Remembering Mick Ralphs, Underrated Blues Rock Guitar Hero

On the 23rd of June, 2025, Mick Ralphs passed away in a care facility in Oxfordshire, England at 81 years of age. Best known as the founding lead guitarist of British supergroup Bad Company, Ralphs had a whirlwind career in blues rock throughout the 1970s and ‘80s, among the most steady, consistently quality guitar players in rock music. 

Never a virtuoso or an overly flashy player, Ralphs’ guitar chops always felt workman-like: laser-focused on skillfully and passionately providing exactly what the song called for without flashy embellishments. Some of the most iconic crunchy riffs of ‘70s-era blues rock came from his hands while in Bad Company, but Ralphs also toured with such legends as David Gilmour and led a solo career full of treats for blues rockers. 

In 1985, Ralphs put out a perfectly respectable solo album, Take This, that may not have broken any sales records, but has enough quality blues writing and guitar playing to make it well worth a listen in honor of the legend. Between 2013 and 2016, Ralphs led the Mick Ralphs Blues Band, with two albums, I Should Know Better and If It Ain’t Broke. Again, these releases didn’t break the bank, but they’re firmly in “hell yea” territory as far as blues rock contributions. If It Ain’t Broke really just kicks in the teeth with big crunchy riffs and traditional 12-bar rocking tunes, covers and originals. 

Ralphs has songwriting credits on several of Bad Company and Mott the Hoople’s biggest hits and thus, some of the biggest blues rock hits of the ‘70s. These include “Can’t Get Enough” (Bad Company), “Ready for Love” (Matt the Hoople), and of course, “Feel Like Makin’ Love” (possibly Bad Company’s most famous tune). But blues rockers would be remiss in overlooking some of his solo and blues band tunes: “Talk To Your Daughter” is terrific southern blues goodness, as is “Roll the Dice.” 

Ralph’s guitar work was versatile within blues and hard rock. The guitar on “Ready for Love” feels almost like Jimmy Page’s delicate fingerstyle work, while the big hits of Bad Company like “Rock n’ Roll Fantasy” helped define the sound of 70s rock at large with crunchy, twangy, lead riffs and catchy, easy-to-follow chord progressions for rhythm.

While he may never have become a household name in the way the likes of Clapton did, Mick Ralphs was a real working man’s rockstar in blues rock, consistently putting out excellent timeless blues rock music across multiple projects, partnered with some of the best accompanying musicians of his day. On a personal note, his playing featured heavily in the development my own music tastes as my dad frequently blasted Bad Company’s Straight Shooter record while I was growing up. More often than not, when I think of the genre, I think about long drives in the country and I hear Mick’s guitar on “Shooting Star.”

Mick Ralphs was a consummate blues man, a worthy guitar hero who helped form the sound of blues rock in the 1970s and did a lot to popularize the genre internationally. He’ll be most remembered as the lead player for the greatest blues rock supergroup of the ‘70s, but he continued releasing rocking blues goodness right up to the end of his career, not losing a bit of the juice even to his last recordings. All blues fans should do themselves a favor and check out his lesser-known work in his honor, it does not disappoint.

He’ll be posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame later this year with Bad Company, an honor befitting his contributions to the genre.

So long, Mick, and thanks for the music.