Mick Ralphs, founding member of Bad Company and Mott the Hoople, dies at 81

By ANDREW DALTON
AP Entertainment Writer

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.

“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.”