Free biography
Free was an English rock band, formed in London in 1968, best known for their 1970 signature song "All Right Now". They disbanded in 1973 and lead singer Paul Rodgers went on to become a frontman of the band Bad Company along with Simon Kirke on drums; lead guitarist Paul Kossoff died from a drug-induced heart failure at the age of 25 in 1976, bassist Andy Fraser formed Sharks.
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 which featured the massive hit "All Right Now". The song helped secure them a place at the huge Isle of Wight Festival 1970 where they played to 600,000 people.
By the early 1970s, Free was one of the biggest-selling British blues-rock groups; by the time the band dissolved in 1973, they had sold more than 20 million albums around the world and had played more than 700 arena and festival concerts. "All Right Now," remains a rock staple, and had been entered into ASCAP's "One Million" airplay singles club.
Rolling Stone has referred to the band as "British hard rock pioneers". The magazine 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".
Free were signed to Island Records in the UK and A&M Records in North America. Both labels became part of the PolyGram group in 1989, then Universal Music Group in 1998; UMG now controls the band's catalogue worldwide.
Most remarkable about the birth of Free was the young age of the band members who first came together to rehearse and play their first gig, that same evening, at the Nag's Head pub in Battersea, London, on 19 April 1968. Bass player Andy Fraser was 15 years old, lead guitarist Paul Kossoff was 17, and both lead singer Paul Rodgers and drummer Simon Kirke were 18. By November of that year, having been given the name Free by Alexis Korner, they had recorded their first album Tons Of Sobs for Island Records and, although it was not released until the following year, the album documents their first six months together and contains studio renditions of much of their early live set.
Paul Kossoff and Simon Kirke first became friends in the R&B band Black Cat Bones but they wanted to move on. Paul Kossoff saw vocalist Paul Rodgers singing with Brown Sugar while visiting the Fickle Pickle, an R&B club in London's Finsbury Park. He was immediately impressed, and asked if he could jam with Rodgers onstage. Along with Kirke, they would go on to form Free with the addition of Andy Fraser, who at the age of 15 had already been playing with John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers.
Unlike their previous albums Tons of Sobs and Free, Fire and Water - released in 1970 - was a huge success, largely due to the album containing the hit single "All Right Now", which reached #1 on the UK rock music charts, #2 on the UK singles chart and #4 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart. The album reached #2 in the UK charts and #17 on the U.S charts making it the most successful Free album. Highway was their fourth studio album, recorded extremely quickly in September 1970. Though widely considered to be an excellent follow-up to Fire and Water, Highway performed poorly in the charts, reaching #41 in the UK and #190 in the US.
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