The Law

The Law were an English rock group formed in 1991 by singer Paul Rodgers (ex-Free, Bad Company and The Firm) and drummer Kenney Jones (ex-Small Faces/Faces and The Who). They intended to use different supporting musicians, to allow Rodgers to pursue whatever style he wished. They assembled a core band of studio musicians, consisting of Jim Barber (whose credits include The Rolling Stones, Ruby Turner and Mick Jagger's solo album Primitive Cool) as the main guitarist, second guitarist John Staehely (ex-Spirit and Jo Jo Gunne) and bassist Pino Palladino (formerly of Paul Young's and Jools Holland's bands), with guest spots by guitarists such as David Gilmour, Bryan Adams and Chris Rea. The band produced the Billboard #1 AOR Chart hit "Laying Down the Law", written by Rodgers, but the group's only album peaked at a disappointing #126 on Billboard's Pop Albums chart. An album of outtakes from the first album has been released as a bootleg, often referred to as The Law II. The Law – joined by John Young on keyboards – played just one show: at Milton Keynes Bowl, supporting ZZ Top and Bryan Adams. "That was completely barmy," reflected Rodgers. "Kenney and I… couldn't wait to get on the road, but it never happened. I sat waiting for the phone to ring. We even had to twist arms just to get that show – much to the chagrin of some of the other bands that day."