Artist

Foreigner

New York City, United States

Foreigner is a music group from New York City, United States. Their discography on Gatefold includes 24 records.

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Albums tracked

436

In collections

—

Since

Biography

Foreigner is a British–American rock band formed in New York City in 1976. The original lineup consisted of Lou Gramm (vocals), Mick Jones (guitar), Ed Gagliardi (bass), Dennis Elliott (drums), Al Greenwood (keyboards), and Ian McDonald (multi-instrumentalist, formerly of King Crimson). Foreigner has sold over 80 million records worldwide, including approximately 38 million in the United States. The band name reflects the mixed nationalities of its members: Jones

The Arc of Foreigner

The pivots — what forced Foreigner to reinvent.

The Atlantic Precision Era
After the self-titled debut and Double Vision blew up, the band stayed in the pocket by refining a formula of high-stakes guitar hooks and Roy Thomas Baker’s glossy production on Head Games. They moved through the late seventies as a six-piece unit that could out-muscle most arena acts while keeping a tight, radio-friendly grip on the bridge and chorus. You hear it in the way Ian McDonald’s keys and Mick Jones’s Les Paul trade space without ever tripping over each other. It was the peak of their collaborative muscle before the lineup started to fracture.
The Mutt Lange Strip-Down
By 1981, the band had trimmed down to a quartet and brought in Robert John 'Mutt' Lange to produce the album 4 at Electric Lady Studios. Lange applied the same obsessive, track-by-track perfectionism he’d just used on AC/DC, turning Foreigner into a lean, rhythmic machine that dominated the early MTV era. This is where the synths started taking over the lead lines, especially with a young Thomas Dolby providing the texture on hits like Urgent. The sound shifted from a heavy rock band to a futuristic, syncopated hit factory that couldn't miss.
The Ballad Pivot
The massive success of I Want to Know What Love Is in 1984 fundamentally broke the band’s internal balance. Mick Jones pushed for a more atmospheric, keyboard-driven sound on Agent Provocateur and Inside Information, leaning heavily into gospel choirs and lush arrangements that pushed Lou Gramm’s rock instincts to the curb. Gramm eventually bailed to do his solo thing, and though he came back later, the band never really recovered that gritty swagger they had in the seventies. It’s the sound of a band winning the charts but losing their soul in the process.

Influences

Spooky Tooth — Mick Jones was a member of this heavy blues-rock outfit right before starting Foreigner. You can hear that heavy, organ-driven grit on tracks like Long, Long Way From Home. It provided the blueprint for the hard rock foundation that Jones eventually polished for American radio.
King Crimson — Ian McDonald was a founding member of Crimson and brought that same multi-instrumental versatility to the first three Foreigner records. He played everything from sax to flute to keyboards, giving the early arrangements a depth that most standard bar-band rockers couldn't touch. His departure after Head Games is exactly why the band’s sound flattened out into 4.
Free — Lou Gramm has cited Paul Rodgers as his primary vocal blueprint, focusing on that soulful, bluesy rasp that feels like it’s coming from the back of the throat. You hear that influence in Gramm's phrasing on Feel Like the First Time. It gave a British-style blues edge to a band that was otherwise very New York-centric.
The Beatles — Mick Jones spent years in France working with Tommy Brown and Johnny Hallyday, where he learned the art of the three-minute pop hook. He’s gone on record saying the Beatles taught him that every part of a song—not just the chorus—needs a hook. You can hear that discipline in the bridge of Cold as Ice, where everything is serving the melody.
Black Sabbath — It sounds weird until you listen to the main riff of Double Vision, which Jones admits was his attempt at writing something in the vein of Tony Iommi. He wanted that heavy, ominous drone to anchor the track before the pop production took over. It’s that slight touch of doom that kept their early stuff from floating away into soft rock territory.