Bad Company To Co-Headline With Styx This Summer

03/16/2001 7:00 AM, Yahoo! Music
Bruce Simon

(3/16/01, 7 a.m. ET) -- Bad Company and Styx have joined forces for a co-headlining tour that will play 40 dates this summer. The groups will be joined on the road by Billy Squier and young blues-rocker Joe Stark, who's said to be similar to Jonny Lang, as they hit the major sheds across the country.

The Bad Company lineup features lead singer Paul Rodgers, drummer Simon Kirke, guitarist Dave Colwell, and bassist Rick Wills. Original guitarist Mick Ralphs and bassist Boz Burrell both have other commitments this summer and have chosen to sit this tour out, but there are no hard feelings among the group's founders.

Wills and Colwell have quite a Bad Company legacy themselves, having played in the group during the '90s. Wills's resume also includes work with Peter Frampton, Foreigner, Roxy Music, and the Small Faces, while Colwell has worked with British heavy metal acts Samson and A.S.A.P..

LAUNCH asked Kirke why Bad Company is still as well-loved and well-regarded as the group was in its heyday, and he said: "I think, without sounding hopefully too pretentious, our music tends to transcend fads and fashions."

The full itinerary is being finalized, and it's expected to be announced shortly. There are also plans to hold a formal press conference to announce the outing later this month at the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in Cleveland, although that date hasn't been finalized.

-- Bruce Simon, New York

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