Mick Rogers (musician)

Mick Rogers (born Michael Oldroyd; 20 September 1946) is an English rock guitarist, singer and songwriter, chiefly known for his time with Manfred Mann's Earth Band from 1971 to 1975 and again since 1984.

During the initial years with Manfred Mann's Earth Band, Rogers was the only guitarist and chief lead vocalist in the group.

In 2020, Rogers planned to play material of the early Earth Band with original member Colin Pattenden and keyboardist Mike Keneally at the Burg Herzberg Festival under the moniker Solar Fire, however this did not happen due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

His solo debut Back to Earth got a mixed review on the German Babyblaue Prog-Reviews, which praised Rogers' vocal and guitar work but criticized the fact that he was not accompanied by other musicians and instead relied on programmed drums.

[13] The album got a positive review from RockTimes, praising authentic and solid work and giving a lot of attention to Rogers' own compositions such as "Cutting Me to Pieces".

Reviewer Jürgen Weber lauded Rogers' rendition of "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" and also pointed out "Cutting Me to Pieces" as a highlight, but noted that the album could have done with more original songs and more uptempo material.

[15] Musicreviews.de was more reserved in its review, again praising the Rammstein-esque "Cutting Me to Pieces" as well as Rogers's vocals, but criticizing some soft songs in the second half and the too obvious choice of covers.

[17] He also later denounced his non-album Christmas release from 2012, a cover of the John Lennon / Yoko Ono song, "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)", saying he was sponsored to do it, but would not do it again because it was not his style.