According to Lou Gramm, Foreigner will only have time to play one song during their Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction – and he says the wrong track has been chosen.
What Lou Gramm Thinks Foreigner Will Play at Rock Hall Induction
During a new Rolling Stone interview, it was suggested to Gramm that bands often get a three-song set during induction into the Rock Hall. But the singer revealed that the time allotment will likely cut down.
“Here’s the thing. I was first told we could play two. I was told we had 12 minutes to play. And I heard there’s going to be a segment of the introduction where people like Pete Frampton and a number of other people will say why they think we should have been in, and how glad they are that we are” explained the singer. “That’ll leave us with about six minutes left, so I heard we’re going to play one song.”
The singer then confirmed that the ballad “I Want to Know What Love Is” was the choice, and that he wasn’t necessarily happy about playing it.
Elsewhere in the interview, Gramm addressed the song as being a double-edged sword that brought them great success, but started to define the group as a soft-rock band. “I love the song, but it pigeon-holed us into something that we were not. I knew that influenced Mick [Jones] enough that you could find a soft, smushy ballad on every album after that,” said Gramm.
He went on to say that the song is not necessarily representative of what the band is about and didn’t feel it was “suitable” for being their lone representation going into the Rock Hall.
Foreigner, “I Want to Know What Love Is”
What Would Lou Gramm Like to See Foreigner Play at the Rock Hall?
Should the band figure out how to get a second song in their allotted time, Gramm feels that track should be “Juke Box Hero,” the Foreigner 4 song that was always a live fan favorite.
He explains, “I think that the of people saying nice things about us could be whittled down to two minutes, thus giving us eight minutes. Eight minutes would be substantial to do two songs. And then we can do ‘I Want to Know What Love Is’ and ‘Juke Box Hero.’ That makes perfect sense.”
He continues, “As a matter of fact, we could even edit ‘I Want to Know What Love Is’ and cut out some of the choruses that keep going at the end, just have it fade out, and then go into the beginning of ‘Juke Box Hero.’ I’d be totally cool with that.”
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Toward the end of the interview, Gramm circled back to the idea of adding “Juke Box Hero,” stating, “My next call after we’re done here is to Foreigner’s manager. I’m going to tell him how I think we can do two songs if we cut down the segment a little bit. It’ll still be a classic ballad and then we can end with our best rocker.”
Foreigner, “Juke Box Hero”
The 2024 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony
Time will tell which songs Foreigner are able to perform at the ceremony. There’s time for the logistics to be worked out ahead of the Oct. 19 ceremony at Cleveland’s Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse.
The band will be inducted alongside a class that includes Ozzy Osbourne, Peter Frampton, The Dave Matthews Band, Cher, Kool and the Gang, Mary J. Blige and A Tribe Called Quest. There will also be special inductions of Jimmy Buffett, MC5, Dionne Warwick and Norman Whitfield through the Musical Excellence Awards.
The 2024 ceremony will once again stream live on Disney+ with a special airing on ABC at a later date and available on Hulu the following day.
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Gallery Credit: Chad Childers, Loudwire
