lou gramm

Life Beyond Foreigner

While the rock group marks 40 years with a tour this summer, lead singer Lou Gramm brings that signature voice to the valley for a free concert.

Greg Archer Arts & Entertainment

lou gramm
Lou Gramm's fierce vocals in Foreigner gave birth to a string of hits that remain popular today.
PHOTOS COURTESY OF SPA RESORT CASINO

Lou Gramm’s curly locks may be gone, but his undeniably rich vocals certainly are not.

Gramm, who along with Mick Jones, fueled the feverish success of the rock group Foreigner in the 1970s through the 1990s, hits the valley for a free concert April 8 at Spa Resort Casino in downtown Palm Springs.

While Gramm is first to admit that he loves singing the songs he has written and co-written over the years, mostly, he loves the excitement of performance.

“The thrill of a live event is really the biggest part of being a vocalist or an entertainer,” he says, going to on to list a litany of empowering things that take place prior to even stepping foot on the stage.

“Fifteen to 20 minutes before we go on, I am completely dressed, my hair is combed, and I’m getting a short, therapeutic massage because my shoulder and back muscles tighten up when I am up on stage,” he says. “I am drinking tea and honey for my voice, and I am practicing the scales and doing breathing exercises.

“When we hit the stage, right from the get go, I go back forth with the audience a bit about the history of a song — what the essence of the song was when it was written.”


The narrative prior to performing the songs is significant, considering Gramm’s fierce vocals in Foreigner. In its heyday, the group gave birth to a string of hits that, at the time, had not been witnessed since the Beatles took flight — songs which are now rooted in the fertile soil of music history:

“Hot Blooded, “Feels Like The First Time,” “Cold As Ice,” “Long, Long Way From Home,” “Double Vision,” “Urgent,” “Waiting For a Girl Like You,” “I Want to Know What Love Is,” and “Juke Box Hero.”

The latter, in fact, is the title of Gramm’s revealing autobiography, which was released in 2013, more than a decade after breaking out on his own (“Midnight Blue,” “Just Between You and Me,” “True Blue Love”) while still keeping ties to Foreigner, too.

And then, in 2013, something caught Gramm by surprise: He was inducted in the Songwriters’ Hall of Fame.

As for the one song, Gramm created or performed that best defines him, he is very candid. “Easy. It would be ‘Juke Box Hero.’”

“When I heard that Mick and I were nominated, I started gathering information about it,” Gramm recalls. “I learned that the Hall of Fame wasn’t just about songwriters from 15 or 20 years prior to that point — these were for people writing songs from the 1920s, and even earlier than that. I think the first person in the Songwriters’ Hall of Fame was Francis Scott Key, who was inducted posthumously.

“It’s a list that goes back years, not just rock ’n’ rollers.”

It seemed to inspire new outings. In fact, look for Gramm’s new CD to be released in late spring or early summer, something he says is filled with memorable songs and covers “a spectrum of emotions.”

And it’s that last part — the spectrum of emotions — that Gramm is candid about, particularly when discussing today’s music scene, which has gone through dramatic shifts.

“Creatively, I’m not sure where I’ll be going at this point because the music business has changed so much in the last 10 to 15 years, and it’s a bit difficult for signature artists like myself to get our new songs played on the radio,” he shares. “They consider us ‘heritage artists’ and they play all of our old hits until the cows come home, which is wonderful, but if I came out with a new album, they wouldn’t play any of the new stuff. It’s like they are putting me out to pasture.”

Which prompts the question: So, how does one cope with that?

“I look for the hope,” Gramm adds. “My dad was a trumpet player in the 1940s, and they had a big band with the horns, like Glenn Miller. I have two brothers, so it’s in the genes. I’m sure I would have something to do with music if I wasn’t doing it professionally, but my dad insisted that I have a back-up plan if music didn’t work out for me.”

To that end, he studied to be a history teacher in college. Ironically, he went on to make history himself.

As for the one song, Gramm created or performed that best defines him, he is very candid.

“Easy. It would be ‘Juke Box Hero.’”

Lou Gramm performs in Concert Under the Palms at 7:30 p.m. April 8, at Spa Resort Casino, 401 E. Amado Road, in downtown Palm Springs. Visit sparesortcasino.com for more information.