Simon Kirke

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Free's Fire And Water, with Simon Kirke at far right

Simon Kirke (born July 28, 1949)((According to the Associated Press, he was born 27 August 1949)) is an English rock drummer best known as a member of Free and Bad Company.

Born in London, England, Kirke spent his early years living in the borderlands of Wales. Leaving school at the age of 17, he returned to London and set about finding a drumming job in the booming blues scene. After a fruitless 18 months he was resigned to returning to the country when he met Paul Kossoff who was playing in a band called Black Cat Bones. Simon was offered the drumming position in the band for which he played for 6 months. Amongst other manufacturers, Simon played Hayman drums.

Simon and Paul Kossoff left the band and together with Paul Rodgers and Andy Fraser formed Free. In the four years Free were together they had an enormous influence on many bands on both sides of the Atlantic. Their biggest hit "All Right Now", a # 1 hit in over 20 territories and recognised by ASCAP(American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers) in 1990 for garnering 1,000,000 plus radio plays in the US by late 1989, and in 2000 an Award was given to Paul Rodgers by the British Music Industry when "All Right Now" passed 2,000,000 plus radio plays in the UK.

After the disbanding of Free in 1973, Simon and Paul Rodgers once again teamed up to form Bad Company. They were joined by guitarist Mick Ralphs (Mott the Hoople) and bassist Boz Burrell (King Crimson). Bad Company became one of the biggest and best live acts which have sold approximately 60 million singles and albums to date.

As well as touring with Ringo Starr’s All Star Band on three separate occasions, Simon is an accomplished songwriter releasing Seven Rays of Hope in 2005. He has also worked on projects with Wilson Pickett, Bo Diddley, Ray Charles, Jerry Lee Lewis, Keith Richards, Ronnie Wood, and Eric Clapton.

In 1980 Kirke played drums alongside Led Zeppelin for one song in Munich during one of their last concerts ever.

A governor on the board of NARAS (the Grammy Committee), Simon now lives in Manhattan with his wife, Lorraine, and his four children.

Simon Kirke teaches you how to play his greatest hits from Bad Company and Free on a DVD titled Lessons from a Legend:Simon Kirke. The DVD is produced by Rockstarz, Inc. and was releases in 2006.

He is also a big fan of Aretha Franklin and states he has most of her albums.

1 Discography
2 External links

[edit] Discography

[edit] Free

Tons of Sobs (1968)
Free (1969)
Fire and Water (1970)
Highway (1970)
Free Live! (1971) (live)
Free at Last (1972)
Heartbreaker (1973)

[edit] Kossoff Kirke Tetsu Rabbit

Kossoff Kirke Tetsu Rabbit (1971)

[edit] Bad Company

Bad Company (1974)
Straight Shooter (1975)
Run With the Pack (1976)
Burnin' Sky (1977)
Desolation Angels (1979)
Rough Diamonds (1982)
10 from 6 (1985) (compilation)
Fame and Fortune (1986)
Dangerous Age (1988)
Holy Water (1990)
Here Comes Trouble (1992)
What You Hear Is What You Get: The Best of Bad Company (1993) (live)
Company of Strangers (1995)
Stories Told & Untold (1996)
The Original Bad Company Anthology (1999) (compilation CD)
Merchants of Cool (2002)

[edit] Solo

Seven Rays of Hope (2005)

[edit] External links

Members
Free
\| Paul Rodgers • Paul Kossoff • Andy Fraser • Simon Kirke
Discography
Studio albums: - Tons of Sobs • Free • Fire and Water • Highway • Free at Last • Heartbreaker
Live albums: - Free Live!
Compilation album: - The Free Story • The Best of Free • Free And Easy, Rough And Ready • Completely Free • The Best of Free: All Right Now • Molten Gold: The Anthology • Free: All Right Now • Songs of Yesterday • Chronicles •