George Thorogood Announces ‘The Baddest Show on Earth’ Live Album

Courtesy: UltimateClassicRock.com

George Thorogood has announced that he'll release The Baddest Show on Earth: Greatest Hits Live on June 12. You can hear a version of "Who Do You Love" below, which was recorded in Atlanta in 1980.

The new collection pays tribute to the road work that the Delaware blues-rocker has logged for more than 50 years with his band, the Destroyers. It highlights a series of recordings captured between 1978 and 2024, including a swath of previously unreleased tracks.

What Fans Can Expect From 'The Baddest Show on Earth'

Among the highlights from the band's vaults, you'll hear staples like "Bad to the Bone," "One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer," plus additional fan favorites including "Boogie Chillun," "Tail Dragger" and "Madison Blues."

The version of "Bourbon" is just one high point. It was captured in 1980 and finds Thorogood engaged in a memorable musical duel with his late, longtime saxophonist Hank Carter.

Today, George Thorogood & The Destroyers—which currently consists of Jeff Simon (drums, percussion), Bill Blough (bass guitar), Jim Suhler (rhythm guitar), and Buddy Leach (saxophone)—have played more than 8,000 live shows. There are numerous milestones within that big number, including the famous blitz where they set a goal to knock out 50 shows in 50 days.

How George & the Destroyers Played 50 States in 50 Days, the Hard Way

They'd shared the bill for concerts with Rolling Stones in that same era and as Thorogood remembered, the 50-date marathon was grueling in more ways than one. "I caught a real bad head cold and after we played those shows with the Stones and Bill Graham wanted us to play a whole bunch more.," he told UCR in 2019.

"But the 50/50 tour was already booked. So I missed out on some big gigs. Madison Square Garden, among other places, with the Stones," he explained. "Even one of the dates we did on the 50/50 tour was with the Rolling Stones, in New Orleans. But I was sick as a dog, I had a temperature of about 110. [Laughs] and I was in front of 80 thousand people and I had to go on after the Neville Brothers and before the Rolling Stones. That was tough."