Four decades success in the music industry is an unbelievable achievement for a band.  Few can survive, let alone thrive.  Click the video link to listen to frontman Kelly Hansen’s insight into Foreigner’s legendary success, the band’s 40th Anniversary tour and their new Rhino release.  Great insights into the music and their landmark tour with Rock’n Roll Hall of Famers’ Cheap Trick and Jason Bonham, son of legendary Led Zeppelin drummer John Bonham.

Music fans will appreciate the passion Foreigner has for supporting young musicians though school music programs.  Foreigner has a long-standing partnership with the GRAMMY Museum, by which local school choirs are invited to join the band on stage in almost every market they play. Through this program over the past several years, the band has raised well into the six figures for music in school programs, and given thousands of students the once-in-a-lifetime experience to rock on stage with one of the most well known bands of all time.  After winning a contest hosted by Z98.9, Sylvan Lake’s HJ Cody High School Choir will be joining Foreigner on stage Friday night!  Here’s the successful audition… 

Kelly Hansen has been instrumental in the band’s evolution since 2002. One of rock’s greatest showmen, Hansen is known for his innate ability to connect with the crowds.  As a front man and lead vocalist, Hansen is among the most respected, consummate professionals in rock and roll. Kelly has a 35-year career that spans almost every area of music, from the role of lead vocalist to producing and engineering.

Since the 1977 release of their first hit “Feels Like The First Time” and their self-titled debut album on Atlantic Records, FOREIGNER has been universally hailed as one of the world’s most popular rock acts with 10 multi-platinum albums, 16 Top 30 hits, and worldwide album sales exceeding 75 million.  Responsible for some of rock and roll’s most enduring anthems including “Juke Box Hero,” “Cold as Ice,” “Feels Like The First Time,” “Urgent,” “Head Games,” “Say You Will,” “Dirty White Boy,” “Long, Long Way From Home,” and the worldwide #1 hit, “I Want To Know What Love Is,” FOREIGNER continues to rock the charts more than forty years into the game. 

At Foreigner’s core is founder and lead guitarist Mick Jones, a visionary maestro whose stylistic songwriting, indelible guitar hooks, and multi-layered production talents are responsible for some of the greatest rock anthems ever written. Jones began his songwriting career in France in the 1960s, writing three No. 1 singles for French pop star Johnny Hallyday.  After moving to the U.S. in the 1970s, Jones wrote “Feels Like The First Time,” which reached No. 4 on the charts, serving as the first of a long list of hits that helped build Foreigner’s multi- platinum career over decades to come.

His 1984 track, “I Want To Know What Love Is” quickly became a No. 1 single in both the U.S. and the UK, and to this day remains one of the 25 most-performed songs in ASCAP’s Catalog. It has been recorded by a diverse group of popular artists, including Julio Iglesias, Shirley Bassey, Clay Aiken, and Mariah Carey. With a message that resonates worldwide, the song has been translated into 14 languages and reinterpreted into many diverse genres.

In 2013 Jones was inducted into The Songwriters Hall of Fame. A multi- talented and multi-dimensional “musician’s musician,” he has also written songs such as “Bad Love” with Eric Clapton and “Dreamer” with Ozzy Osbourne, and produced records for others including Billy Joel’s Stormfront and Van Halen’s 5150. A Grammy and Golden Globe–nominated songwriter, Jones is the winner of the prestigious British Ivor Novello Songwriter award for “The Flame Still Burns,” the soundtrack music for the film Still Crazy.

“I never could have imagined when I set out to create Foreigner forty years ago, that we’d still be touring around the world and performing the music we love all these years later,” says Mick.  “I am so proud that these songs will now be reinterpreted for stage, and am honoured by the team that is helping bring this music to life. I can’t express the gratitude I feel when fans share stories of how our songs have been woven into their milestones and memories over the years.  I had so many great times with Foreigner in Canada and I look forward to bringing the band back here for our 40^th anniversary tour.  I’m thrilled that Canada will see the premiere of our brand new musical, Juke Box Hero, in 2018.”

FOREIGNER performs at the Enmax Centrium Friday night (Oct 13) with Canadian rocker icons Honeymoon Suite.   Some tickets still available – PURCHASE NOW.

Learn more about Foreigner.

(with files from Mark Collings)

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