Paul Bernard Rodgers (born 17 December 1949) is an English-Canadian singer. He was the lead vocalist of numerous successful rock bands, including Free, Bad Company, the Firm and the Law. He also has performed as a solo artist and collaborated with the remaining active members of

Queen Queen most commonly refers to: * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a kingdom * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen (band), a British rock band Queen or QUEEN may also refer to: Monarchy * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Q ...

under the moniker Queen + Paul Rodgers, from 2004 to 2009. A poll in ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'' magazine ranked him number 55 on its list of the "100 Greatest Singers of All Time". In 2011, Rodgers received the British Academy's

Ivor Novello Award The Ivor Novello Awards, named after the Welsh entertainer Ivor Novello, are awards for songwriting and Musical composition, composing. They have been presented annually in London by the The Ivors Academy, Ivors Academy, formerly called the Britis ...

for Outstanding Contribution to British Music. Rodgers has been cited as a significant influence on various rock singers. In 1991, John Mellencamp called Rodgers "the best rock singer ever".

Freddie Mercury Freddie Mercury (born Farrokh Bulsara; 5 September 1946 – 24 November 1991) was a British singer and songwriter who achieved global fame as the lead vocalist and pianist of the rock band Queen (band), Queen. Regarded as one of the gre ...

in particular liked Rodgers and his aggressive style. Rodgers holds joint citizenship, after becoming a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

citizen in 2011.

Early career

Rodgers was born in Middlesbrough, England. He played bass for a band named The Roadrunners. Colin Bradley originally had the lead vocal slot, but convinced Rodgers to sing and front the band as Colin was primarily interested in playing rhythm guitar and his oldest brother Joe (who managed the band) supported the idea. Just before leaving Middlesbrough for the London music scene, the band changed its name to The Wildflowers. Other members of the band were Micky Moody (later of

Whitesnake Whitesnake are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1978. The group were originally put together as the backing band for singer David Coverdale, who had recently left Deep Purple. Though the band quickly developed into their ow ...

) and Bruce Thomas (later of Elvis Costello and The Attractions).

Free

In 1968, Rodgers joined bluesy rockers Free as singer and songwriter. In 1970, they shot up the international radio charts with " All Right Now", which Rodgers wrote with the group's bassist Andy Fraser. It was a number one hit in more than 20 territories and acknowledged by ASCAP in 1990 for having received over a million radio plays in the US. For a short time, Free were alongside

Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin were an English rock music, rock band formed in London in 1968. The band comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist-keyboardist John Paul Jones (musician), John Paul Jones and drummer John Bonham. With a he ...

as among the highest grossing British acts, though Free's status was not sustained. Free released four albums with a combination of

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

, ballads and rock which were Top Five successes in the UK. When in 2000, the song "All Right Now" achieved the mark of two million radio plays in the UK, an award was given to Rodgers as one of the two writers. After the first break-up of Free in the spring of 1971, Rodgers briefly formed a three-piece band called Peace. Alongside bassist Stewart McDonald and drummer Mick Underwood, Rodgers played guitar and sang lead vocals. Peace supported Mott the Hoople's UK tour in 1971, but broke up when Free reformed at the start of 1972. Two songs by Peace were eventually included on the fifth disc of the 2000 Free compilation ''Songs of Yesterday'', along with a song that Rodgers recorded with the Maytals. A bootleg has circulated of a 22 December 1971 appearance by Peace, live in studio, on

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and Contemporary hit radio, current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including ...

's '' Top Gear'' program.

1970s: Bad Company

Rodgers formed his next band, Bad Company, with Mick Ralphs, former guitarist of Mott the Hoople. The line-up also included Free drummer Simon Kirke, and Boz Burrell, former vocalist and bassist of

King Crimson King Crimson were an English progressive rock band formed in London in 1968 by Robert Fripp, Michael Giles, Greg Lake, Ian McDonald (musician), Ian McDonald and Peter Sinfield. Guitarist Fripp remained the only constant member throughout the ...

