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Before becoming Foreigner’s lead singer in 1976, Lou Gramm was a drummer for the group Black Sheep, which recorded a couple of albums.
He also sang backup, “and at some point I was playing drums and doing all the singing,” said Gramm, who comes to Genesee Theatre Feb. 23. “That was pretty tough.”
He loved the drums, but when the group found a drummer, so he took over as lead singer.
“I went up front,” he said. He could have added he never looked back – because soon after Black Sheep disbanded he became the lead singer for a band he helped form with Mick Jones called Foreigner. His voice has become legendary for its passion and range in songs such as “I Want To Know What Love Is,” named by Rolling Stone Magazine as one of the top songs of all-time.
Gramm said his voice “was a gift – and when I went up to the front in Black Sheep and the onus was on me to put the story of those songs across, then I was not just the drummer who could sing, I was the singer. I took that responsibility very seriously. I think I started to sing with a lot more passion.”
He brought that with him to Foreigner. “We had a lot of fun in Foreigner especially when we first started. We were an opening act and we had to prove ourselves to our audience. We had to play to the level where we felt we were a good band. That didn’t happen right off the bat. The more we played the better we got, until I felt we could stand toe to toe with the best.”
Indeed they did. Foreigner produced seven multi-platinum albums and 20 top 40 singles including “Cold As Ice,” “Urgent” and “I Want To Know What Love Is.” Released in 1984 as the lead single on the album, “Agent Provocateur,” that song was a No. 1 hit in both the United Kingdom and the United States, and has been featured in several films.
When asked what makes that song so compelling, Gramm said, “It’s a love story. It could be between a man and a woman, a child and his parents, or our Lord and Savior. Those words transcend everything.”
That’s what he tells audiences when he introduces the song on stage, he said. “Then I ask the audience to sing along with us. Sometimes I’ll stop singing and let them sing. It’s unbelievable. You see people with big smiles on their faces, with their arms and hands in the air, some people hugging each other. It’s very special.”
It’s not just the words that captivate the audience, though.
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“The melody I think in the verse sounds very resigned to the way things are, then in the B section, there’s a little tension, you’re not sure, and then when the chorus comes in, it’s such a joyous release,” Gramm said.
“We’ve been fortunate. We’ve had a really good run since the mid-1970s. For all intents and purposes, those times most likely are over – we had a very rich catalog, to draw up on,” he said.
Gramm went on to sing and create solo albums when he and Mick Jones parted musical ways.
“My solo albums were a release for me because I had a number of good song ideas, when I presented them to Micky, he didn’t hear that much in them. While that didn’t offend me, when he finally heard one of the songs on the radio with my own band, I think he knew what I was trying to show him.”
One of those solo pieces is “Midnight Blue.”
“That song has a powerful beat to it, and that guitar hook is irresistible, and the words are very truthful and close to the bone,” he said.
Gramm has had some rough years between his time with Foreigner and his solo days, but right now he’s enjoying touring.
“I think this year coming is the 40th anniversary of the Double Vision album. In my own way, I’m celebrating.”
Sheryl DeVore is a freelance reporter for the News-Sun.
Lou Gramm with Special Guest Head East
When: 7:30, Feb. 23
Where: Genesee Theatre, 203 N. Genesee St., Waukegan
Tickets: $35-$79.50
Information: 847-263-6300; www.geneseetheatre.com