Pine Knob Theatre. May 30th 1997.
"Shooting Star" is a song by the rock band Bad Company. It was originally released on the album Straight Shooter. The song completes the first side of the album. "Shooting Star" can be found on The Original Bad Company Anthology and 10 from 6, both compilation albums. Allen Collins and Gary Rossington of Lynyrd Skynyrd actually helped with the guitar solo on this track. Ronnie Van Zant's singing style was heavily inspired by Free and Paul Rodgers. The song is a playable track on Rock Band 2.
The song tells a story about the rise of a boy named Johnny to stardom and his eventual death. In the first verse, Johnny is inspired by the song, "Love Me Do" by The Beatles to buy a guitar and later become a member of a rock band. The next verse has Johnny saying good-bye to his mother as he leaves home to pursue his dreams. The third verse sings of Johnny making a number one hit and becoming a worldwide star. In the final verse, Johnny dies due to a drug overdose of sleeping pills.
It can be inferred that Johnny is a guitar player as well as a songwriter. It is also possible that Johnny is the lead singer in his band as well because of the lyric "to hear him sing his song".
This song has been related to many rock stars who have also died of drug overdoses. Bad Company lead singer, Paul Rodgers, has said the song is a warning to people in the music industry and has referenced Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendrix in interviews when asked about the song.
"At that particular time you had Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin...just a catalog of people who didn't make it, who overdosed in their beds...that was the gem of this song. It's a story and it's almost a warning." - Guitar World, April 1999.