Foreigner is an American rock band from New York City. Formed in 1976, the group originally included lead vocalist Lou Gramm, lead guitarist, keyboardist and vocalist Mick Jones, rhythm guitarist and woodwind player Ian McDonald, bassist Ed Gagliardi, drummer Dennis Elliott, and keyboardist Al Greenwood.
The band's current lineup includes lead vocalist Kelly Hansen (since 2005), lead guitarist, keyboardist and vocalist Mick Jones (since 1976, and the only remaining original member), bassist Jeff Pilson (since 2004), keyboardist Michael Bluestein (since 2008), rhythm and lead guitarist Bruce Watson (since 2011), drummer Chris Frazier (since 2012), and rhythm guitarist Luis Maldonado (since 2021).[1]
Foreigner was formed in April 1976 by former Leslie West Band guitarist Mick Jones, with the original lineup also including former Black Sheep vocalist Lou Gramm, former King Crimson keyboardist and woodwind player Ian McDonald, bassist Ed Gagliardi, former Ian Hunter drummer Dennis Elliott, and keyboardist Al Greenwood.[2] After two albums – 1977's Foreigner and 1978's Double Vision – Gagliardi left the band in April 1979 and was replaced by Rick Wills, formerly of Small Faces.[3] Following the release and promotion of 1979's Head Games, McDonald and Greenwood were fired in September 1980.[4] The group remained a quartet and released 4 in 1981.[5] For the album's promotional tour, McDonald's vacated spot was taken by Mark Rivera, while Bob Mayo and Peter Reilich performed live keyboards.[4] Foreigner's lineup remained the same for Agent Provocateur and Inside Information, before Gramm announced his departure from the band in May 1990 due to differences with Jones and to focus on his solo career.[6]
Jones replaced Gramm with Johnny Edwards, formerly of Montrose, Buster Brown, King Kobra, and Wild Horses, who contributed to the group's next album, Unusual Heat.[7] Keyboardist Jeff Jacobs joined after the album's release.[8] The Unusual Heat touring cycle was the last for Elliott, who left the band in 1993.[9] The drummer had ceased working with the group in 1991, with Larry Aberman filling in on tour, before Mark Schulman joined in early 1992 in time to perform on three new tracks for The Very Best ... and Beyond.[10] The new recordings also marked the return of Gramm, who rejoined Foreigner in May 1992 after working out his differences with Jones during the Los Angeles riots; he also brought his own bassist Bruce Turgon to replace the outgoing Wills.[11] For a tour in promotion of the compilation, Thom Gimbel joined on guitar and saxophone, before Scott Gilman took over the following year when Gimbel returned to touring with Aerosmith.[12] The group released and promoted its next album, Mr. Moonlight, in 1994.[13]
After the end of the Mr. Moonlight touring cycle, Gilman left Foreigner and Gimbel returned in his place.[12] Around the same time, in January 1995, Schulman was replaced by Ron Wikso on drums.[14] The group continued touring, but did not release any new material before Brian Tichy replaced Wikso in April 1998.[15] [16] Schulman returned for a second stint in 2000, before Denny Carmassi took over in time for the group's 25th anniversary tour in 2002.[17] After the tour ended in early 2003, Gramm and Turgon left Foreigner, and the band was put on hiatus for over a year.[18] Jones, now the sole remaining original member of the group, reformed Foreigner for a one-off charity show in July 2004 with a lineup including Gimbel and Jacobs, plus vocalist Chas West, bassist Jeff Pilson and drummer Jason Bonham.[19] [20] Early the following year, the group reformed on a permanent basis, adding new frontman Kelly Hansen in place of West.[21] The group's lineup remained stable until December 2007, when long-time member Jacobs left.[8]
