Simon Kirke
On 28/07/1949: Simon Kirke was born. He was born in Lambeth, London, but grew up in Wales. After leaving school, he moved to London when he was 17. He tried to find a job as a drummer. After 22 months he was going to give up when he met Paul Kossoff who was in the band Black Cat Bones. Kirke joined the band as their drummer and played with them for six months.Kirke and Kossoff then left to join Paul Rodgers and Andy Fraser to form the band Free. The band would have huge success and would release songs such as "All Right Now", "Wishing Well", "The Hunter", "Fire and Water" and "My Brother Jake". In 1971 they split up due to differences between Rodger and Fraser and the drig problems of Kossoff. Kossoff and Kirke recorded an album with Tetsu Yamauchi and John "Rabbit" Bundrick called Kossoff, Kirke, Tetsu and Rabbit.
In 1972 Free reformed. There were still problems within the band though and Andy Fraser left the band. He was replaced by Yamauchi. Rodgers and Kirke decided to bring in Bundrick on keyboard as well. The band would disband though the next year in 1973.
Rodgers and Kirke then formed Bad Company with guitarist Mick Ralphs and bassist Boz Burrell. The band would have a lot of success and released songs such as "Bad Company", "Can't Get Enough", "Good Lovin' Gone Bad", and "Feel Like Makin' Love".
In 1982 Bad Company disbanded. Kirke joined the band Wildlife. The band toured in support of the Michael Schenker Band and were signed to Swan Song (Led Zeppelin's label), but their album failed to sell.
In 1986 Bad Company reformed and Kirke rejoined. He has remained a member of the band and is the only person who has been in every lineup the band has had, despite numerous changes and breaks.
Kirke also has toured with Ringo Starr's All Star Band and was a member of the band Zeta Vang. He also has released two solo albums "Seven Rays of Hope" in 2005 and "Filling the Void" in 2011. He is on the board for NARAS (the Grammy Award Committee) and Road Recovery which helps teenagers recover from addiction.