Former Foreigner vocalist Lou Gramm has got nowhere left to hide — it looks like retirement has finally found him.
The 76-year-old singer-songwriter reiterated his plans to retire from the touring life in an interview with “TalkShopLive,” a livestreaming platform.
“I feel like I’ve done this long enough,” Gramm said earlier this year on the podcast. “While I really enjoyed a lot about this life, I think the second most important thing to putting your heart and your mind and your body into … a great band is knowing when to walk away.”
Gramm is currently touring with his recording band as the Lou Gramm All Stars for the remainder of the year, with the last performance set for Dec. 19 in Des Plaines, Ill.
“I’m very fortunate that at my age I can still still sing and hit the notes and everything,” Gramm said on the livestream. “But I don’t want to get to the point where I’m faking it or lowering the key two steps to do this song.”
The singer was a founding member of Foreigner, the British American rock band known for hits including “I Want to Know What Love Is” and “Juke Box Hero.” This year, the multiplatinum band celebrates its 50th anniversary and has scheduled performances throughout California for the remainder of the year.
Gramm left the band twice. The first time was in 1990 to focus on his solo career.
In 1992, he rejoined Foreigner but left in 2003 due to communication issues with bandmate Mike Jones, the guitarist and bandleader told Rolling Stone in 2005. Gramm shared details of their strained songwriting process with The Times years earlier.
“My contributions haven’t been that welcomed. It has caused me a lot of grief. I was a real studio rat,” Gramm told The Times in 1987. “But I didn’t have much say. It would leave me bitter, with a bad taste in my mouth.”
Jones retired from the band in 2023 after announcing a battle with Parkinson’s. Gramm revealed that the two reconciled prior to the band’s induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2024. In a 2026 interview with Spin Magazine’s Lipps Service, the singer shared that Jones was in the end stages of Alzheimer’s.
Gramm still has plans to join the current Foreigner group during a handful of appearances; Ultimate Classic Rock and Culture reports that he will appear with the group on the Rock Legends Cruise, which will depart from Miami on Feb. 21. He is also scheduled to be included in six shows during the band’s March 10-20 gig at the Venetian in Las Vegas.
“I think this is for me a high point, this tour, and finally getting into the Rock Hall of Fame and all the good things,” Gramm said on the podcast. “I think I just want to go out with a bang, and I think this summer tour is it.”
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