. Rodgers said that he and Ralphs were still trying to come up with a name for the band, "and I just said 'Bad Company', and there was this scuffling noise and he said, 'Sh_, I dropped the phone—that's it! Bad Company was the first act signed to

's new record label, Swan Song. They toured from 1973 to 1982, and had several hits including " Feel Like Makin' Love", " Can't Get Enough", " Shooting Star", " Bad Company", and "Run with the Pack". Rodgers played instruments on several tracks: "Bad Company" and "Run with the Pack" featured him on piano; " Rock and Roll Fantasy" on guitar; and on the ballad "Seagull" Rodgers played all of the instruments. Bad Company earned six platinum albums until Rodgers left in 1982, stating that he wanted to spend time with his young family. It was revealed in April 2011 that after Jim Morrison's death in 1971, the rest of

The Doors The Doors were an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1965, comprising vocalist Jim Morrison, keyboardist Ray Manzarek, guitarist Robby Krieger and drummer John Densmore. They were among the most influential and controversial rock acts ...

wanted Rodgers to replace him. Robby Krieger flew to England to personally offer him the job. However, Rodgers has said that he was off the grid in a very rural area at the time, and the moment passed. In late 1973, Rodgers was asked to become the singer of Deep Purple when Ian Gillan had left the band. He rejected their offer in order to start Bad Company.

1980s: Solo career and the Firm

In October 1983, Rodgers released his first solo LP '' Cut Loose''. He composed all of the music and played all of the instruments. The album reached number 135 on Billboard's Pop Albums chart. When his friend

Jimmy Page James Patrick Page (born 9 January 1944) is an English musician and producer who achieved international success as the guitarist and founder of the Rock music, rock band Led Zeppelin. Page began his career as a studio session musician in Lo ...

started to come around to his house, guitar in hand and

at an end, the duo's first live pairing was on the US ARMS (Action Research into Multiple Sclerosis) Tour, which had first been mooted by

Eric Clapton Eric Patrick Clapton (born 1945) is an English Rock music, rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is regarded as one of the most successful and influential guitarists in rock music. Clapton ranked second in ''Rolling Stone''s l ...

and besides Rodgers and Page included

Jeff Beck Geoffrey Arnold Beck (24 June 1944 – 10 January 2023) was an English musician. He rose to prominence as the guitarist of the rock band the Yardbirds, and afterwards founded and fronted the Jeff Beck Group and Beck, Bogert & Appice. In 1975, ...

, Joe Cocker, Steve Winwood and others. The inspiration behind ARMS had been former

Small Faces Small Faces were an English Rock music, rock band from London, founded in 1965. The group originally consisted of Steve Marriott, Ronnie Lane, Kenney Jones and Jimmy Winston, with Ian McLagan replacing Winston as the band's keyboardist in 1966 ...

/Faces member

Ronnie Lane Ronald Frederick Lane (1 April 1946 – 4 June 1997) was an English musician and songwriter who was the bassist and co-founder of the rock bands Small Faces (1965–69) and Faces (band), Faces (1969–73). Lane formed Small Faces in 1965 afte ...

's own struggle with MS. That led to Rodgers and Page's further teaming in the group The Firm, which resulted in two albums and two tours. Critics' reception of the band was sometimes scathing (one review used the term "supersludge") and also mixed. Even so, the Firm's two albums, '' The Firm'' and '' Mean Business'', achieved moderate sales success and produced the radio hits " Radioactive", "Satisfaction Guaranteed", and, in the UK, " All The King's Horses". During that same period, a series of albums were produced called ''Willie and the Poor Boys.'' Rodgers and Page were briefly part of this and recorded " These Arms of Mine", an Otis Redding tune. The recording also became a video promoting the CD.

1990s: The Law and solo career

The Law, Rodgers' 1991 musical venture with former the Who and Faces drummer Kenney Jones, produced '' Billboard'' number one AOR chart hit "Laying Down the Law" written by Rodgers, but the album peaked at number 126 on the ''Billboard'' 200 chart. A second album can be found on the bootleg market, which is often referred to as ''The Law II''. It is believed that this collection of songs were leftovers from the first album. Rodgers acknowledged the influence of

Jimi Hendrix James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American singer-songwriter and musician. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential guitarists of all time. Inducted ...

by collaborating with Steve Vai, Hendrix's Band of Gypsys ( Buddy Miles and Billy Cox) and the London Metropolitan Orchestra and recording the track "Bold As Love", on the Hendrix tribute album ''In From The Storm''. Then Rodgers teamed with Journey guitarist Neal Schon and drummer Deen Castronovo for his release '' The Hendrix Set'', a live 5-track CD, recorded in 1993 with Rodgers' interpretations of Hendrix songs. A Canadian and US tour followed. His Grammy-nominated solo CD, '' Muddy Water Blues: A Tribute to Muddy Waters'' was released in 1993. Rodgers wrote the title track and was backed by guitarists

Brian May Sir Brian Harold May (born 19 July 1947) is an English musician, songwriter, record producer, animal welfare activist and astrophysics, astrophysicist. He achieved global fame as the lead guitarist and backing vocalist of the rock band Queen ...

