Paul Rodgers recently spoke with Louder Sound and recalled how being managed by Peter Grant equaled Bad Company’s level to Led Zeppelin’s.
Grant managed Bad Company from the mid-70s to 1982, making the Rodgers-led band the only act under Grant’s handle; other than Led Zeppelin. So, the singer first started off by recalling the band’s ‘glorious’ days with the manager:
“Peter was great. Everything was five stars, and everything was taken care of. We were spoiled rotten, to tell you the truth…”
He then explained how Bad Company managed to cherish in the American market and benefited from Led Zeppelin’s business connections:
“We were catapulted into America, and Peter Grant put us right where Led Zeppelin were in terms of aeroplanes and limousines. We went into the arenas overnight; Peter and Led Zeppelin had it all down – the American scene and all the business involved – and we benefited from that.”
The host then asked if it ever bothered Paul or his bandmates to be signed into Led Zep’s label, Swan Song. He said:
“No. Honestly, I had no problem with being on [Zeppelin’s vanity label] Swan Song. I thought it was absolutely the bee’s knees. I used to go into the Swan Song office from time to time, down on the King’s Road opposite the World’s End pub, and I’d bump into Jimmy [Page] and Robert [Plant].”
While Rodgers recalled the ‘spoiled’ treatment Bad Company received under Grant’s management, it can be said that the late manager had always been too ‘protective’ over the bands he managed. Check out here how Grant once sabotaged Grand Funk Railroad so the band wouldn’t upstage Led Zeppelin.
