Lou Gramm Finally Opens Up Why He Quit Foreigner

Lou Gramm has finally shed light on the reasons behind his leaving the band Foreigner, thus giving a new perspective to his exit.

An iconic vocalist and one of the band’s founding members left for good in 2003 as he reunited for a second time. Gramm revisited the events that led to his exit in an interview with SiriusXM’s Classic Rewind. Looking back at the late ’90s and early 2000, Gramm went on to explain, “Mick Jones and I just started working on new material, and we had some really strong ideas.” He added:

“By then we had about seven songs finished, and we were just looking to finish three or four more and get a new Foreigner record out.”

By the time vocalist Lou Gramm had finally split with the group, Foreigner hadn’t released a studio album in nearly ten years, but the band was playing live with at least enough regularity. It was during one of the last tours that Gramm finally realized that it was time for him to split.

He remembers one show, Night of the Proms in October 2002 in Brussels, Belgium, indoors at a tennis arena that is the home of 80,000 people. He said:

“After that series of shows I quit the band. I just had enough.”

The Rocker Talks About Creative Differences in His Exit

According to Gramm, he decided because of his ever-weakening relationship with bandleader Mick Jones. Gramm revealed:

“Mick is the founder and leader of the band, but he wasn’t leading it the way he used to and was stifling a lot of my creativity.
“‘Just sing your parts Lou’—after contributing to nearly every hit song the band had released over 20 years, being reduced to just a vocalist, without any creative input, didn’t sit well with me.”

Lou Gramm Says He Has “Never Regretted” Leaving Foreigner

Lou Gramm and the band were flown out back to the U.S. following the Belgium performance, where he announced to management that he was leaving Foreigner, officially and truthfully parting ways in early 2003.

Gramm recalled the reaction from the band: “‘Why? Everything’s going so well,'” they asked. He responded, “‘It’s not going well. I’m being shut out creatively, which is crucial to me. I’m not just a singer I’m a songwriter, and I always have been, even before Foreigner.'” And he left the band. Regrets? None.

Kelly Hansen has been Foreigner’s lead vocalist since 2005. Gramm had been absent from the band for more than a decade although he has rejoined the group to sing with the band in some leg of their 2017 40th anniversary tour and most recently when Foreigner was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.