, Gary Moore, David Gilmour,

, Steve Miller, Buddy Guy, Richie Sambora, Brian Setzer, Slash, Neal Schon, and Trevor Rabin. For Woodstock's 25th anniversary in 1994, Rodgers pulled together drummer Jason Bonham, bassist Andy Fraser (from Free), guitarists Slash and Schon at the last moment to perform as the Paul Rodgers Rock and Blues Revue. In 1995, he formed a new band consisting of Jaz Lochrie on bass, Jimmy Copley on drums and Geoff Whitehorn on guitar. The band (The Paul Rodgers Band) toured extensively in Europe, US and in the UK until 1998 and released three albums – '' Live: The Loreley Tapes'', '' Now'' and ''

Electric Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter possessing an electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described by Maxwel ...

''. ''Now'' charted internationally in the

Top 40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is a list of the 40 currently most popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "To ...

. The single "Soul of Love" remained in rotation on more than 86 US radio stations for six months but was not a sales success. His 1997 world tour included Russia, Japan, Canada, US, UK, Germany, France, Romania, Bulgaria, Israel, Brazil, Greece and Argentina. Rodgers and Bad Company were on '' Billboards US BDS charts with the number one single "Hey, Hey" in 1999, one of four new tracks off Bad Company's '' The 'Original' Bad Co. Anthology''. The second single release, Rodgers's "Hammer of Love", reached number two. For the first time in 20 years, all the original members of Bad Company toured the US.

2000s: Solo career, Queen and Bad Company reunion

Rodgers focused on his solo career in 2000 and released ''

'', his sixth 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 '' Billboards Rock charts. Also in 2000, he played sold-out concerts in England, Scotland, Australia, the United States, and Canada. After his appearance on TV's ''

Late Show with David Letterman ''Late Show with David Letterman'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by David Letterman on CBS, the first iteration of the ''Late Show'' franchise. The show debuted on August 30, 1993, and was produced by Letterman's production com ...

'' in New York, he met and jammed with B. B. King. In the same year, Rodgers, Jimmie Vaughan, Levon Helm, bluesmen Hubert Sumlin, Johnnie Johnson, James Cotton and others performed a sold out concert in

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–United States border, Canada–U.S. maritime border ...

as a '' Muddy Water Blues: A Tribute to Muddy Waters''. In spring 2001, Rodgers returned to Australia, England and Scotland for the second run of sold-out shows. That summer he toured the US with Bad Company. Rodgers and Bad Company released their first official live CD and DVD, '' In Concert: Merchants of Cool'', in 2002. It included all the hits and a new single, "Joe Fabulous", penned by Rodgers, which hit number one at Classic Rock Radio and Top 20 on mainstream rock radio in the US. In its debut week, the DVD sales sound scanned at number three Canada, and number four in the US. The Joe Fabulous Tour kicked off in the US and sold out in the UK. While in London, Rodgers performed with

at the

Royal Festival Hall The Royal Festival Hall is a 2,700-seat concert, dance and talks venue within Southbank Centre in London, England. It is situated on the South Bank of the River Thames, not far from Hungerford Bridge, in the London Borough of Lambeth. It is a G ...

. Rodgers was invited by long-time fan

Tony Blair Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He was Leader ...

to perform at the Labour Party Conference. "I had the entire Labour Party singing the chorus of "Wishing Well", a song I wrote and shared with Free, ...'love in a peaceful world'. 'Love in a peaceful world'... over and over and over hoping the words would sink in but we went to war" recalled Rodgers. Twice in 2002, Rodgers performed on Britain's TV show ''

Top of the Pops ''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British record chart television programme, made by the BBC and broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show. For most of its histo ...

