Mick Ralphs, founding member of Bad Company and Mott the Hoople, dies at
81
[June 24, 2025]
By ANDREW DALTON
Mick Ralphs, a guitarist, singer, songwriter and founding member of the
classic British rock bands Bad Company and Mott the Hoople, has died.
A statement posted to Bad Company's official website Monday announced
Ralphs' death at age 81. Ralphs had a stroke days after what would be
his final performance with the band at London's O2 Arena in 2016, and
had been bedridden ever since, the statement said. No further details on
the circumstances of his death were provided.
Ralphs is set to become a member of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as a
member of Bad Company in November.
“Our Mick has passed, my heart just hit the ground," Bad Company singer
Paul Rodgers said in a statement. “He has left us with exceptional songs
and memories. He was my friend, my songwriting partner, an amazing and
versatile guitarist who had the greatest sense of humour.”
Ralphs wrote the 1970's song “Ready for Love” for Mott the Hoople, later
revamped for Bad Company's 1974 debut album, which also included the
Ralphs-penned hit “Can't Get Enough.” He co-wrote Bad Company's 1975
classic “Feel Like Makin' Love” with Rodgers.
Born in Stoke Lacy, Herefordshire, England, Ralphs began playing blues
guitar as a teenager, and in his early 20s in 1966, he co-founded the
Doc Thomas Group. In 1969, the band would become Mott the Hoople, a name
taken from the title and title character of a 1966 novel by Willard
Manus.
The group's self-titled first album, recorded in a week, won a cult
following, but the two that followed were critical and financial flops.
They finally found popular success and became glam-rock giants with the
1972 David Bowie-penned-and-produced song “All the Young Dudes." But
Ralphs felt creatively cramped in the band led by singer-songwriter Ian
Hunter and left in 1973.
He would soon form Bad Company with Rodgers, a singer who had left his
own band, Free.
The two had intended only to write songs together, and possibly to make
a one-off album as a project. But when Free drummer Simon Kirke asked to
sit in, they realized they were nearly a proper group already and went
seeking a bassist. They found him in former King Crimson member Boz
Burrell.
[to top of second column]
|
Paul Rodgers, left, and Mick Ralphs, members of the band Bad
Company, pose in New York April 5, 1999. (AP Photo/Jim Cooper, File)
 “We didn't actually plan to have a
band,” Ralphs said in a 2015 interview with Gibson Guitars. “It was
all kind of accidental I suppose. Lucky, really.”
Kirke said in a statement Monday that Ralphs was “a
dear friend, a wonderful songwriter, and an exceptional guitarist.
We will miss him deeply."
Bad Company found immediate success. its albums were full of
radio-ready anthems, and its live sound was perfectly suited to the
1970s height of arena rock.
Their self-titled debut album went to No. 1 on Billboard's album
chart. And Ralphs' “Can't Get Enough” — often mistakenly called
“Can’t Get Enough of Your Love” because of its chorus lyrics — would
be their biggest hit single, peaking at No. 5 on the Billboard Hot
100.
“We actually did the whole thing in one take live,” Ralphs said in
the Gibson interview. “It wasn’t perfect, but we just said, ‘Yeah,
that’s great, it’s going to capture the moment.’ That’s what I like
to do in recording. It doesn’t have to be perfect as long as it
captures the moment. That’s what it’s all about.”
Bad Company's 1975 follow-up, “Straight Shooter,” was also a hit,
going to No. 3 on album charts in both the Billboard Hot 100 in the
U.S. and the UK Albums Chart.
Its opening track, “Good Lovin' Gone Bad,” written by Ralphs, was a
modest hit, and the song that followed it, “Feel Like Makin' Love,”
was a big one that would remain in rotation on classic rock radio
for decades.
The band's statement says Ralphs is survived by “the love of his
life,” his wife Susie Chavasse, along with two children, three
step-children and “beloved bandmates” Rodgers and Kirke.
“Our last conversation a few days ago we shared a laugh,” Rodgers
said. “But it won’t be our last.”
All contents © copyright 2025 Associated Press. All rights reserved |
