In a new interview with U.K. radio veteran Paul Stephenson of VRP Rocks, BAD COMPANY drummer Simon 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 feels to finally be nominated, Simon said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “Well, it’s the first time we’ve been nominated, and a very good friend of mine is Nicko McBrain from IRON MAIDEN. And he sent me a congratulatory text. He said, ‘By the way, Simon, MAIDEN have been nominated 11 fucking times and we haven’t been inducted ever. So our management wrote to the Hall Of Fame and said, ‘Stop nominating us. Bollocks. Fuck off.
“What can I say? If I was truly honest, I would say it’s about time because we’ve been around for so long,” Simon continued. “And hello? How about FREE, which superseded BAD COMPANY? A lot of people have a lot of affection for FREE.
“As I see it, there are 14 nominees, and it’s the first four [in the fan vote] that get inducted,” Kirke added. “That’s my belief. We are behind PHISH who have a huge social media presence. I’ve never really heard PHISH, quite honestly — they’re like the younger version of the GRATEFUL DEAD, but they’ve got just under 200,000 [fan] votes. We have about 180,000, so we’re second. I’m told by an insider that we are gonna get in. we will actually know on Monday or Tuesday. So, yeah, I’ve already spoken with Paul [Rodgers, BAD COMPANY singer] 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 [Ralphs, BAD COMPANY guitarist], ’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 gettingkind 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. And it looks like we’re gonna get it. [I] hope so.”
The 2025 inductees into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame will be announced on a live episode of “American Idol” on Sunday, April 27.
In a statement to Billboard about BAD COMPANY‘s nomination, Rodgers said: “BAD COMPANY fans and friends have been lobbying for this nomination persistently for years and they never gave up, so big thanks to them. According to them, BAD COMPANY fits all of the criteria and then some to be inducted.”
Kirke, for his part, told the publication: “I think it’s been a long time coming. It has rankled me a bit. We’ve been around a long time and we’ve influenced a lot of bands, and I think it’s a place that we deserve. I’m just pleased that we’re at least on the ballot. I’m happy and I’m honored, and fingers crossed that we make it.”
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.”
Born and raised in London, THE BEATLES perked a teenage Simon‘s interest in rock music, and he picked up the drums — leading to a gig with a local band called THE MANIACS, on which Simon supplied drums and lead vocals (something quite uncommon at the time).
Simon worked out a deal with his parents after graduating high school, that if he couldn’t “make it” as a drummer in a band within a two-year period, that he would begin a college career. Just a few months before the deadline, Simon landed a gig with a group called the BLACK CAT BONES. The drummer befriended the group’s talented guitarist, Paul Kossoff, who in turn convinced Simon to leave the group with him and begin a new outfit with singer Paul Rodgers. Soon ex-JOHN MAYALL’S BLUESBREAKERS bassist Andy Fraser signed on and FREE was officially formed in 1968. Mixing blues with hard rock, the group would prove to be quite influential, especially on the strength of their classic 1970 release, “Fire And Water”, and its strutting, anthemic hit single “All Right Now”.
When the band broke up, it didn’t take Simon long to find another gig, joining Paul Rodgers in a new band, BAD COMPANY, which was quite similar stylistically to FREE. Joined by ex-KING CRIMSON bassist Boz Burrell and ex-MOTT THE HOOPLE guitarist Mick Ralphs, BAD COMPANY was the first group signed to LED ZEPPELIN‘s record label, Swan Song. Their debut album, 1974’s “Bad Company”, would go on to become one of hard rock’s all-time classics, as it birthed such long-standing rock radio standards as “Can’t Get Enough”, “Ready For Love” and the title track, written by Paul and Simon himself. The group hails as one of the all-time top rock outfits. Kirke is the only member of BAD COMPANY who’s been in every lineup of the band.
Source: blabbermouth.net
