Free were an English rock band, formed in London in 1968. The band was famed for its sensational live shows and nonstop touring. However, early studio albums did not sell very well – until the release of Fire and Water in 1970 which featured the massive hit "All Right Now". The song helped secure them a place at the huge Isle of Wight Festival where they played to 600,000 people.

 

By the early 1970s, Free was one of the biggest-selling British blues-rock groups and by 1973, they had sold more than 20 million albums around the world and had played more than 700 arena and festival concerts. However tensions in the band led to a number of temporary splits before they finally disbanded in 1973.

Bass player Andy Fraser went on to form the band Sharks. Lead guitarist Paul Kossoff formed the band Back Street Crawler but later died from a drug-induced heart failure at the age of 25 in 1976. Lead singer Paul Rodgers went on to become a frontman of the band Bad Company along with Simon Kirke on drums.

Rolling Stone magazine has referred to the band as "British hard rock pioneers", and ranked Rodgers #55 in its list of the "100 Greatest Singers of All Time", while Kossoff was ranked #51 in its list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of all Time”

Bad Company was formed by two former members of Free, singer Paul Rodgers and drummer Simon Kirke; who recruited former Mott the Hoople guitarist Mick Ralphs; and King Crimson bassist Boz Burrell. The group was managed by Peter Grant who also managed Led Zeppelin.

The 1974 debut album Bad Company was an international hit, with the group considered one of the 1970s' first supergroups. The album peaked at #1 on the Billboard Albums chart and included the hit single "Can't Get Enough".

In 1975, the next album Straight Shooter reached #3 on Billboard's Albums chart spawning two hit singles, “Good Lovin’ Gone Bad” and “Feel like Making Love”.

Their third album Run with the Pack was Bad Company's third consecutive million-selling record and first Platinum certified album.

1977's Burnin’ Sky fared poorly but 1979's Desolation Angels gave the band another Top 5 Platinum selling album and two hit singles "Rock 'n' Roll Fantasy" and "Gone, Gone, Gone".

By the end of the 1970s, the band had grown increasingly disenchanted with playing large stadiums and following the departure of their manager Peter Grant began to fall apart. Rough Diamonds released in 1982 was the sixth and final album before the group disbanded.  

 

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