In 2022 Foreigner said they will retire. Now, they say they won’t.
In a new interview, bassist Jeff Pilson says that discovering a new lead singer within their ranks helped the band make up their mind to stay together.
“There’s just a lot of forward movement, and the band is incredibly excited,” Pilson told Billboard. “What started off as being a farewell tour ended up being Kelly’s last tour and [the band] moving forward.”
He’s referring to the group’s current singer, Kelly Hansen. When the farewell tour was first announced, one of the primary reasons given for the decision was Hansen’s desire to go out on top, and to spend more time with his family.
“This catalog of songs, it’s extremely challenging for a rock tenor vocalist like myself to sing,” he explained. “I never would have thought in a million years I’d be singing these songs in the keys at this age, and I don’t know how much longer I can do that at the level I need to.”
“Luis really had no intention of this,” Pilson told Billboard. “He was trying to talk Kelly into staying. And when it became clear Kelly really wants to live a life now…Luis just stepped up and, oh my God, that voice came through.”
Pilson joined Foreigner in 2004 and is their longest-tenured touring band member. He says founding guitarist and band leader Mick Jones, who is off the road after revealing a Parkinson’s disease diagnosis last year, fully supports the decision to continue touring and recording.
Founding lead singer Lou Gramm, who has been making guest appearances at recent shows, has also promised to help in whatever manner he can. “Making this change, with Luis, with Mick and Lou’s endorsement and having the whole organization working more together, has been such a positive thing,” says Pilson.
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Gallery Credit: Matt Wardlaw
