In 2017 and 2018, founding Foreigner frontman Lou Gramm and the band’s other surviving original former members rejoined the group for several special reunion shows, but Gramm says it’s unlikely that he’ll play any more concerts with the veteran rockers.
In a recent Zoom interview with RockHistoryMusic.com, Gramm was asked if his association with Foreigner was over, and Lou responded, “I think so, yeah. I don’t want to be part of it.”
Lou, who’s 72, noted that two of the band’s six original members, multi-instrumentalist Ian McDonald and bassist Ed Gagliardi, have passed away, while founding Foreigner guitarist and main songwriter Mick Jones “is in very poor health.”
“[W]hen the new Foreigner plays, I’ve heard that [Mick] comes on for one song and then waves and goes offstage,” Gramm said. “[Until fairly recently,] he would play the whole last half of the set. But then he was in the hospital again for weeks. He had some heart problems and his recovery time was very long and tedious. And I heard that he comes out for one song now…when he comes on.”
Lou adds, “Most of the time Foreigner has no original Foreigner members in it.”
Also during the interview, Gramm admitted that he wasn’t too enamored with the group’s current lead singer, Kelly Hansen.
“Kelly is all right,” Lou said. “He’s a good singer. But I think Mick really told Kelly, when he first got in the band, that he had to study me, because he sings those songs with the same musical innuendos and vocal licks and ad-libs as I have. He’s mimicking me.”
Gramm added, “I don’t take it as a compliment. You’re a singer with a big band like that — use your voice and your style. Don’t hang your coat on my hook.”
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