2''. In 2003, Rodgers toured as a solo artist for the first time in two years playing 25 US dates. In his solo band were guitarist Howard Leese (formerly of

Heart The heart is a muscular Organ (biology), organ found in humans and other animals. This organ pumps blood through the blood vessels. The heart and blood vessels together make the circulatory system. The pumped blood carries oxygen and nutrie ...

), bassist Lynn Sorensen, and drummer Jeff Kathan. Jools Holland invited Rodgers to record "I Told The Truth" for Holland's album ''Small World Big Band''. The CD also featured

, Ronnie Wood, Peter Gabriel, Michael McDonald,

Ringo Starr Sir Richard Starkey (born 7 July 1940), known professionally as Ringo Starr, is an English musician, songwriter and actor who achieved international fame as the drummer for the Beatles. Starr occasionally sang lead vocals with the group, us ...

and others. That led to Rodgers performing two sold-out nights at London's

Royal Albert Hall The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London, England. It has a seating capacity of 5,272. Since the hall's opening by Queen Victoria in 1871, the world's leading artists from many performance genres ...

with Holland and his 18-piece rhythm and blues orchestra, and several UK TV appearances. He also appeared with Jeff Beck, performing some songs from Beck's back catalogue (along with several other notable musicians including John McLaughlin,

Roger Waters George Roger Waters (born 6 September 1943) is an English musician and singer-songwriter. In 1965, he co-founded the rock band Pink Floyd as the bassist. Following the departure of the group's main songwriter Syd Barrett in 1968, Waters became ...

, and The White Stripes ) for part of a week-long series of charity concerts put on by Jeff Beck at the Royal Festival Hall in London. Early in 2004, Rodgers joined Mitch Mitchell and Billy Cox (Hendrix's Cry of Love), Buddy Guy,

Joe Satriani Joseph Satriani (born July 15, 1956)Prato, Greg"Joe Satriani – Music Biography, Credits and Discography". ''AllMusic''. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved May 28, 2014. is an American rock music, rock guitarist, composer, and songwriter. Early in hi ...

, Kid Rock's Kenny Olson, Alice in Chains' Jerry Cantrell, Double Trouble, Indigenous, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, and blues legend Hubert Sumlin (Howlin' Wolf and Muddy Waters) and performed three sold-out shows in Seattle, Portland and

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

as "Experience Hendrix". Once again, Rodgers only played 25 concerts in the US and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. He performed at Wembley for the fiftieth anniversary celebration for the

Fender Stratocaster The Fender Stratocaster, colloquially known as the Strat, is a model of double- cutaway electric guitar designed between 1952 and 1954 by Leo Fender, Bill Carson, George Fullerton, and Freddie Tavares. The Fender Musical Instruments Corpora ...

, along with David Gilmour who played Strat No. 001, Ronnie Wood, Brian May, Joe Walsh and Gary Moore. Rodgers sang and played a custom designed Jaguar Fender Strat. He was invited by the

Four Tops The Four Tops are an American vocal group formed in Detroit, Michigan in 1953 as the Four Aims. They were one of the most commercially successful American pop music groups of the 1960s and helped propel Motown Records to international fame. The ...

to be part of their fiftieth anniversary TV/DVD concert celebration at

Motown Motown is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. Founded by Berry Gordy, Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on January 12, 1959, it was incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau ...

's Opera House and performed alongside

Aretha Franklin Aretha Louise Franklin ( ; March 25, 1942 – August 16, 2018) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Honored as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Soul", she was twice named by ''Rolling Stone'' magazine as the Roll ...

, Dennis Edwards & The Temptations Revue, Sam Moore, Mary Wilson, Ashford & Simpson, and the

In late 2004, after a successful live television performance, two of the three living 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

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 said, including on

's own website, "that Rodgers would be "featured with" Queen as: "Queen + Paul Rodgers", not replacing the late Freddie Mercury". The group then 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 Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, situated south of Leeds and east of Manchester. The city is the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and some of its so ...

