Mick Ralphs, founding member of the British rock bands Mott the Hoople and Bad Company, has died at 81. Bad Company shared the news on Monday, writing in a statement that Ralphs had been bedridden from a stroke just days after his last concert with the band in 2016. Earlier this year, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame announced that it would induct Bad Company, cementing their legendary status with classics like “Feel Like Makin’ Love” and “Can’t Get Enough,” songs that Ralphs helped write. Ralphs is credited as driving the band’s signature hard rock sound with his “high-gain guitar riffs and heavy phrasing,” wrote the Hall of Fame. Ralphs also made waves with his band Mott the Hoople, which gained both cult status and mainstream success, recording with the likes of David Bowie on “All the Young Dudes” and Roxy Music’s Andy Mackay on “All the Way from Memphis,” a song about Ralphs losing his guitar in Tennessee. Ralphs was born in a small village in Herefordshire, England, and started playing the guitar from a young age, joining a blues-rock band in his teens. Ralphs is survived by his two children, three step-children, and his wife, Susie Chavasse.
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