In a new interview with Chile’s Radio Futuro, FOREIGNER bassist Jeff Pilson and guitarist/vocalist Luis Maldonado spoke about the band’s upcoming Latin American tour which will see the legendary rockers reunited with their original singer Lou Gramm. Jeff said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “We’re very excited to have Lou with us. The fact that he’s decided to appear as a special guest with us is just an incredible thing. He’s been very, very supportive.””Something happened at [FOREIGNER’s] Rock [And Roll] Hall [Of Fame induction last fall] where something happened and we all kind of came together,” Pilson explained. “There was almost like a meeting of the minds and we all kind of realized FOREIGNER is bigger than all of us. It’s a power bigger than all of us. It’s the music that we’ve all tapped into, we’re all a small part of it, but we’re all part of this greater whole. And the fact that he’s coming down as a special guest to sing four songs with us is pretty amazing. And the other thing is, he loves [Luis], and he’s been so supportive and so endorsing of [Luis] singing the rest of the set. It’s just been wonderful. We wanna pinch ourselves. We just feel so fortunate that we have this opportunity.” Pilson also talked about the FOREIGNER stage musical “Juke Box Hero”, saying: “We know that it had a nice successful run in Canada a couple years ago, and they’re revamping it. And one of the reasons we’re [touring] Canada later in the year is that we do wanna promote the musical. And we’ll be having Geordie Brown who was the singer in the musical a few years ago in Canada. He’s gonna be guesting with us on a few songs up in Canada. And the reason we’re doing that is to promote the musical. I believe it’s coming out somewhere in the States next year. I think it’s September. But, again, that’s one of the many things that we’re working on. And, yeah, that’s part of the big plan.” Pilson went on to discuss the upcoming reissue of FOREIGNER’s fourth album, “4”, which was originally released in 1981 via Atlantic. The LP featured such hit singles as “Urgent”, “Waiting for A Girl Like You” and “Juke Box Hero” and sold over six million copies in the U.S. alone. He said: “To FOREIGNER fans, they kind of consider it the pinnacle. It was just an incredible masterpiece of a record. I mean, it’s a record where every song is great and most FOREIGNER fans relate to everything on there. So it’s a very important record for FOREIGNER fans. But wait till you hear this record coming out. It’s pretty amazing. Atmos remixes of FOREIGNER ‘4’, which are stellar. Actually, Luis and I got to hear the Atmos remixes with Lou Gramm a few weeks ago, which was pretty amazing. It was really fun getting to listen to that, with Lou, hearing it for the first time. It was amazing. He was just floored by what was happening. So the Atmos remixes alone are worth the price of admission. There’s stereo remixes, there’s a live show from 1982. And check this out — this is pretty cool. We found an unfinished song in all the files. The song had one verse in it, and Lou had sung one verse and he sang the chorus. And it was great, but it was only one verse. He was mumbling the second verse. So we called Lou. We said, ‘What do you think about finishing and singing the song?’ So he said, ‘Absolutely.’ He wrote and finished two verses and sang them. He added cowbell. And we have now a new, old FOREIGNER song that will be on the FOREIGNER ‘4’ release coming out in September. The song is called ‘Fool If You Love Him’, and it came out great.”Gramm talked about “Fool If You Love Him” during a recent interview with Billboard, saying: “For every FOREIGNER album, we always recorded three or four songs more than we needed, and we usually chose 10 songs and rest were either done or almost done but were excellent. They fall by the wayside on times like this. There doesn’t seem to ever be a lack of material.”Last year, FOREIGNER released “Turning Back The Time”, an archived 1996 track featuring Gramm on vocals, as part of a new compilation of the same name.Gramm most recently joined FOREIGNER’s current lineup on stage at the end of the band’s March 15 concert at the BayCare Sound in Clearwater, Florida to perform two of the legendary rock group’s classic songs, “I Want To Know What Love Is” and “Hot Blooded”.Gramm previously said he planned to retire at the end of 2024, but later revealed that he was in talks to make appearances at “select” tour dates with FOREIGNER’s current lineup in 2025. Bassist Rick Wills and drummer Dennis Elliott are also expected to appear at some shows, including FOREIGNER’s upcoming Las Vegas residency.Gramm was the voice on FOREIGNER’s biggest hits, including “Feels Like The First Time” and “Cold As Ice” from the band’s eponymous debut in 1977, and later songs like “Hot Blooded” and “I Want to Know What Love Is”.The 74-year-old Gramm left FOREIGNER for good in 2002 and has battled health issues in recent years, including the removal of a non-cancerous tumor. He told the Democrat & Chronicle in 2018 that he was planning to retire, but still reunited with FOREIGNER for several shows that year.FOREIGNER replaced Gramm with Kelly Hansen in 2005. Guitarist Mick Jones, the only remaining original member of FOREIGNER, suffered from some health issues beginning in 2011, eventually resulting in heart surgery in 2012. In February 2024, Jones revealed on social media that he was battling Parkinson’s disease, which explained his absence from FOREIGNER’s live shows since 2022.[embedded content]
