Drummer Simon Kirke is a founding member of two of the most legendary bands of his generation, FREE and BAD COMPANY. In an exclusive interview with Long Live Rock on Blog Talk Radio, he recalled the internal pressures that confronted Free after the worldwide hit 'All Right Now' rocketed the band to stardom. The group split within two years of that success.

“That was a monster hit for us, and it was a bit of a double-edged sword, really,” the drummer recalled. “It kind of took its toll on us. We were suddenly public property, and Island Records wanted us to duplicate the success of 'All Right Now'. Suddenly we were under the spotlight, and we were under the gun to come up with another hit. We became our own worst enemies, I believe. We sort of crumbled under the pressure. There was no letup from that crazy merry-go-round.”

Drugs played a role in the breakup. “There was quite a lot of ignorance in those days about drug addiction,” Kirke said. “Nowadays if someone displays even the remotest fondness for drugs, they're shipped off to rehab very quickly. But [guitarist] Paul Kossoff got very strung out and became very ill, and the only way that he was dealt with was for the band to take a couple of weeks off and have him rest up. So it all got a little bit too much for us, and unfortunately we caved in under the pressure.”

Kossoff died in 1976 at the age of twenty-five from drug-related heart problems. Kirke and Free singer Paul Rodgers went on to form Bad Company, releasing a string of hits throughout the seventies and eighties.

The career of Free is chronicled in the new DVD release Free Forever from Eagle Rock Entertainment. The two-disc set includes early live footage of the band at the Beat Club in Germany, as well as footage from Free's performance at the legendary Isle of Wight festival. There are also special features including interviews and multi-angle edits of the Isle of Wight footage. Simon Kirke is set to tour in the UK with the reunited Bad Company this summer.

Listen to the interview below: