Foreigner

While quite a few arena rock acts of the '70s found the transformation into the '80s quite difficult, Foreigner has continued their commercial success. Their self-titled debut was issued in 1977 and became an immediate hit on the strength of the hit singles "Feels Like the First Time," "Long, Long Way From Home," and "Cold As Ice," as the album would eventually go platinum five times over. Foreigner avoided the dreaded sophomore slump with an even stronger follow-up release, 1978's Double Vision, which spawned such further hit singles as "Hot Blooded" and its title track, and the album stayed in the Top Ten for a solid six months. As a result, the album's success established the sextet as an arena headliner and would go on to become Foreigner's best-selling album of their career (selling seven million copies in the U.S. alone by 2001). The group's third release overall, Head Games, followed in 1979. While the album was another big seller, both Gramm and Jones felt that the album failed to break any new ground, something that they sought to correct on their next album. The band's lineup was cut back to just a quartet as super-producer Mutt Lange as enlisted to oversee the proceedings. The ploy worked and the resulting 1981 release, 4, was another massive seller, spawning such further hit singles as "Urgent", "Jukebox Hero," and "Waiting for a Girl Like You." In 1982, a stopgap best-of set, Records, was released and featured ten of band's biggest hit singles, remaining a steady seller to this day. It took Foreigner three years to complete a follow-up to 4 with Agent Provocateur being issued in 1984. The band made the transition to the MTV video age without a hitch with the over-the-top, gospel-inflected ballad "I Want to Know What Love Is" becoming one of the biggest MTV and radio hits that year. After a mammoth nine-month tour wrapped up a year later, both Jones and Gramm focused on non-Foreigner projects during 1986. The release of both Gramm's solo album, Ready or Not, as well as Foreigner's sixth studio album overall, Inside Information, came in 1987. While both were successful and spawned Top Ten hits, tension between Gramm and Jones came to a head regarding the singer's desire to focus on his solo career, which led to Gramm's split from Foreigner in 1989. Jones, Elliot, and Wills tried to keep Foreigner afloat with a new singer, Johnny Edwards, issuing a largely ignored album in 1991, Unusual Heat, while Gramm faired no better with a new outfit, Shadow King, issuing a forgotten self-titled debut the same year. Seeing the error in their split, both Jones and Gramm listened to the advice of Atlantic Records and reunited for the recording of three all-new tracks to be included on a more extensive "hits" collection. Issued in 1992, the 17-track The Very Best... And Beyond was Foreigner's most commercially successful release in several years along with the band's first live release, Classic Hits Live, issued a year later.
The Gramm/Jones reunion soon turned permanent and new members Bruce Turgon (bass) and Jeff Jacobs (keyboards) were welcomed on board. The latest version of Foreigner issued an all-new studio recording in 1995, Mr. Moonlight. In 1999, the singer was well enough for Foreigner to team up with Journey for a summer tour. The early 21st century saw the release of several archival collections courtesy of the Rhino label: a pair of additional collections, Jukebox Heroes: The Foreigner Anthology and Complete Greatest Hits, as well as reissues of the group's self-titled debut and 4, both of which included extra bonus tracks. ~ Greg Prato, All Music Guide

Contact a Foreigner Agent now to book Foreigner to appear at your next corporate, private or special event!

Previous | Next

*Please Note: Headline Entertainment will not respond to inquiries related to any of the following (sorry, no exceptions):

• Upcoming public appearances of artists on this site.
• Contact info for artists or requests to fwd messages.
• Artist's TV, stage or film projects or representation.
• Invitations to appear to accept awards, etc.
• Requests for artists to donate items for auctions, etc.
• Media requests for print, radio or TV interviews.
• Non-paying or expenses only fundraisers.
• We will not forward jokes, songs, screenplays, etc.

*Headline Entertainment, LLC, the booking agent working on your behalf, acts only as an entertainment broker/producer for corporate functions, private engagements and special events and does not claim or represent itself as the exclusive booking agent, booking agency or management of any artist on this website.

___________________________________