Paul Rodgers recently spoke with Louder Sound on how being managed by Peter Grant brought Bad Company up to the level of Led Zeppelin. Grant handled Bad Company from the mid-1970s through 1982, making the Rodgers-led band Grant’s only client except Led Zeppelin. So the vocalist began by recounting the band’s ‘glorious’ days with the manager: “Peter was fantastic. Everything was perfect and everything was taken care of. To tell you the truth, we were spoiled rotten…”
He then highlighted how Bad Company was able to thrive in the American market thanks to Led Zeppelin’s commercial connections: “We were catapulted into America, and Peter Grant placed us in the same planes and limousines as Led Zeppelin.” We walked into the stadia overnight; Peter and Led Zeppelin knew everything about the American scene and the industry, and we benefited from that.”
The host then questioned Paul and his colleagues if being signed to Led Zeppelin’s label, Swan Song, bothered them. He stated: “No. about be honest, I had no objections about being on [Zeppelin’s vanity label] Swan Song. I thought it was just fantastic. I used to go into the Swan Song office on the King’s Road, across from the World’s End pub, and I’d run into Jimmy [Page] and Robert [Plant].” While Rodgers recalls Bad Company being’spoiled’ under Grant’s management, it may be argued that the late manager was always excessively ‘protective’ of the bands he managed. Check out how Grant once sabotaged Grand Funk Railroad to prevent the band from overtaking Led Zeppelin.