Jacobs was replaced for Foreigner's final shows of 2007 by Paul Mirkovich,[22] who later made way for Michael Bluestein in early 2008.[23] Bonham also left in August 2008,[24] to be replaced briefly by Bryan Head[25] and later by the returning Tichy.[26] Foreigner released its first studio album in 15 years, Can't Slow Down, in 2009.[27] After the subsequent touring cycle, Jason Sutter took over from Tichy in May 2010,[28] although within a year he had been replaced by Schulman.[29] During a tour in 2011, Jones was unable to perform a number of shows due to undisclosed reasons; he was replaced by Joel Hoekstra and later Bruce Watson for select dates, the latter of whom remained a full-time member of the group.[30] Schulman left again in August 2012, with Tichy filling in before Chris Frazier's arrival the next month.[31]
In recent years, Foreigner has reunited on several occasions with numerous past members. In July 2017, Lou Gramm, Al Greenwood and Ian McDonald performed a three-song encore with the current lineup of the group.[32] In October, the same three alumni returned to perform five songs and join the current lineup for an encore of two more, in addition to Rick Wills and Dennis Elliott.[33] Late the following year, the reunions expanded into a series of four special shows featuring all aforementioned past members, dubbed "Double Vision: Then and Now".[34]
In 2021, Thom Gimbel retired from the band[35] and was replaced by former Train guitarist Luis Maldonaldo. In 2023, Foreigner started its farewell tour, with founding (and last remaining original member) Mick Jones again absent for health reasons.[36]
| Image | Name | Years active | Instruments | Release contributions | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mick Jones | 1976–present [37] [38] | all Foreigner releases | |||
| Jeff Pilson | 2004–present | [39] | all Foreigner releases from Extended Versions (2006)[40] onwards, except Live at the Rainbow '78 (2019) | ||
| Kelly Hansen | 2005–present | ||||
| Michael Bluestein | 2008–present | all Foreigner releases from Can't Slow Down (2009)[41] onwards, except Live at the Rainbow '78 (2019) | |||
| Bruce Watson | 2011–present | all Foreigner releases from The Best of Foreigner 4 & More (2014)[42] onwards, except Live at the Rainbow '78 (2019) | |||
| Chris Frazier | 2012–present | ||||
| Luis Maldonado | 2021–present | none to date |
| Image | Name | Years active | Instruments | Release contributions | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dennis Elliott | 1976–1993 | [43] | |||
| Lou Gramm | [44] [45] [46] | ||||
| Ian McDonald | 1976–1980 | ||||
| Al Greenwood | 1976–1980 [47] | ||||
| Ed Gagliardi | 1976–1979 | ||||
| Rick Wills | 1979–1991 | all Foreigner releases from Head Games (1979) to Classic Hits Live (1993) | |||
| Johnny Edwards | 1990–1992 | Unusual Heat (1991) | |||
| Jeff Jacobs | 1991–2007 | [48] [49] | |||
| Mark Schulman | [50] | ||||
| Thom Gimbel | all Foreigner releases from All Access Tonight: Live in Concert 25 (2003) to Live in Concert (2019),[51] except Live at the Rainbow '78 (2019) | ||||
| Bruce Turgon | 1992–2003 | ||||
| Scott Gilman | 1993–1995 | ||||
| Ron Wikso | 1995–1998 | drums | none | ||
| Brian Tichy | Can't Slow Down (2009) | ||||
| Denny Carmassi | 2002–2003 | drums | All Access Tonight: Live in Concert 25 (2003) | ||
| Jason Bonham | 2004–2008 | all Foreigner releases from Extended Versions (2006) to Can't Slow Down (2009) | |||
| Chas West | 2004 | lead vocals | none | ||
| Paul Mirkovich | 2007–2008 | keyboards | |||
| Bryan Head | 2008 | drums | |||
| Jason Sutter | 2010–2011 | Can't Slow Down ... When It's Live! (2010)[52] |
