Former Bad Company Singer Brian Howe Reportedly Dead at 66

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Brian Howe, who sang with Bad Company from 1986 to 1994, died at age 66 on May 6, according to TMZ.

He reportedly died of cardiac arrest in his Florida home. TMZ notes that he may have died on the way to a hospital.

The English singer's first major gig was with Ted Nugent on his 1984 LP Penetrator, before he was invited to take Paul Rodgers’ place when Bad Company reactivated two years later. Howe appeared on four studio albums – Fame and Fortune, Dangerous Age, Holy Water and Here Comes Trouble – alongside original members Mick Ralphs and Simon Kirke.

The second of those records, 1988’s Dangerous Age, powered the band’s resurgence with a return to a classic-rock sound after the previous album’s exploration of soft rock. Three singles - “No Smoke Without a Fire,” “One Night” and “Shake It Up” - reached the Top 10; 1990’s Holy Water secured the new lineup’s stadium pedigree.

Howe quit after the 1993 live album What You Hear Is What You Get, becoming disillusioned with his bandmates and returning to work on solo material. He recently decided to refocus his career on songwriting rather than performance.

“When I joined the band, they were really a lost cause,” Howe told News-Press in December, adding that he argued against using the Bad Company name. “They’d lost all focus. They’d lost all ability to write songs. … The big bands at the time were bands like Mr. Mister – more of a softer, more keyboard-influenced sound during those mid- to early 80s. And they wanted to go down that road, and we did that on that first album, Fame and Fortune.

“But I knew, deep in me, that that was the wrong way. And after that record, I kind of stamped my foot a little bit and said, ‘Guys, this is a rock ‘n’ roll band! We need to toughen things up a little bit. This is a guitar band, you know! This is a bluesy guitar band, and we need to get back on that.’ And with tremendous resistance, they were finally pushed into it, I guess.”

Howe said he decided to quit after concluding that his bandmates “hated the fact that the band had become successful again and they hadn’t had much input into it. ... The resentment became almost to the point of them accusing me of being big-headed or cocky or whatever you want to call it.”

However, he reflected: “Basically, it was a lovely ride. It’s fantastic to be accepted as a guy who can write songs that people actually like.”

Howe suffered a severe heart attack in 2017 and was working on moving from Florida to Nashville to support his future songwriting plans. Noting that he didn’t display any of his gold records at home, he said, “I still have to believe that maybe my best work is ahead of me. I’ve always been like that.”



Read More: Former Bad Company Singer Brian Howe Reportedly Dead at 66 | https://ultimateclassicrock.com/bad-company-brian-howe-dead/?utm_source=tsmclip&utm_medium=referral
 

mrblond

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How sad!
I really liked the resurrected Bad Company of the early 90's.
The album Here Comes Trouble (1992) and especially the live What You Hear Is What You Get (1993) have been among the most played titles on my cassette deck in those years.
I liked Brian Howe!

BadCo-92.jpg BadCo-93.jpg
 

Ar-Pharazon

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Dangerous Age and (of course) Holy Water were the best of his four great albums with Bad Company.

It was a hell of a comeback for the band. Rough Diamonds was pretty "meh" so it was more like 7 years between good BC albums.

I played Holy Water (the track) into the freakin' ground in the summer of 90.
 

Southern Comfort

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At a family reunion a friend said I have Molly Hatchet and Bad Company tickets for a show tonight. Let's go!! Now being a big Paul Rogers fan I lost touch of Brian replacing Paul.. When they came on stage and started their set I was like.. That dosn't sound like Paul Rogers..
The concert was great to say the least.. I met Brian briefly because he was eye balling my wife.. She got his autograph on a napkin.. I played yard dog and kept him away from my toy..
R.I.P. Brian.. There's No Smoke Without A Fire..
 

Lynch

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That's too bad. I liked his voice and the albums that he did with Bad Company. I only saw Bad Company in concert one time, it was either the summer of 1990 or 1991 when they opened for Damn Yankees at an outdoor show. Great concert all the way around, other than Mick's guitar volume was so quiet you couldn't hear him for much of the show. But anyway, Brian was a good front man for Bad Company.

Sad to hear this news. :rip:
 

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