For George Thorogood, the 50th Anniversary Tour – along with a top-streaming catalog of albums that now includes his acclaimed 2017 solo disc Party Of One, 2020’s epic George Thorogood & The Destroyers Live In Boston 1982: The Complete Concert, and 2022’s The Original George Thorogood – is proof that nice guys can finish first even when they’re the baddest of the bad. “You can’t plan to have a legacy,” George explains. “Our heart and soul have been in this from day one, and I think audiences have always respected that. Maybe that’s why we’ve never gone out of style.” Or perhaps the way a gobsmacked Rolling Stone reporter first described Thorogood and band in the ’70s still rings true today: “Just one guy with more moves than a burlap bag full of wolverines, a snarling vintage Gibson, and a rhythm section in pursuit of the Watts-Wyman Perfect Metronome Award. If Thorogood gave off any more energy, the government would lock him in a lead barrel and dump him off the coast of New Jersey. George Thorogood & the Destroyers play rock & roll hot enough to melt the polar icecaps and flood the world’s major population centers.”

But does Thorogood ever wonder if that nervous 23-year-old onstage at Lane Hall could imagine the bad-to-the-bone rock party he’d bring to the next several generations? “Rather than think about the past 50 years, I’d rather focus on our next 50 shows,” George says with a laugh. “But I will admit to a warm feeling of satisfaction, maybe a bit of pride, and definitely a whole lot of gratitude.” And when asked to pick a career highlight thus far, maybe one night that changed everything for George Thorogood & The Destroyers, he shakes his head, flashes a huge grin and heads off to soundcheck. “My highlight is when I step on that bandstand,” Thorogood says. “The promoters invited us, the audience came to hear us, and we’re ready to rock. When the rush of that ends, I’ll stop. Until then, every night I play for people can be the biggest night of my life.”