Foreigner is a hard rock band
formed in New York City in
1976 by veteran musicians Mick
Jones and ex-King Crimson
member Ian McDonald, along
with then-unknown vocalist Lou
Gramm (Louis Grammatico).
Foreigner has sold more than
50 million albums worldwide
[1] (including over 30 million
in the USA alone).

The band is led
more

Foreigner is a hard rock band
formed in New York City in
1976 by veteran musicians Mick
Jones and ex-King Crimson
member Ian McDonald, along
with then-unknown vocalist Lou
Gramm (Louis Grammatico).
Foreigner has sold more than
50 million albums worldwide
[1] (including over 30 million
in the USA alone).

The band is led by British
journeyman rocker Mick Jones
(former member of Nero and the
Gladiators, Spooky Tooth, and
The Leslie West Band) who in
early 1976 met with ex-King
Crimson member Ian McDonald
and formed Foreigner with Lou
Gramm, Dennis Elliott, Al
Greenwood, and Ed Gagliardi as
a sextet. Jones came up with
the name from the fact that
he, McDonald, and Elliott were
British, while Gramm,
Greenwood, and Gagliardi were
Americans. [2]
The band's debut album
Foreigner sold more than four
million copies in the United
States and stayed in the Top
20 for a year with such hits
as 'Feels Like the First
Time', 'Cold as Ice', and
'Long Long Way From Home'.
Their second album, Double
Vision, topped their previous
selling five million records
and spawning 'Hot Blooded',
and title track 'Double
Vision'. Their third album,
Head Games, which was referred
to by Gramm as their
'grainiest' album, was also
successful due to the
thunderous 'Dirty White Boy'
and another title track hit
'Head Games'.
1980 brought personnel
changes. Al Greenwood and Ed
Gagliardi departed the band to
form S.P.Y.S with John Blanco,
Billy Milne, and John
DiGaudio. Rick Wills was
brought on board to fill the
vacancy on bass left by Ed
Gagliardi. Foreigner's next
album, aptly named 4, was
their biggest hit containing
'Juke Box Hero', 'Waiting for
a Girl Like You', and
'Urgent'. Their next album,
Agent Provocateur, was
released successfully in late
1984, and gave them their
first and only #1 hit in 1985
(in U.S., UK, Australia,
Norway, Sweden, etc.), 'I Want
to Know What Love Is', a
gospel-inspired ballad backed
by the New Jersey Mass Choir.
In the late 1980s, Jones and
Gramm each put out solo
efforts and the band went on
hiatus. But in 1987 Foreigner
regrouped and released Inside
Information; spawning hits
such as 'Say You Will' and 'I
Don't Want To Live Without
You'. But then, reportedly due
to the egos of Gramm and
Jones, the band dissolved
again .
In 1990, Mick Jones reformed
Foreigner with a new lead
vocalist, Johnny Edwards. This
edition of Foreigner released
the album Unusual Heat in
1991. This was at the time
their worst selling album and
only climbed as high as #117
on the Billboard 200, although
'Lowdown and Dirty' was a
minor mainstream rock hit,
reaching #4 on the chart.
[Info courtesy: wikipedia.org]

Category Entertainment

Tags Foreigner, 70s, 80s, Juke, Box, Hero