Happy Birthday Paul Rodgers

Happy Birthday to the legendary Paul Rodgers, who celebrates his 63rd birthday today (December 17th) The recently reunited Bad Company are currently in post-production for their upcoming documentary called Movin' On, which chronicles the band's 2010 gigs. No release date has been announced.

Although a renowned rock songwriter, whether it's his work with Free, Bad Company, the Firm, Queen, or on his own -- Rodgers knows that his ultimate musical gift is his unique voice: "I'm lucky, y'know? I'm blessed by God to have the voice that I do. And I've also listened a lot to, what I feel are the greats -- people like Otis Redding and Ray Charles, say, and James Brown. . . a lot of blues guys, too, you know? John Lee Hooker. . . and I copied those guys, y'know, initially, until my own style developed. And I like to think that I'm still experimenting -- I'm still playing with my voice, and I'm still trying different things from night to night. A lot of them are subtle, that people might not even notice, but I do. I'm trying things all the time."

In 2009 Rodgers received an honorary Doctor of Letters degree from Middlesbrough, England's Teesside University, which is located in his childhood hometown. Rodgers says that rock and roll was one of the only ways out of Middlesbrough: "I was born in, in Middlesbrough, in the northeast of England, which was heavy industry, steel works, chemicals, and ship building, and coal mining, and all that kind of thing. And really, you were educated in order to go into one of the above. And I used to look around and think, 'God, is there no other way?'"

Since splitting with Queen + Paul Rodgers following the European dates in support of their disappointing The Cosmos Rocks album, Rodgers has reconnected with Bad Company for a series of shows and a newly released live CD and DVD. He was asked if any of the band's old tensions reared their ugly head during their reunion gigs: "Well actually, y'know what, it was really nice. It was a really warm feeling because we've been through a lot over the years. And we did all those wild and crazy tours back in the '70s and onwards. And I think towards the end of it, we got a little burned on each other, y'know? It was good to part company and do different things."

On October 21st, 2011 Rodgers officially became a Canadian citizen when he was sworn in at a public ceremony in Surrey, B.C

Paul Rodgers will next perform on the "Rock Legends Cruise" in Fort Lauderdale, Florida from January 10th through 14th. After that, he'll perform on January 16th at Hollywood, Florida's Seminole Hard Rock Live.