Hallam FM Arena concert on 9 May 2005. The DVD features " Imagine" from Hyde Park. "For one glorious summer" opined music critic Sean Michaels "we were all Paul Rodgers". Another DVD was released in 2006 from a live performance in Japan, called '' Super Live in Japan''. Queen + Paul Rodgers also released a single featuring " Reaching Out", " Tie Your Mother Down" and " Fat Bottomed Girls". In the summer of 2006, Rodgers again focused on his solo career with a world tour, which commenced in

Austin, Texas Austin ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat and most populous city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and W ...

in June, went to

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

, and ending in

Glasgow, Scotland Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

, in October 2006. On 15 August 2006,

confirmed through his website that "Queen + Paul Rodgers" would begin producing a new studio album beginning in October, to be recorded at Roger Taylor's home. In April 2007 Rodgers released a live album of his 2006 tour, '' Live in Glasgow'', recorded in Glasgow on 13 October 2006, with a DVD of the same show released the next month. On 27–28 December 2007, Rodgers performed with the Trans-Siberian Orchestra during their Winter 2007 Tour in Houston and

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

. Unannounced, he joined the band at the end of their show to sing "Bad Company" and "All Right Now". Rogers was a judge for the sixth and seventh annual Independent Music Awards to support independent artists. On 27 June 2008, Rodgers and Queen performed at the Concert for

Nelson Mandela Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela ( , ; born Rolihlahla Mandela; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African Internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid activist and politician who served as the first president of South Africa f ...

to celebrate Mandela's 90th birthday. On 8 August 2008, Rodgers and original members Mick Ralphs and Simon Kirke reunited as Bad Company to perform a one-night only, sold-out performance at the Seminole Hard Rock Live in Hollywood, Florida. The live performance was released on Blu-ray, DVD, and CD on 9 February 2010 and the tracks included seventeen Bad Company hits. Rodgers dedicated "Gone, Gone, Gone" to original bassist Boz Burrell, who died in 2006. On 14 May 2009, Rodgers announced that he was ending his five-year-long collaboration with Queen, although he did not rule out the possibility of working with them again. On 17 November 2009, it was announced he would join the other surviving members of Bad Company for an eight-date UK tour in April 2010.

2010s: Solo career and more Bad Company

From 5 June 2010 to 18 June 2010 Rodgers and his band were on a small tour of

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. They performed at the Temecula Valley Balloon & Wine Festival. One week later, on 12 June, Rodgers and his band went to appeared as headliners on the Grandstand Stage at the San Diego County Fair in Del Mar, California, followed by casino shows in Lemoore on 17 June and in Santa Ynez on 18 June. Rodgers performed a solo UK tour in April 2011 with Joe Elliot's Down 'n' Outz. The concert of 28 April at

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

's National Indoor Arena was filmed for a future live DVD release. In May 2011 Rodgers received an

for "Outstanding contribution to British music" Rodgers announced that he would be taking part in a

Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained global fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and the piano, and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John ...

tribute album which has contributions by

Billy Joel William Martin Joel (born May 9, 1949) is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Piano Man" after his Signature song, signature 1973 song Piano Man (song), of the same name, Joel has ha ...

Garth Brooks Troyal Garth Brooks (born February 7, 1962) is an American Country music, country singer and songwriter. His integration of pop and rock elements into the country genre has earned him his immense popularity, particularly in the United States, ...

, B. B. King, and

KISS A kiss is the touching or pressing of one's lips against another person, animal or object. Cultural connotations of kissing vary widely; depending on the culture and context, a kiss can express sentiments of love, passion, romance, sex ...

. Originally planned for a late 2010 release, the album, entitled '' The Art of McCartney'', was released in late 2014. Rodgers' contribution is a cover of the Wings song " Let Me Roll It", originally from their 1973 album '' Band on the Run''. In 2014, he toured again with Bad Company. He performed again with the Trans-Siberian Orchestra on their

New Year's Eve In the Gregorian calendar, New Year's Eve refers to the evening, or commonly the entire day, of the last day of the year, 31 December, also known as Old Year's Day. In many countries, New Year's Eve is celebrated with dancing, eating, drinkin ...

show in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

. He performed Can't Get Enough and All Right Now. In 2017 Rodgers embarked on a 'Free Spirit' UK Tour in May 2017 to celebrate the music of Free by performing songs strictly from the Free catalogue. He said "It was 50 years ago in 1967 when Paul Kossoff and I met and later formed Free". In 2018 a CD/DVD set was released which recorded the final show from the 'Free Spirit' tour; it was filmed at the Royal Albert Hall on 28 May 2017. In the summer of 2018 Rodgers toured with

. In 2023, he released the album '' Midnight Rose'', his first solo album of original material in 24 years. He said in an interview with Eddie Trunk that he had no plans to tour in support of it.

