Lou Gramm Details Foreigner 40th-Anniversary Reunion: Original Bandmates Will Perform Together At Select Shows

Lou Gramm knows where love is: On stage with his former Foreigner bandmates. The ex-Foreigner frontman called into Eddie Trunk’s Sirius radio show to talk about the upcoming 40th-anniversary tour for the band that recorded such ’70s/’80s hits as “Hot Blooded,” “Cold as Ice,” “Jukebox Hero,” and “I Want to Know What Love Is.” Lou Gramm was the lead singer of Foreigner from 1976 to 2003 (with the exception of a two-year hiatus in the early 1990s), and Kelly Hansen has fronted the group since 2005.

While Mick Jones is the only original member of Foreigner currently working in the band today, Lou Gramm has now revealed that he and the other founding members of Foreigner will join the current lineup to perform “half a dozen songs” at some of the dates on the band’s upcoming tour. Lou did not reveal at which shows he will reunite with Mick Jones, Ian McDonald, and Al Greenwood, but he made it clear that he would prefer to perform with them rather than with the musicians in Jones’ current Foreigner lineup.

“Mick and I have talked about it at length,” Gramm told Trunk Nation.

“I think there’s a number of the original band members that still play their instruments, and I think that if I make an appearance, it will be with the rest of the band, the original band. And we’ll do half a dozen songs and then maybe do some things with his band.”

Lou Gramm went on to say that while he would be okay with doing “a song or two” with the current incarnation of Foreigner, he feels it’s more appropriate to play with the original members considering they are celebrating the band’s 40th anniversary.

“I would feel a lot better with the original members around me,” Lou said. “I just would think it’s appropriate, given what we’re celebrating.”

While he could not reveal the names of the exact cities or venues that the foursome will play at, Lou Gramm confirmed they would make a cameo at a Foreigner few shows this summer and a few more in the fall.

“I think we’re talking about maybe six shows, seven shows total,” Lou said. “And they’ll all be in the States, as far as I know. And the original members, [including] myself and Mick, of course, will perform thirty-five, forty minutes, maybe we’ll do seven or eight songs.”

Gramm said Jones’ current Foreigner lineup will finish out the show, but he teased that there could be “some sort of a jam session with all the members on stage” for the encore.

Earlier this year, Foreigner leader Mick Jones announced that the group’s 40th-anniversary tour would include former members Gramm, McDonald, and Greenwood on select dates, but he did not give any further details.

“They’re not on the whole tour, but there will be some appearances,” Jones told Billboard in January. “It’s the right time to do this.”

Lou and Mick were estranged for more than a decade, but they patched things up after both being accepted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2013 and performing together at the ceremony.

Foreigner fans will want to catch the band’s 40th-anniversary tour. It may be the last time ever to see Lou Gramm and Mick Jones play together. Jones has already admitted he “can’t do this forever,” telling Billboard he’s realistic about the prospects for a 50th-anniversary tour in 10 years when he will be in his 80s.

“It’s had a marvelous run and at some point, it will be time to hang it up,” he said. “But it’s not what I’m thinking of right now. I’m just very excited for what’s ahead this year.”

You can listen to Lou Gramm singing one of the biggest hits from Foreigner’s heyday in the video below.

Foreigner will kick off their 40th-anniversary summer tour on July 11 in Syracuse, New York and it runs through September 9 in Auburn, Washington.

[Featured Image by Rick Diamond/Getty Images for IEBA]