Lou Gramm: The Voice of Foreigner with Orchestra

Lou Gramm became the lead singer of one of the most influential bands of the late 1970s and 1980s, known as Foreigner. Circus magazine in 1978, upon release of “Hot Blooded”, commented that Lou Gramm had a voice that Robert Plant might envy. His unique vocals have made Foreigner one of Billboard’s Top 100 Artists of All Time in hit songs history.

Gramm was the lead vocalist on all of Foreigner’s hit songs, including “Feels Like the First Time”, “Cold as Ice”, “Long, Long Way from Home”, “Hot Blooded”, “Double Vision”, “Blue Morning, Blue Day”, “Head Games”, “Dirty White Boy”, “Urgent”, “Juke Box Hero”, “Break It Up” and “Say You Will”. He co-wrote most of the songs for the band, which achieved two of its biggest hits with the ballads “Waiting for a Girl Like You”, which spent ten weeks at #2 on the 1981-82 American Hot 100, and “I Want to Know What Love Is”, which was a #1 hit internationally (US & UK) in 1985. Their first 8 singles cracked the Billboard Top 20,(4 went Top 10) making them the first group since the Beatles to achieve this in 1980. Gramm also went on to perform the wildly successful Double Vision,Head Games, and 4.

By 1987, Foreigner struggled with ongoing internal conflicts. During this period, Gramm released his first solo album, Ready or Not, which received critical acclaim and contained a top five hit single with “Midnight Blue”. This was followed by the late-1987 Foreigner album Inside Information, which reached number 15 on Billboard’s album chart. The extracted “Say You Will” was released late that year, reaching number 6 on the Hot 100 early in 1988, and “I Don’t Want to Live Without You” followed, reaching number 5 on the Hot 100 and number one on the adult contemporary chart in the spring. A third single, “Heart Turns to Stone” reached number 56 in the summer. Eventually a second solo effort, Long Hard Look, that included the top ten hit, “Just Between You and Me”, and “True Blue Love”, reached the Top 40. Gramm also contributed a song to the soundtrack for the 1987 movie The Lost Boys, titled “Lost in the Shadows.” Encouraged by his solo success, Gramm left the group in 1990 to form Shadow King with close friend and former Black Sheep bassist Bruce Turgon.

Gramm has been touring the U.S., Canada, and Mexico (as well as performing occasional dates off the continent) steadily since January 2004. As of 2013, Lou Gramm continues to tour with his band, performing many of his old Foreigner hits. In May 2013, Triumph Books released Gramm’s autobiography Juke Box Hero: My Five Decades in Rock ‘n’ Roll. See him perform live with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra with guest conductor Brent Havens.

Website: http://www.lougramm.com/