Personalities | Foreigner | Eighties | Rock

(Vocal/instrumental group, 1976–present)

These AOR giants established themselves in 1977 with their eponymous debut album and single ‘Feels Like The First Time’, which both reached No. 4 in the US. The band was founded by Englishman Mick Jones (guitar) with Lou Gramm’s dramatic tenor vocals to the fore. The original line-up was completed by Ian McDonald (guitar, keyboards), Al Greenwood (keyboards, replaced by Rick Wills, 1979), Ed Gagliardi (bass) and Dennis Elliott (drums). Further hits such as ‘Cold As Ice’ and ‘Double Vision’ piled up in America, then 1981’s 4 attained the UK Top 5. Their monster smash, the mother of all power ballads ‘I Want To Know What Love Is’ arrived in 1984. But Gramm was getting restless; he cut a solo album and then left officially. Johnny Edwards filled his shoes, but it was clear that the band’s days as the US’s top melodic rock outfit were over, even when Gramm returned in the mid-1990s; he left again in 2003.

Styles & Forms | Eighties | Rock
Personalities | Frankie Goes To Hollywood | Eighties | Rock

Source: The Definitive Illustrated Encyclopedia of Rock, general editor Michael Heatley

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