It’s hard to imagine now, but Paul Rodgers has revealed that he was once heavily considered to replace Jim Morrison in The Doors while still fronting the band Free.
“I discovered quite recently that I was lined up to join the Doors, which blew my mind,” the singer told Uncut Magazine. “(Guitarist) Robby Krieger told me that the Doors were all fans of Free, and after Jim Morrison’s death, they came to England looking for me.”
According to Rodgers, Krieger told him that the band came looking for him in England after Morrison’s death nearly 40 years ago, but couldn’t locate him as at the time he had “buried myself in the country, working on things.”
“They couldn’t get a hold of me,” he said. “My jaw actually dropped like in a cartoon when Robby told me this.”
Ultimately, the surviving Doors elected to have a go at it as a threesome, with keyboardist Ray Manzarek taking over on vocals. The albums “Other Voices” (1971) and “Full Circle” (1972) were admirable attempts at soldiering on, but the massive specter of Morrison was too much to overcome, and the group decided to call it a day in 1973.
Ian Astbury of The Cult joined the band in 2002 for a five-year stint, but Manzarek and Krieger have had battles with using The Doors name and finding a suitable singer, now preparing to tour with its third in as many years.
Meanwhile, Rodgers went on to build up an extremely impressive musical resume.
He started Bad Company in the mid-’70s, a classic rock band that released a string of singles until the early-’80s when he linked up with former Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page in The Firm for two albums that were met with a lukewarm response.
The next decade he had a short lived collaboration with ex-Faces and ex-Who drummer Kenny Jones called The Law before returning to Bad Company. And seven years ago, he came full circle in a way, taking over the lead singer position in Queen — though the beloved Brit outfit was adamant that it was not replacing the late Freddie Mercury, evident in dubbing the venture Queen + Paul Rodgers.
The union ended shortly after the release and tour for a studio album, “The Cosmos Rocks,” which was poorly received. Rodgers returned to Bad Company once again, and also is focusing on solo ventures………..
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