Free were an English rock band formed in London in 1968, best known for their hit songs All Right Now and Wishing Well. Although renowned for their live shows and non-stop touring, their studio albums did not sell very well until their third, Fire and Water, featured the massive hit All Right Now. The song helped secure them a place at the Isle of Wight Festival 1970, where they played to 600,000 people.
In the early 1970s they became one of the biggest-selling British blues rock groups; by the time they disbanded, 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 R&B staple and has been entered in ASCAP’s “One Million” airplay singles club.
When the band broke up 1973 lead singer Paul Rodgers went on to become the frontman of the more successful rock supergroup Bad Company, which also featured his Free bandmate Simon Kirke on drums. Lead guitarist Paul Kossoff formed Back Street Crawler in 1973, but died from a pulmonary embolism at the age of 25 in 1976. Bassist Andy Fraser formed Sharks.
Rolling Stone magazine has referred to the band as “British hard rock pioneers” and ranked Rodgers No. 55 in its list of the “100 Greatest Singers of All Time” and Paul Kossoff at Number 51 in its “100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time”.
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