And, yeah, I’m happy — I’ll be happy for Mick, ’cause Mick had a stroke several years ago and he is in not good shape. And as long as he holds out when we get on that stage in November, we’re gonna give a shoutout to Mick. Because he wrote the damn song — he wrote ‘Movin’ On’ and he wrote a lot of the hits and he deserves it.”
Asked what Paul‘s reaction was to BAD COMPANY‘s Rock Hall nomination, Simon said: “I met him a few weeks ago on the West Coast. I was playing in a charity golf tournament in Palm Springs, and he winters in Palm Springs. So we actually got together, and I said, ‘What do you think?’ He said, ‘About fucking time.’ We are pleased and we are honored, but there was always this nagging — every year that passed, we didn’t even get a nomination. ‘Cause there’s two steps — nomination, then induction. And we weren’t even nominated for all those years. And it was beginning to gnaw at me. But anyway, Paul was ‘Yeah, about the time. What are we gonna play?’ And I said, ‘Well, ‘Can’t Get Enough’,’ because Mick won’t be there; he can’t travel. And it seemed to be the right thing to do. So, yeah, that’s it.”
Asked if he ever got a reason why BAD COMPANY hadn’t been nominated earlier, Simon said: “No. Well… Hmm. There are several reasons. One of them being, I think because BAD COMPANY had three lineups, it kind of diluted our currency, if you will. If you can imagine a band like CREAM and they change Ginger Baker or they change Jack [Bruce] or Eric [Clapton], God forbid, a couple of times, it would kind of dilute and muddy the waters of the committee. So as I’m told by this insider, they wanted to do a FREE–BAD COMPANY doubleheader, as it were, like [when] THE FACES and THE SMALL FACES were inducted, but for some reason it didn’t show up. There was also a political thing that I can’t really go into without getting kind of into hot water, but it was a combination. I think the main thing was the triple lineup… It just wasn’t a clear-cut ‘Let’s induct BAD COMPANY.’ There were factors that now have dissipated.”
Back in November 2023, Kirke was asked by “The Bob Lefsetz Podcast” how he felt about BAD COMPANY not having been inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. He responded: “I think it’s such a travesty, quite honestly. And not just that, but FREE — FREE certainly should be [in the Hall], because FREE has been around since 1968, and the two bands have been responsible for influencing a lot of bands who are already in the Hall. So I feel pretty bad about it. But I’m not gonna go on too much about it. It’s just I think we should be in. Certainly FREE. And I think Paul Rodgers should be in on his own merits, as one of the great rock vocalists of all time. If Eric Clapton and Rod Stewart and Jeff Beck can be inducted as solo artists, then certainly Paul Rodgers should be in there. That’s my two cents.”
Later in the chat, Kirke offered one possible explanation for why BAD COMPANY had been overlooked by the Rock Hall.
“I think because of BAD COMPANY‘s changing lineups over the 50 years that we’d been together, it kind of devalued our currency a little bit,” he said. “You had the Brian Howe era, you had the Paul Rodgers era, one and two, when Paul rejoined the band, we had Robert Hart. So I honestly don’t know why we have not been nominated — not even inducted; you have to be nominated first, as you know.”
In September 2023, Rodgers told SiriusXM‘s “Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk” that he wasn’t bothered by his absence from the Rock Hall. “Well, it doesn’t affect my daily life. It doesn’t affect what I do in any way at all,” he said. “It’s one of those things. But I remember years and years ago, Ahmet Ertegun, who was the head of Atlantic Records [and a co-founder of the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame], said to me, ‘Paul, we’re making this museum of rock and roll. Do you guys wanna be part of it?’ And I said, ‘What, a museum of rock and roll? What’s it called?’ He said, ‘Well, it’s called the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame.’ I said, ‘Well, I don’t think rock and roll belongs in a museum.’ So it’s my bad, I guess. And he asked me a couple of times, and I kind of like refused, I guess, basically. So, you know, there you go. Onwards and upwards.”
Source: blabbermouth.net
