- Simon Kirke
Simon Frederick St George Kirke (born 28 July 1949, but 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
Lambeth Hospital ,Lambeth ,South East London ,England , Kirke spent his early years living in the borderlands ofWales . Leaving school at 17, he returned to London and set about finding a drumming job in the boomingblues scene. After a fruitless 18 months he was resigned to returning to the country when he metPaul Kossoff who was playing in a band calledBlack Cat Bones . Kirke was offered the drumming position in the band for which he played for six months. Among others, Kirke playedHayman drum s.Simon and Paul Kossoff left the band and with
Paul Rodgers andAndy 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 number one hit in more than 20 territories and recognised byASCAP "(American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers)" in 1990 for more than 1,000,000 radio plays in the US by late 1989, and in 2000 an award was given toPaul Rodgers by the British Music Industry when "All Right Now " passed 2,000,000 radio plays in the UK.After the disbanding of Free in 1973, Simon and
Paul Rodgers again teamed up to formBad Company . They were joined by guitaristMick Ralphs (Mott the Hoople ) and bassistBoz Burrell (King Crimson ).Bad Company became one of the biggest and best live acts, selling approximately 30 million singles and albums.After Bad Company ended in 1982, Kirke was briefly invoved with another band
Wildlife . Their album was produced by former Bad Company bandmate Ralphs. He returned to Bad Company when it reunited in 1986.As well as touring with
Ringo Starr ’s All Star Band on three occasions, Kirke is an accomplished songwriter, releasing "Seven Rays of Hope" in 2005. He has also worked withWilson Pickett ,Bo Diddley ,Ray Charles ,Jerry Lee Lewis ,Keith Richards ,Ronnie Wood , andEric Clapton .In 1980 Kirke played drums alongside
Led Zeppelin drummerJohn Bonham for Zep's two song encore in Munich during their next-to-last concert.A governor on the board of
NARAS (theGrammy Committee), Kirke lives inManhattan with his wife, Lorraine, and his four children. His daughter Domino is trying to follow her father into a musical career.Kirke made an instruction DVD of hits from Bad Company and Free, entitled "Lessons from a
Kirke is a fan of
Aretha Franklin and states he has most of her albums.Kirke is a recurring counselor at
Rock 'n Roll Fantasy Camp . He was due to return as a counselor at the New York City camp in 2007.Discography
Free
*"
Tons of Sobs " (1968)
*"Free" (1969)
*"Fire and Water" (1970)
*"Highway" (1970)
*"Free Live! " (1971) (live)
*"Free at Last" (1972)
*"Heartbreaker" (1973)Kossoff Kirke Tetsu Rabbit
*"Kossoff Kirke Tetsu Rabbit" (1971)
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)
*"" (1993) (live)
*"Company of Strangers " (1995)
*"Stories Told & Untold " (1996)
*"The Original Bad Company Anthology " (1999) (compilation CD)
*"Merchants of Cool " (2002)olo
*"Seven Rays of Hope" (2005)
External links
* [http://www.myspace.com/simonkirke Simon Kirke Official Website]
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.