Simon Kirke Confirms He and Paul Rodgers Will Perform Together at Bad Company’s Rock Hall Induction
Photo by The Empty Pockets, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
A Long-Awaited Recognition
After decades of eligibility, Bad Company will finally be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The honor, announced in April 2025, marks a major milestone for the British supergroup formed in the early 1970s. In a recent interview with Lyndsanity! With Lyndsey Parker, drummer Simon Kirke opened up about the band’s long-awaited induction and confirmed that he and singer Paul Rodgers will reunite on stage for the event.
Asked whether fans could expect a performance from the classic lineup, Kirke replied with cautious excitement. “I think the secret is out that we will perform. I don’t know — I might get into trouble, but I saw some Google news that Bad Company will perform at the Hall of Fame. So I will cautiously say yes. I’m not at liberty to say which songs. I mean, quite honestly, I don’t give a shit. We’re gonna play, and whatever Paul chooses is fine by me. And just to play with him again is gonna be a real thrill for me, ’cause I missed him. I missed playing with the band. I miss playing particularly with Paul, ’cause he’s such a wonderful singer.”
Reunion on Stage
The upcoming induction ceremony will take place on November 8 at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles, with a live stream on Disney+ and a later broadcast on ABC. Kirke reflected on how much time has passed since he and Rodgers last shared the stage. “We did our last show over five years ago, in Las Vegas, of all places where Bad Company and Lynyrd Skynyrd were flip-flopping a headline tour. And it was one of the best gigs we ever played on. So thank God we finished on a good gig and not a shitty one.”
Kirke also spoke about Rodgers’s recovery and current condition. The singer revealed in 2023 that he had suffered multiple strokes in past years, including 11 minor and two major ones that nearly ended his career. Kirke said he hasn’t yet heard Rodgers’s voice in person since their last show but remains optimistic. “I haven’t heard him sing since [we last played together], quite honestly. I know he has sung, and we are gonna do a couple of rehearsals for the cameras and so on and so forth. But when you have a voice that naturally good, it’s gonna take a hell of a lot for it to fray or devalue or whatever. So I think he’s gonna be fine for the two songs that we’ve chosen.”
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Remembering Mick Ralphs
Kirke also paid tribute to guitarist Mick Ralphs, who passed away in June 2024 at age 81 after complications from a stroke suffered years earlier. In a previous interview with Defenders Of The Faith, Kirke expressed gratitude that Ralphs knew about the induction before he died. “We’re very pleased. We’re very honored. Quite honestly, I think it’s about time [laughs], but I don’t want to appear ungrateful. Bad Company, as you know, have been around 50 years. We influenced a couple of generations of bands, so it’s about time and we’re very happy,” he said. “I’m also happy, because dear old Mick Ralphs, our guitarist who passed away a couple of months ago, learned that Bad Company was going to be inducted just a couple of weeks before he finally passed away. That made us very, very happy indeed.”
The band’s recognition comes alongside other 2025 inductees such as Soundgarden, Chubby Checker, Joe Cocker, Cyndi Lauper, OutKast, and The White Stripes. Bad Company has been eligible for induction since 1999 but received its first nomination only this year.
Paul Rodgers’s Health and Resilience
Rodgers, now 75, endured serious health battles that left him temporarily unable to sing or speak. He suffered his first major stroke in 2016 and another in 2019, requiring a carotid endarterectomy, a delicate surgery to remove plaque from the arteries leading to the brain. Despite the challenges, Rodgers made a remarkable recovery, gradually returning to music and public appearances. Kirke believes Rodgers’s resilience is a reflection of his natural talent and determination.
Why the Delay?
When asked by Paul Stephenson of VRP Rocks why the band wasn’t recognized sooner, Kirke offered a thoughtful explanation. “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.”
Kirke added that there had been talks of a joint induction for both of Rodgers’s legendary bands, Free and Bad Company. “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.”
Earlier Frustrations with the Hall
Kirke’s comments follow years of frustration about the band’s omission from the Hall of Fame. In a 2023 appearance on The Bob Lefsetz Podcast, he expressed his disappointment bluntly. “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.”
Kirke revisited that idea again, noting that the band’s multiple eras may have worked against them. “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.”
Paul Rodgers’s Perspective
For his part, Paul Rodgers has taken the Hall’s delay in stride. Speaking with SiriusXM’s Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk in 2023, he said he wasn’t personally affected by the lack of recognition. “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.”
Watch the full interview below:
