Foreigner talks ahead of Birmingham show

Now Foreigner are back with a headline tour that will reflect on their remarkable rock legacy.

The band will perform at Birmingham’s Symphony Hall on Tuesday, with special guests Joanne Shaw Taylor and John Parr.

It will be a true homecoming for founding member and lead guitarist, Mick Jones, who hails from the UK and formed the band in New York City in 1976 alongside fellow Briton and ex-King Crimson member Ian McDonald, along with American vocalist Lou Gramm.

Fans will see why it Feels Like The First Time as their performances include their unforgettable anthems I Want To Know What Love Is, Juke Box Hero, Waiting For A Girl Like You, Cold As Ice, Feels Like The First Time, Hot Blooded, Urgent and That Was Yesterday.

Mick says he was thrilled that the band was still together and playing live. “I never could have imagined when I set out to create Foreigner 40 years ago, that we’d still be touring around the world and performing the music we love all these years later. 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.”

His band has enjoyed 10 multi-platinum albums and 16 top 30 hits. They remain one of the most popular rock acts in the world and are responsible for some of rock and roll’s most enduring songs.

The band recently released a new 10-inch vinyl four-track EP The Flame Still Burns and the celebrations will continue with the release of a 20-track album 40 this month, which contains the band’s biggest hits.

That will be followed a week later by a double album of the same name, tracing the four-decade-long history. The May 19 release will contain new songs as well as all of the much-loved hits. A vinyl version is coming on June 2.

Interesting

Foreigner are Mick Jones (lead guitar), Kelly Hansen (lead vocals), Jeff Pilson (bass, vocals), Tom Gimbel (rhythm guitar, sax, vocals), Michael Bluestein (keyboards), Bruce Watson (guitar) and Chris Frazier (drums).

Mick had enjoyed an interesting career before former Foreigner and didn’t intend for it to be a band that lasted four decades.

“Well, I had a pretty interesting career up until then. Which had led me to France, [where] I got to play with a lot of musicians who were coming in and out of Paris, and did sessions with quite a few people, and started to learn a little about writing. And it was the time of The Beatles, so obviously everybody was trying to write songs [like The Beatles]. I was learning the songs just to educate myself, really, as to chord structures and melodies.

“But what led me to forming a band eventually – my own band – is that I had been in a couple of bands. I went back to England, and finally started [playing] again in my mid-20s, and my dream was always to come over to the USA. From an early age, y’know, America represented this mecca. And gradually, I started to increase my focus on writing, alongside playing with a band called Spooky Tooth.

I played in a band with the guitar player Leslie West [of Mountain] for a while. Unfortunately all those things sort of came to a fizzle, and I was kind of left high and dry in New York for a while, not really knowing what to do . . . I decided it was time to make a decision. Either I make a stand, or I let the water wash over me.

“So that led to me just starting writing, really. Just sitting down all day, just trying to get some flow going, trying to write some stuff that I would be comfortable with. Not pandering to any particular style or commercial style. And that was sort of the code I had.

“Even though some of our music may be regarded as poppy, I think the basis of it has always been rock, and infusions of soul here and there. I didn’t really know where we fit, actually.”