Foreigner

Foreigner is a British-American rock band formed in New York City in 1976. The band's original lineup consisted of vocalist Lou Gramm, guitarist Mick Jones, drummer Dennis Elliott, keyboardist Al Greenwood, multi-instrumentalist Ian McDonald (formerly of King Crimson) and bassist Ed Gagliardi. Gagliardi was replaced by Rick Wills in 1979. Foreigner is one of the best-selling bands of all time, with worldwide sales exceeding 80 million records, including 38 million in the US.Jones came up with the band name because he, Elliott, and McDonald were British, while Gramm, Greenwood and Gagliardi were American, meaning at least half the members would be considered foreigners regardless of the country they were in. In 1977, Foreigner released its self-titled debut album, the first of six consecutive albums to be certified multi-platinum and reach the Top 10 in the US. The album produced two US Top 10 singles, "Feels Like the First Time" and "Cold as Ice". Their 1978 follow-up, Double Vision, was successful and included two more US hits: "Hot Blooded" and the title track.Foreigner's third album, Head Games (1979), featured US Top 20 singles "Dirty White Boy" and the title track. The band's fourth album, 4 (1981), hit No. 1 for 10 weeks in the US and became their breakthrough album in the UK, where it reached the Top 5. The album produced three hit singles: "Urgent", "Waiting for a Girl Like You", and "Juke Box Hero". Following a 1982 greatest hits album Records, which went 7× platinum in the US, Foreigner released their fifth studio album Agent Provocateur in 1984, which reached No. 1 in the UK and included their biggest hit single, "I Want to Know What Love Is". The song topped the charts in the US, UK, Canada, and Australia, No. 3 in Germany, and the Top 10 in other countries.After a break, Foreigner released Inside Information in 1987. Despite two more US Top 10 hits with "Say You Will" and "I Don't Want to Live Without You", it became their first album not to achieve multi-platinum certification or reach the Top 10 in the US. A 1992 greatest hits album, The Very Best ... and Beyond achieved 2× platinum certification in the US and gold certification in the UK. Foreigner was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2024.Since the band's inception, they have been led by English guitarist Mick Jones, a former member of Nero and the Gladiators, Johnny Hallyday's band, Spooky Tooth, and the Leslie West band. After the collapse of the Leslie West Band in 1976, Jones found himself stranded in New York City. West's manager, Bud Prager, encouraged Jones to continue his songwriting and rehearse a band of his own in some space Prager had near his New York office.

Biography summary from English Wikipedia, photograph via Wikimedia Commons.