This is another song that I've known forever. Listening to it now, I find lead singer Paul Rodgers' grunting and cock-rock posturing a bit annoying, but I absolutely love Paul Kossoff's guitar solo - he's not afraid to play single notes and leave empty spaces in places. It's more effective than playing zillions of notes.
Free formed in London in 1968, when they were all still teenagers, and started releasing singles in 1969. "All Right Now", their sixth single release, reached #2 on the UK singles chart and #4 on the Billboard Hot 100. Nowadays, it receives extensive airplay on virtually every radio station that plays rock music from this era.
The band were more successful in their native Britain than in North America, as they had three other singles in the UK Top 20 and three UK Top 10 albums. In total, they sold more than 20 million records before breaking up for good in 1973.
Rodgers and drummer Simon Kirke went on to become part of Bad Company, who were enormously successful in the 1970s and early 1980s. After this, Rodgers went on to perform with Queen after Freddie Mercury's death. He became a Canadian citizen in 2011 and now lives in British Columbia. Kossoff struggled with drug addiction and passed away from a pulmonary embolism in 1976.
Created May 21, 2026.