Lou Gramm Approached To Take Part In 2025 Foreigner Tour

11-23-2024

Original Foreigner frontman Lou Gramm revealed that he was asked to take part in some shows with the current incarnation of the band next year. The group are extending their farewell tour in the wake of their induction into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame earlier this year.

Gramm has previously expressed his interest in retiring at the end of this year, and explained during an appearance on Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk on SiriusXM why he is reluctant to take part in the Foreigner tour as a special guest.

He explained, "Foreigner's management asked me, Phil Carson asked me if I would be interested in doing some shows with the band. And I said, 'Well, I said I'm ending my band at the end of June because I don't wanna be on the road anymore. I'm not sure, whether I'm out with my band or your band, it's still on the road.'"

Gramm elaborated, "I just don't feel like I wanna travel. I'm not sure that the world is a safe place to be touring right now in the way that the state of the world is. So, I don't know. I don't get a real good feeling about doing that. If it was just the States, I would consider it. So, I know we're gonna talk. I also wanna know what my compensation would be. If I put an end to my touring for my career, it wouldn't be really an end if I was gonna pick up and go out with the new Foreigner for a Foreigner farewell tour.

"I'm not exactly sure how I feel about it. It would be much more interesting to me if it was members of the original Foreigner with augmented instrumentation, like another guitar player or something, rather than go out with another band that calls themselves Foreigner. I have a tough time wrapping my head around that."

There also seems to be a stinking point over which songs he would sing with the group as a special guest if he takes part. When Truck asked him which songs he would like to perform, Gramm responded, "Well, I asked Phil, and he was talking about me doing about five songs. And I says, 'Well, I'd like to do 'Jukebox Hero'.' And he goes, 'I'm not sure about that.' I says, 'I definitely wanna do 'I Want To Know What Love Is'.' And he said, 'I don't think so, no.' And I says, 'Well, I definitely would like to do...'. I can't remember what other song it was, but he goes, 'Hmm, I don't know about that.' So, it sounds as if he talked to Kelly [Hansen -current vocalist] about it and Kelly made his claims on certain songs. I couldn't do 'Hot Blooded'.

"Every song I suggested that I would like to do, he told me he didn't think so. I think he told me what I couldn't sing. And then I would just have to pick from what's left. Mind you, there's a lot of great songs that are left, but there's particular songs that are my trademark songs, and if I can't sing 'em, I don't wanna be out on the road... I suggested four songs, maybe five songs, and he says, 'Not that one. No, I don't think so.' S

"o, I just stopped there, because I figured I could keep going for a while and he would keep telling me the same thing. It would be, 'I don't think so, Lou.' 'Pick another one, Lou,' blah, blah, blah, blah. I mean, how do I pick songs that I helped to make famous, and he's telling me, 'Not that one.'"