Saturday, July 28: Tig’s Rock Birthdays
Happy Birthday today (July 28) to drummer Simon Kirke of Bad Company. He's 69. Other rockers celebrating include frontman Jacoby Shaddix of Papa Roach (42), guitarist Steve Morse of Deep Purple (64), and keyboardist Gregg Giuffria (67).
Simon Kirke is best known for his time spent in the bands Free and Bad Company. Kirke formed Free with singer Paul Rodgers and they had a huge hit in 1970 with the single "All Right Now". After Free disbanded in 1973, Kirke and Rodgers would team up to form Bad Company along with guitarist Mick Ralphs and bassist Boz Burrell. Bad Company had great success throughout the 1970's with albums like Bad Company, Straight Shooter, and Run With the Pack along with singles that have became classic rock radio staples like "Bad Company", "Can't Get Enough", "Good Lovin' Gone Bad", and "Feel Like Makin' Love".
I’ve seen Bad Company many times over the years and they always put on a great show. One great show was the Bad Company and Lynyrd Skynyrd Tour back in 2013 when it played Bethel Woods in Bethel, NY (site of the 1969 Woodstock festival). We did a radio station bus trip for that one and it was wild. The beer was flowin as was the Jack Daniel’s. Everyone got hammered. It was a loud and rowdy bunch for sure but good times. Cheers to Simon Kirke on his birthday today!