Paul Rodgers performed for the first time since 2022 Monday when he was honored at the Adopt the Arts Sound and Vision Awards in Palm Springs, California.
He sang Bad Company’s “Rock ‘n’ Roll Fantasy” and Free’s “All Right Now” backed by an all-star band that featured Extreme‘s Nuno Bettencourt, Steve Stevens from Billy Idol‘s band, Robert DeLeo from Stone Temple Pilots, Phil X from Triumph and Bon Jovi, and Adopt the Arts founder and former Guns N’ Roses and Velvet Revolver drummer Matt Sorum.
Afterwards, Rodgers called it “an extremely joyful experience” in an Instagram post, and in an email he told us, “I could not have felt more love coming from a crowd than Monday night in Palm Springs at The Plaza Theatre, or more respect from the gifted top level musicians that I got to play with. The wait to return to the stage was worth it. IF … this is to be my last live performance I am at peace with that.”
Adopt the Arts provides music education and creative opportunities for more than 3,500 elementary students in Los Angeles and the Coachella Valley.
Also honored Monday was Black Sabbath bassist Geezer Butler, who, like Rodgers, was backed by the all-star band led by Sorum. He did Sabbath’s “Paranoid,” “N.I.B.” and “War Pigs.”
