Lou Gramm
Lou Gramm (born Lou Grammatico
May 2,
1950 in
Rochester, New York) is an
American rock music vocalist and
songwriter best known for his role as the lead vocalist for the
rock band Foreigner. He also had a successful solo career.
Pre-Foreigner Era
Gramm attended Gates-Chili High School in Rochester, New York and graduated with the class of 1968.
Gramm began his music career as the drummer for
Black Sheep, an early
1970s rock band. After the release of the band's
1975 album
Encouraging Words, guitarist
Mick Jones, in search of a lead vocalist for his new band
Foreigner, expressed interest in Gramm.
Foreigner Era
With Foreigner, Gramm became one of the most successful rock vocalists of the late
1970s and
'80s.
Gramm was lead vocals on many of Foreigner's hit songs, including "Feels Like The First Time", "Cold As Ice", "Hot Blooded", "Urgent", "Double Vision", "Juke Box Hero", "Head Games", "Dirty White Boy" and "Say You Will". The band achieved two of its biggest hits with the ballads "Waiting For A Girl Like You", which spent ten weeks at #2 on the 1981 American singles charts, and "I Want to Know What Love Is", which was a worldwide #1 hit in 1984.
Gramm and Jones reportedly clashed artistically on several occasions during Gramm's time with the band. Gramm wanted the band to remain true to its rock origins and favoured music with a drum and guitar base, whereas Jones embraced the 1980s style of
synthesizer ballads - a more lucrative approach at the time.
Solo Era
In
1987, Foreigner was struggling with internal conflict. During this period, Gramm released his first solo album
Ready or Not, which recieved critical acclaim and contained a top five hit single with "Midnight Blue". This was followed by a late 1987 Foreigner album
Inside Information, and, eventually, a second solo effort -
Long Hard Look, which brought the top ten hit "Just Between You and Me", and "True Blue Love", which reached the Top 40. Gramm also performed the title song from the 1987 movie
The Lost Boys, titled "Lost in the Shadows".
Encouraged by his solo success, and still displeased with the direction Jones was taking Foreigner, Gramm left the group to form
Shadow King. The new group's 1991 self-titled album was released by
Virgin Records but flopped, and the group shortly disbanded. The same year Foreigner released the album
Unusual Heat, a relatively unsuccessful effort fronted by vocalist
Johnny Edwards.
Edwards was not widely accepted by the Foreigner fan base and Gramm returned to group in 1992 to record three new songs for the compilation
The Very Best of ... and Beyond. In 1994, the group released the album
Mr. Moonlight, which, although relatively successful in Europe, was a flop in the U.S.
New Foreigner Era
In 1996, Gramm was invited by Mick Jones to perform backing vocals on a
cover version of "I Want to Know What Love Is" he was producing for the
Australian singer
Tina Arena. The song went on to become a major hit again throughout
Europe.
In April
1997, two months after providing vocals for Christian rock band
Petra's Petra Praise 2: We Need Jesus, and on the eve the band was to leave for a Japan tour, Gramm was diagnosed with a type of
brain tumor called a
craniopharyngioma. Although the tumor was benign, the resulting surgery and recovery program (and damage to his pituitary gland) caused Gramm to gain a lot of weight and it affected his stamina and voice. He continued to work with Jones throughout his illness and, in
1999, Gramm was back touring with Foreigner playing summer festivals and smaller markets until late
2002.
The Lou Gramm Band
In
2003, Gramm once again split from Foreigner to rejuvenate his solo career with brothers, Ben Gramm and Richard Gramm, and form the Lou Gramm Band - which plays old Foreigner hits as well as Christian rock.
The Lou Gramm Band currently has plans to release an all-Christian rock album.
Solo Albums
Ready or Not (1987)
Foreigner in a Strange Land (1988)
Long Hard Look (1989)
The Best of the Early Years (1993)
*
Lou Gramm's Official website*
Foreigner's Official website
