Who Is On Tour With Foreigner?
Foreigner Tickets is currently on its Double Vision: Then and Now tour, marking its 40th anniversary since becoming one of the most beloved rock bands ever. The current band members in this lineup include Mick Jones, who is the founding member of the band and also acts as the lead guitarist for the group; and Kelly Hansen, who is the lead vocalist of the band. Rounding out the rest of Foreigner's current touring lineup: Rounding out the rest of Foreigner's current touring lineup:
Jeff Pilson (bass, vocals) Bruce Watson: guitar, vocals Chris Frazier drums Michael Bluestein, Keyboards
Since 1976, Mick Jones, the original guitar player and composer for Foreigner, has been the band's regular bassist. Jones, the last surviving member of the original group, still plays virtuoso on guitar and participates in the composition of the most well-known songs of the band, which are played live at each Foreigner show. Originally starting his musical career in the late 1960s with Nero and the Gladiators and Spooky Tooth, the guitarist for Britain sought to form a new band that reflected British rock and roll with an American pop vibe. Foreigner was founded and Jones began a creative partnership with lead singer Lou Gramm, who produced most of the band's most well-known songs in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Gramm departed Foreigner in 1990 because of some problems with Jones, but the latter kept touring with Foreigner and hiring other singers like Johnny Edwards and Kelly Hansen to guarantee the iconic classics were sung live. Though Mick Jones is now in his mid-70s, he still shows on stage with the fervor and skill of one of the forerunners of the classic rock guitar.
Lead singer of Foreigner Kelvin Hansen joined the band in mid-2005 after spending time with Hurricane and Unruly Child. His better voice and presence quickly transformed the opinions of the dubious overseas viewers. Regarding the concert, Hansen gives the younger Foreigner songs emotion and also delivers a really fine Lou Gramm impression of the Foreigner oldies. At over sixty years of age, Hansen can still act on stage vocally and with theatrics. He is also a multi-instrumentalist; sometimes he supports the band as a keyboard player, guitarist, or drummer. Now more than fifteen years into his tenure with Foreigner, Hansen has shown that he is the guy to go on as the voice behind some of rock's most iconic anthems into the new century.
Jeff Pilson has been with this band since 2004 and serves as the bassist as well. Originally accompanying Dokken in the 1980s, he also belonged to Dio in the early 1990s. Along with many others, he performs with bands like MSG, The Underground, War & Peace, and Adler's Appetite. Pilson has a lot of stage experience; the backup singers are first-rate; and the Foreigner band would find great use for the enthusiasm.
Bruce Watson, a skilled guitarist and singer, completes the band's percussion and vocals, therefore contributing to Foreigner. Since 2002, Watson has been a member of Foreigner replacing guitarist Ian McDonald, who departed the band. Beginning his path in the late 1980s as one of the members of Big Country, the Scottish band that popularized such songs as "In a Big Country," the gifted musician Watson participated regularly in the band's live events and helped several of their albums before he joined Foreigner. His adaptability on the guitar allows him to sometimes perform solos and precisely replicate Jones and McDonald's guitar works. And better even, his backup voices merge nicely with Hansen's strong leading voice.
Not least of all is Michael Bluestein, the keyboardist of this present Foreigner's traveling group. Bluestein, who grew up in Indiana, has been a full-time keyboard player for Foreigner since 2008. He first began touring with various bands before spending many years with Chuck Berry's band. Bluestein has been touring the nation nonstop since then, recording and playing with heavyweights such as the band Foreigner, the vocalist Lita Ford, Eddie Money, and others. Support for the classic Foreigner sound comes from his keyboards and other instruments like flutes, saxophones, drums, and backing voices.
Foreigner added a new member, Luis Maldonado, an auxiliary member with various instrument playing, for the bigger tours in 2017. Maldonado has been playing with John Fogerty, Peter Frampton, Lynyrd Skynyrd, and many other rock musicians lately. Usually serving as the rhythm guitarist, pianist, and sometimes singer, Maldonado travels abroad with the group. But as Foreigner sometimes does less elaborate concerts, Maldonado is not present as a permanent member of the band.
Thus, Foreigner today still plays the same songs that fans enjoyed in the ‘70s and ‘80s. At the core of it is Mick Jones, who ensures that the band stays true to its roots and its purpose. Foreigner has a high-quality vocalist in Kelly Hansen who can sing as well as the original singer. And fantastic new members such as Jeff Pilson, Bruce Watson, and Michael Bluestein complete the remaining part of Foreigner’s line-up. The current touring lineup shows that no matter how bands change with time due to original members growing old or leaving, Foreigner has a captivating arena rock sound to capture the interest of old fans and gain new ones. See the current Foreigner band in concert with memorable hits ‘Feels Like the First Time’ and ‘Urgent’, as well as fabulous songs from the newest albums. Even though Foreigner may have existed for over 40 years, the current lineup still provides a perfect rendition of the band’s greatest hits every single night.