Personal life

Rodgers became a Canadian citizen on 21 October 2011 and lives in British Columbia.

Relationships and family

Rodgers has a daughter, Natalie, from an early relationship, who lives in his hometown of Middlesbrough. Paul Rodgers married Machiko Shimizu in 1971 and they have two children, Steve and Jasmine. Both children are musicians, known for being members of the rock band Bôa. Paul Rodgers and Shimizu divorced in 1996. In 2007, Rodgers married Cynthia Kereluk, a former Miss Canada, with whom he'd been in a relationship since 1997.

Health

In 2016 Rodgers suffered the first of two major strokes. The second in 2019, greatly affected his speech and musical abilities. Those strokes along with 11 more minor strokes, required an endarterectomy. He has since made a full recovery.

Discography

Solo

Studio albums *'' Cut Loose'' (1983) *'' Muddy Water Blues: A Tribute to Muddy Waters'' (1993) *'' Now'' (1997) *''

'' (1999) *'' The Royal Sessions'' (2014) *''Free Spirit'' (2018) *'' Midnight Rose'' (2023) Live albums *'' The Hendrix Set'' (live EP, 1993) *''Paul Rodgers and Friends: Live at Montreux'' (1994, edited 2011) *'' Live: The Loreley Tapes'' (live album, 1996) *'' Now and Live'' (2CD compilation, 1997) *''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

Studio Albums *'' Tons of Sobs'' (1969) *'' Free'' (1969) *'' Fire and Water'' (1970) *''

Highway A highway is any public or private road or other public way on land. It includes not just major roads, but also other public roads and rights of way. In the United States, it is also used as an equivalent term to controlled-access highway, or ...

'' (1970) *'' Free at Last'' (1972) *'' Heartbreaker'' (1973) Live Albums * '' Free Live!'' (live album, 1971)

with Bad Company

Studio Albums *'' Bad Company'' (1974) *'' Straight Shooter'' (1975) *'' Run With the Pack'' (1976) *'' Burnin' Sky'' (1977) *'' Desolation Angels'' (1979) *'' Rough Diamonds'' (1982) Live Albums *'' In Concert: Merchants of Cool'' (2002) *'' Hard Rock Live'' (2010) *'' Live at Wembley'' (2011) *'' Live in Concert 1977 & 1979'' (2016) *''Live at Red Rocks'' (2017)

with The Firm

Studio Albums *'' The Firm'' (1985) *'' Mean Business'' (1986) Live Albums *''The Firm Live at Hammersmith 1984'' (DVD, 1984, limited release video) *''Five From the Firm'' (DVD, 1986)

with The Law

*'' The Law'' (1991)

with Queen

Studio Albums *''

The Cosmos Rocks ''The Cosmos Rocks'' is the only studio album by Queen + Paul Rodgers (and Queen's sixteenth studio album overall), released on 15 September 2008. It contains 14 new tracks written by Brian May, Roger Taylor, and Paul Rodgers. This is the fi ...

'' (CD, 2008) Live Albums *'' Return of the Champions'' (CD/LP/DVD, 2005) *'' Super Live in Japan'' (DVD, 2006; Japan only) *'' Live in Ukraine'' (CD/DVD, 2009)

References

External links

*
''MSS'' Magazine interview
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rodgers, Paul 1949 births Living people 20th-century English male singers 20th-century English singer-songwriters 21st-century English male singers 21st-century English singer-songwriters Blues rock musicians British blues (genre) musicians English blues musicians English blues singers English tenors English rock singers English expatriates in Canada English multi-instrumentalists English male singer-songwriters Canadian male singer-songwriters Canadian multi-instrumentalists Musicians from British Columbia Canadian rock singers Canadian blues singers 21st-century Canadian male singers Free (band) members Naturalized citizens of Canada Musicians from Middlesbrough Bad Company members The Firm (rock band) members The Law (English band) members Queen + Paul Rodgers members 21st-century Canadian singer-songwriters Ivor Novello Award winners