Lou Gramm

Rock singer Lou Gramm – born Louis Andrew Grammatico on May 2, 1950, in Rochester, New York – is best known for fronting hard rock band Foreigner during their commercial heyday. After playing in several other bands – including Poor Heart - Lous Grammatico began his professional music career as the lead vocalist for Black Sheep, the first American band signed to Chrysalis Records. They only released one single for the label – “Stick Around” – before Black Sheep signed with Capitol Records. They released their self-titled debut in 1975 and followed it later that same year with Encouraging Words. Neither album was successful, but the future looked bright when the band was invited to open for Kiss on tour. Unfortunately, their equipment was destroyed in a truck accident and the band was unable to fulfil any live commitments and they broke up. In 1976, Louis Grammatico was contacted by musician Mick Jones about joining a new band that he was putting together. After passing the audition, he changed his name to Lou Gramm and became the frontman of Foreigner, a band made up of British and American hard rock musicians. Foreigner released a series of Top 5 albums beginning with their self-titled debut in 1977. The group is best-known for their 1984 number 1 hit “I Want to Know What Love Is,” but they hit the Top 10 several times with tracks like “Feels Like the First Time” (number 4), “Cold as Ice” (number 6), “Hot Blooded” (number 3), “Double Vision” (number 2), “Urgent” (number 4), “Waiting for a Girl Like You” (number 2), “Say You Will” (number 6), and “I Don’t Want to Live Without You”(number 5). When Foreigner took a short break, Lou Gramm released his debut solo album, Ready or Not, in 1987. The album included the hit single “Midnight Blue,” which reached number 5. After the release of Foreigner’s Inside Information album in late ’97, Lou Gramm put together his second solo album, Long Hard Look (1989), which included the hit “Just Between You and Me.” Creative tensions with Mick Jones led to Lou Gramm departing Foreigner in 1990. He then formed Shadow King with guitarist Vivian Campbell, bassist Bruce Turgon, and drummer Kevin Valentine, but after releasing one self-titled album in 1991, Lou Gramm split the band and returned to Foreigner in 1992. The group continued touring but came to a halt when Lou Gramm underwent surgery to remove a benign brain tumor. He returned to the band when he was able but left for good in 2003. A born-again Christian, he formed the Lou Gramm Band and released their self-titled album in 2009. Lou Gramm continues to tour and perform material from the Foreigner catalog as well as secular and Christian music from his solo career. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame alongside his Foreigner bandmates and has occasionally performed live with the current version of Foreigner.

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