“It Tarnished the Reputation”: Why Simon Kirke Believes Bad Company Was Hurt by Its Singer Replacement

Even throughout the turbulent years, Bad Company produced classics like “Feel Like Makin’ Love” and “Shooting Star.” With a legacy dating back to 1975, Simon Kirke watched as the band released a dozen studio albums that eventually landed them in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2025. Although overjoyed about what the band created on and off the stage, drummer Simon Kirke recently discussed how Brian Howe “tarnished” the name of Bad Company. 

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During the early 1980s, tensions within Bad Company hit a boiling point that eventually led to Paul Rodgers quitting. Taking some time off, Kirke, Mick Ralphs, and Boz Burrell wanted to bring the band back. But they needed a singer. Speaking with Foreigner’s Mick Jones, the group was pointed to Howe. 

Appearing on Billy Corgan’s podcast, Kirke insisted he wasn’t in the right state of mind at that time in his life. “I was doing a lot of drugs and drinking and I wanted to tour. I wanted to continue [Bad Company’s] name. And we did. I mean, we sold millions of albums with Brian, but it kind of tarnished — I think it tarnished the reputation a little bit.”

[RELATED: Simon Kirke Shares Mixed Emotions About Bad Company’s Rock Hall Induction: “When Death Picks a Friend, It Never Really Dies”]

Simon Kirke New Brian Howe’s “Heart Was In The Right Place”

Kirke didn’t criticize Howe’s level of commitment to the band, explaining how he was eager to work. But it was that willingness that led Bad Company down a different path. “The whole direction of the band kind of skewed away from the blues, [and] became more heavy metal… It was a period which I do regret. And I’ll put my hand up and say, me and Mick [Ralphs] kind of made a knee jerk decision and we took this guy on board.”

Hoping Howe and the rest of Bad Company would eventually gel – that time never came. “I was hoping that that piece of the jigsaw, Brian Howe would fit with the other three [members]. It wasn’t there from the get-go and it didn’t — it kind of got worse as the years went by.”

According to Kirke, in 1992, when Howe left Bad Company, it was because he was asked to leave. But the drummer knew, “He’d say he left, but we did ask him to leave. And It’s a shame because I know that his heart was in the right place.”

(Photo by Kevin Kane/Getty Images for RRHOF)