Paul Rodgers talks Bad Company’s early days with AC/DC’s Brian Johnson

By Scott Munro
( Classic Rock )
published

Brian Johnson’s Life On The Road returns this weekend and sees the AC/DC man in conversation with Paul Rodgers

Paul Rodgers and Brian Johnson
Paul Rodgers and Brian Johnson (Image credit: AXS TV)

This Sunday, Brian Johnson’s Life On The Road (opens in new tab) returns to TV screens across the US, with the latest episode featuring the AC/DC (opens in new tab) frontman in conversation with Bad Company (opens in new tab) vocalist Paul Rodgers (opens in new tab).

The show will broadcast through AXS TV on Sunday night (November 24) at 9pm EST, and in a clip from the episode, Rodgers talks about starting out in Bad Company with guitarist Mick Ralphs – and their search for a manager. 

Rodgers says: “We decided we needed strong management, so I said to myself, ‘Well, the biggest band in world is Led Zeppelin (opens in new tab). Who manages them?’

“So I got in touch with Peter Grant – I can’t believe I did that, and I said, ‘I come with a band, Peter and we call ourselves Bad Company.’ He goes, ‘Oh, Bad Company? I don’t know about that!”

Rodgers says Grant agreed to come and see them rehearse in a village hall in Surrey, but Grant failed to show up. However, just as they were packing away their gear, Grant walked in and said: “I was listening outside – I like what you guys do.”

Rodgers adds: “That’s the way he was, he was a very mysterious man, but he decided he was going to take us on.”

And Rodgers says that rather than sign a contract right there and then, the deal was sealed with a handshake. Watch the full clip below.

Brian Johnson’s Life On The Road was originally broadcast in the UK in 2017 with the final episode on December 2 featuring Mick Fleetwood (opens in new tab).

Scott Munro
Scott Munro
Louder e-commerce editor

Scott has spent more than 30 years in newspapers and magazines as an editor, production editor, sub-editor, designer, writer and reviewer. After initially joining our news desk in the summer of 2014, he moved to the e-commerce team full-time in 2020. He maintains Louder’s buyer’s guides, scouts out the best deals for music fans and reviews headphones, speakers, books and more. He's written more than 11,000 articles across Louder, Classic Rock, Metal Hammer and Prog and has previous written for publications including IGN, the Sunday Mirror, Daily Record and The Herald covering everything from daily news and weekly features, to video games, travel and whisky. Scott grew up listening to rock and prog, cutting his teeth on bands such as Marillion and Magnum before his focus shifted to alternative and post-punk in the late 80s. His favourite bands are Fields Of The Nephilim, The Cure, New Model Army, All About Eve, The Mission, Ned's Atomic Dustbin and Drab Majesty, but he also still has a deep love of Rush.