Foreigner

The British-American arena rock band of Mick Jones and Lou Gramm, whose 1981 album 4 holds "Waiting for a Girl Like You".

Six players, a new name

Foreigner formed in New York in 1976 after Mick Jones's Leslie West Band collapsed, with John Kalodner of Atlantic helping to secure the deal. Jones proposed the name because the band had British and American members, so at least three would be foreign in any country they played. The original line-up was Lou Gramm on vocals, Jones on guitar, Dennis Elliott on drums, Al Greenwood on keyboards, Ian McDonald, formerly of King Crimson, on multiple instruments and Ed Gagliardi on bass. Rick Wills replaced Gagliardi for Head Games (1979). Greenwood and McDonald were dismissed in September 1980, leaving a quartet of Gramm, Jones, Wills and Elliott with session and touring players. Wikipedia counts over 80 million records sold, 38 million in the US. Albums include Foreigner (March 1977, 4 in the US), Double Vision (June 1978, 3), Head Games (September 1979), 4 (July 1981, number 1), Agent Provocateur (December 1984, 4 in the US and number 1 in the UK) and Inside Information (December 1987). "I Want to Know What Love Is" (1985) was number 1 in the US, UK, Canada and Australia, their biggest hit.

Gramm left in May 1990 to form Shadow King; Johnny Edwards sang from 1990 to 1992, and Gramm returned in 1992 with Bruce Turgon on bass, then left again in early 2003. Kelly Hansen joined as singer in March 2005, with Jeff Pilson on bass from 2004, Michael Bluestein on keyboards from 2008, Bruce Watson on guitar from 2011 and Chris Frazier on drums from 2012. Can't Slow Down came on September 29, 2009. Jones and Gramm entered the Songwriters Hall of Fame in June 2013, and Foreigner was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2024, introduced by Sammy Hagar, with Gramm singing. Jones produced Van Halen's 5150 and Bad Company's Fame and Fortune. A farewell tour announced in November 2022 ran through 2023 and 2024, and a Celebrating 50 Years tour continues, with Setlist.fm showing dates into 2027. Hansen announced his departure in May 2025 and Luis Maldonado became lead vocalist. Setlist.fm lists 3,043 setlists.

Gagliardi died on May 11, 2014 aged 62 and McDonald on February 9, 2022 aged 75.