Foreigner’s Kelly Hansen Gives Harsh Comment To Bands Using Backing Tracks

Foreigner singer Kelly Hansen criticized bands that heavily rely on pre-recorded tracks during their live performances.

On the recent performance of Foreigner at Austin’s Moody Center, as part of their ongoing farewell tour, Hansen told the crowd before closing their set with “Hot Blooded”:

“As most of you probably know, this is what we’re calling our farewell tour.
“This is not a decision that came too lightly.”

The rocker then expressed his opinions on rock acts that heavily depend on pre-recorded tracks. He said:

“I want you to understand something, from an artistic point of view — and I don’t think that many people talk about this — but we all know that there are bands out there that are traveling, playing, taking your money and not giving you a real live performance.
“No matter what you say about me or about us, we’re fucking real deal. And it’s hard to sing this beautiful catalog of songs when you’re 30. I’m 62. And what we decided was that we are gonna give you our best and leave you at our best, every single show to the very end, because these songs deserve it and you deserve it.
“Anything less is someone saying, ‘Fuck you for supporting me for decades,'” Hansen continued. “So any time you see anyone out there who’s doing that, tell them to go fuck themselves. Listen, if you ain’t got it anymore, you ain’t got it, all right? Just deal with it and move on.”

Previously, talking about his thoughts about singing the catalog of Foreigner, he told Billboard:

“This catalog of songs, it’s extremely challenging for a rock tenor vocalist like myself to sing.
“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. You can drop keys and do this and do that, but I’m more of an old-school person. If I’m not doing it for real then I shouldn’t be doing it.”

Meanwhile, Foreigner’s farewell tour is scheduled to run through 2024.