A singer from Upstate New York is opening up about why he left his classic rock band two decades ago.
Lou Gramm, the original voice of Foreigner, reportedly told Sirius XM’s Classic Rewind in a new interview that he was frustrated while trying to work on new music with bandmate Mick Jones in 2003. The band hadn’t released a new album in nearly a decade, but Gramm thought they “put some really, really good ideas together.”
“I think we had about seven songs complete. And we were hoping to finish with about three or four more songs and put out a new Foreigner album,” Gramm told SiriusXM. “[Mick is] the founder of the band, he’s the leader of the band, but he wasn’t necessarily doing the job the way he used to do it, and he was suppressing a lot of my creativity.”
“‘Just sing your parts, Lou.’ And after contributing to just about every hit song that the band had released in 20-some years, to be reduced to just a non-creative part, just the singer, didn’t sit well with me.”
Gramm, who also left Foreigner in 1990 before giving the band another chance, said he finally decided to quit for good after a series of concerts in Brussels, Belgium, in 2002. After flying back to America, he told management he was leaving the group.
“‘Why? What could be wrong? Everything’s going so good,’” Gramm recalled being asked. “I said, ‘It’s not going good.’ I said, ‘I’m being shut out creatively, which is extremely important to me.’ I said, ‘I’m not just a singer. I’m a songwriter.’ I said, ‘And I always have been, even before Foreigner.’ So I left the band. And I’ve never had any regrets about it since.”
Most of the songs Gramm and Jones were working on at the time have never seen the light of day, but one of those collaborations, “Turning Back the Time,” was released earlier this year. The song, originally crafted in 1996 with Gramm’s vocals, appears on a new Foreigner compilation album to celebrate the band’s induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and a farewell tour that’s been extended into 2025.
Jones is the only original member of Foreigner who is currently part of the band, though he no longer tours due to Parkinson’s disease. Jones did not appear at Foreigner’s Rock Hall induction last month, but Gramm did, reuniting with keyboardist Al Greenwood and bassist Rick Wills; drummer Dennis Elliott and late members Ian McDonald and Ed Gagliardi were also inducted.
Gramm, a Rochester native who currently lives in Webster, N.Y., pursued a solo career after leaving the group. But he still remains best known as the voice of Foreigner hits like “Hot Blooded,” “I Want to Know What Love Is,” “Feels Like the First Time,” and “Cold as Ice.”
Gramm previously said he plans to retire at the end of the year, but is reportedly in talks to make appearances at “select” tour dates with Foreigner’s current lineup next year. The band has one Upstate New York concert scheduled for June 6, 2025, at the Erie County Fair.
