[1] He is the director of Promotions and Special Events for the Seminole Tribe of Florida, owners of Hard Rock International.

[4][5] His stepfather, a U.S. Army sergeant, was stationed in Germany, and Free was introduced to rock 'n' roll there as a child, when one of his five sisters received tickets to a Jimi Hendrix concert and took him along to the show.

After Simmons' encouragement, Free joined Shalamar in 1984,[7][8] just in time for the band's big successes, including a #17 position in U.S. Top 20 in 1984 with "Dancing In The Sheets" from the Footloose soundtrack, and a Grammy for "Don't Get Stopped In Beverly Hills" from the Beverly Hills Cop (1984) soundtrack in 1985.

After Shalamar, Free and Jean Beauvoir (of The Plasmatics) founded an AOR band, Crown of Thorns.

[15] In a 2016 interview, Free clarified that the events depicted in the sketch were "totally accurate" and that Prince played "like Michael Jordan".