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Foreigner was formed in 1976 by English rocker Mick Jones, with Dennis Elliott, Ian McDonald and American musicians Lou Gramm, Al Greenwood and Ed Gagliardi. The debut album, 'Foreigner', followed quickly in 1977, producing the hits 'Feels Like The First Time', 'Cold As Ice' and 'Long, Long Way From Home', all hits that continue to receive so much frequent airplay that Foreigner entered the Top 10 in the Classic Rock Radio chart some 30 years later.
Foreigner's latest release is entitled “Feels Like the First Time” and it made its first appearance in the Billboard Top 50 in September 2011 on Razor & Tie Records. Foreigner ended the 3rd quarter at a significant milestone. Their latest album, 'Feels Like The First Time', entered the Top 50 in the USA on a date that coincided with the re-entry of their previous release, 'Extended Versions II', in the same chart (SoundScan 9/18/11). This marks the first time in over twenty years that any Classic Rock artist has had its two most recent albums in the chart at the same time. That same week, the Foreigner catalog was #1 in sales among the Top 15 Classic Rock radio chart artists.
Over the last year or so, Foreigner songs have been featured in movies and TV shows as diverse as Happy Feet 2, Valentines Day, The Chipmunks, Hot Tub Time Machine, Sex And The City 2, Raising Hope, The Good Guys, Dancing With The Stars, Wipeout, Jimmy Kimmel Live, The Protector and Ellen DeGeneres Show; radio and TV commercials for major brands including Coors Lite, Bosch, Stouffers, Motorola and Volkswagen; and some of the biggest video games such as DJ Hero, Guitar Hero 6 and Rock Band 3. Frequent video game uses comprise a key factor in Foreigner's renewed popularity with the younger demographic.
Their hit single, 'Waiting For A Girl Like You' was No. 2 on the singles chart for a total of 14 weeks. This is a record in the history of Billboard magazine. It helped drive Foreigner to No. 49 on Billboard's Hot 100 All Time Top Artists Chart. To put that in perspective, The Eagles are No. 54, Fleetwood Mac are No. 73 and Aerosmith are No. 90.
Foreigner's leader and founder, Mick Jones, wrote the band's No. 1 worldwide hit 'I Want To Know What Love Is', which was the first single released from Mariah Carey's latest album. He also wrote or co-wrote every Foreigner song and produced or co-produced every album. He produced Billy Joel's 'Storm Front' and Van Halen's '5150', the career best selling albums of both artists, and he has written songs with artists as diverse as Ozzy Osbourne and Eric Clapton, with whom he wrote 'Bad Love'. Eric received a Grammy for that one! |
