{"id":304112,"date":"2025-11-20T23:23:07","date_gmt":"2025-11-20T23:23:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/304112\/"},"modified":"2025-11-20T23:23:07","modified_gmt":"2025-11-20T23:23:07","slug":"simon-kirke-says-singer-change-tarnished-bad-company","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/304112\/","title":{"rendered":"Simon Kirke Says Singer Change ‘Tarnished’ Bad Company"},"content":{"rendered":"

Drummer Simon Kirke believes that Bad Company<\/a>\u2019s decision to replace lead singer Paul Rodgers<\/a> ultimately “tarnished” the band.<\/p>\n

It was 1982 when arguments within the group led Rodgers to quit. At the time, Bad Company was riding high, having released six studio albums and earning multi-platinum success along the way. After a few years off, the remaining members – Kirke, guitarist Mick Ralphs and bassist Boz Burrell — decided to revive Bad Company with a new frontman. At the suggestion of Foreigner<\/a>\u2019s Mick Jones<\/a>, they enlisted singer Brian Howe.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was coerced,\u201d Kirke recalled during a recent appearance on Billy Corgan<\/a>\u2019s podcast, The Magnificent Others. \u201cI was doing a lot of drugs and drinking and I wanted to tour. I wanted to continue [Bad Company\u2019s] name. And we did. I mean, we sold millions of albums with Brian, but it kind of tarnished — I think it tarnished the reputation a little bit.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bad Company Made a ‘Knee Jerk Decision’ With Brian Howe<\/p>\n

Kirke noted that Howe was \u201ceager\u201d and \u201cwanted to work,\u201d but in hindsight his fit wasn\u2019t right. \u201cThe whole direction of the band kind of skewed away from the blues, [and] became more heavy metal\u2026 It was a period which I do regret. And I’ll put my hand up and say, me and Mick [Ralphs] kind of made a knee jerk decision and we took this guy on board.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brian Howe performing with Bad Company in 1987. (Michael Uhll, Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Brian Howe performing with Bad Company in 1987. (Michael Uhll, Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Further elaborating on the situation, Kirke recalled a quote from BB King, who once said \u201cYou have to like someone to live with them.\u201d In this case, the drummer noted that Howe\u2019s personality clashed with the rest of Bad Company.<\/p>\n

READ MORE: Forgotten Frontmen: 27 Lead Singers Fans Don’t Remember<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cI was hoping that that piece of the jigsaw, Brian Howe would fit with the other three [members],\u201d Kirked recalled. \u201cIt wasn’t there from the get-go and it didn’t — it kind of got worse as the years went by.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bad Company’s Backstage Turmoil<\/p>\n

Howe and the other musicians began \u201cbutting heads,\u201d especially when the singer\u00a0started giving politically charged speeches during the intro to \u201cBad Company.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDon’t you use this band as a political forum!\u201d Kirke recalled yelling at Howe in the dressing room one night. “He was a little red around the neck, shall we say. And it just got worse and worse.\u201d<\/p>\n

READ MORE: Top 10 Bad Company Songs<\/a><\/p>\n

Howe exited Bad Company in 1992, having released four studio albums with the group during his tenure. \u201cWe asked him to leave,\u201d Kirke remarked. \u201cHe’d say he left, but we did ask him to leave. And It’s a shame because I know that his heart was in the right place.\u201d<\/p>\n

Still, if given a do-over, the drummer was clear he\u2019d handle the lineup change differently. \u201cI wouldn’t do it again.\u201d<\/p>\n

Watch Simon Kirke’s Interview on ‘The Magnificent Others with Billy Corgan’Bad Company Albums Ranked<\/p>\n

Signed to Led Zeppelin’s label, the supergroup faced member changes and later experienced public indifference on its path to induction in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.<\/p>\n

Gallery Credit: Michael Gallucci<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Drummer Simon Kirke believes that Bad Company\u2019s decision to replace lead singer Paul Rodgers ultimately “tarnished” the band.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":304113,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[53],"tags":[88,216,3],"class_list":{"0":"post-304112","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-music","8":"tag-entertainment","9":"tag-music","10":"tag-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/304112","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=304112"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/304112\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/304113"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=304112"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=304112"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=304112"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}