| Image | Name | Years active | Instruments | Details | Release contributions |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ian Wallace | 1977 | drums | Wallace performed alongside Elliott, who had broken his right hand, during select tour dates throughout 1977.[53] | ||
| Mark Rivera | Rivera, Mayo and Reilich all joined the touring group in 1981, Rivera and Mayo contributed to multiple studio albums. |
| |||
| Bob Mayo | 1981–1988 |
| |||
| Peter Reilich | 1981–1982 | keyboards | none | ||
| Larry Oakes | 1988 | Oakes and Cortelezzi took over from Rivera and Mayo, who were temporarily unavailable, during a tour in 1988.[56] | |||
| Lou Cortelezzi | saxophone | ||||
| Larry Aberman | 1991–1992 | drums | Aberman filled in for Elliott following his departure in November 1991, before Schulman arrived the next year. | ||
| John Purdell | 2000 | Purdell, who produced several songs for the band, performed with Foreigner on the Jukebox Hero Tour 2000.[57] | |||
| Doug Aldrich | 2010 | lead guitar | Aldrich performed with Foreigner on May 22, 2010, at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Paradise, Nevada.[58] | ||
| Joel Hoekstra | 2011 | Hoekstra filled in for Jones, unavailable due to illness, during a 2011 tour with his other group Night Ranger.[59] | |||
| Ollie Marland | 2012 | keyboards | After taking a leave of absence due to cancer, Bluestein was temporarily replaced by Marland and then Hilland.[60] [61] | ||
| Derek Hilland | 2012–2013 | ||||
| Image | Name | Years active | Instruments | Release contributions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ian Lloyd | backing vocals | |||
| David Paich | 1977–1978 | string arrangements | Double Vision (1978) | |
| Hugh McCracken | ||||
| Larry Fast | synthesizers | |||
| Thomas Dolby | 1980–1981 | 4 (1981) | ||
| Michael Fonfara | 1980–1981 | keyboard textures | ||
| 1980–1981 | saxophone | |||
| Robert John "Mutt" Lange | 1980–1981 | backing vocals | ||
| 1983–1984 | Agent Provocateur (1984) | |||
| Joe Leeway | ||||
| Don Harper | ||||
| New Jersey Mass Choir of the GMWA | ||||
| analog and digital synthesizers | ||||
| Brian Eddolls | synthesizers | |||
| Dave Lebolt | ||||
| 1983–1984 | ||||
| Kevin Jones | 1987 | Synclavier | Inside Information (1987) | |
| Sammy Merendino | electronic percussion | |||
| Peter-John Vettese | keyboards | |||
| Richard Cottle | 1990 | Unusual Heat (1991) | ||
| Tony Beard | electronic percussion | |||
| Felix Krish | bass | |||
| Rachele Cappelli | backing vocals | |||
| Angela Cappelli | ||||
| Lani Groves | ||||
| Tawatha Agee | 1993–1994 | Mr. Moonlight (1994) | ||
| Randy Cantor | ||||
| lead guitar | ||||
| additional guitars | ||||
| Luis Enriques | percussion | |||
| Marti Frederiksen | 2009 | Can't Slow Down (2009) | ||
| keyboards | ||||
| Ryan Brown | drums | |||
| Jason Paige | backing vocals | |||
| Suzie McNeil |
| Period | Members | Releases |
|---|---|---|
| April 1976 – April 1979 |
|
|
| April 1979 – September 1980 |
|
|
| September 1980 – May 1990 |
|
|
| Summer 1990 – July 1991 |
|
|
| July – November 1991 |
| rowspan="3" |
| November 1991 – March 1992 |
| |
| March – May 1992 |
| |
| May – October 1992 |
|
|
| October 1992 – spring 1993 |
| |
| Spring 1993 – early 1995 |
|
|
| January 1995 – April 1998 |
| rowspan="3" |
| April 1998 – summer 2000 |
| |
| Summer 2000 – early 2002 |
| |
| May 2002 – early 2003 |
|
|
| Band on hiatus early 2003 – July 2004 | ||
| July 2004 |
| |
| March 2005 – December 2007 |
|
|-!scope="col"|December 2007 – early 2008|
|rowspan="3" |-!scope="col"|Early – August 2008|
|-!scope="col"|August – late 2008|
|-!scope="col"|Late 2008 – May 2010|
|
|-!scope="col"|May 2010 – March 2011|
| |-!scope="col"|March – September 2011|
|
|-!scope="col"|September 2011 – August 2012|
||-!scope="col"|September 2012 – May 2021|
|
|-!scope="col"|May 2021 – present |
||} External links |