Foreigner’s Lou Gramm Turns 75! 7 Things You Didn’t Know About the Singer
Lou Gramm, who was born on May 2, 1950, is the owner of one of rock music’s most powerful and recognizable voices. As the original lead singer of Foreigner, Gramm’s talents powered the band’s massive hits throughout the late 1970s and ’80s, making them one of the biggest classic rock groups of all time. But beyond the stadium anthems and platinum records, there’s so much more to the man behind the mic.
To celebrate his 75th, here are seven things you might not know about Lou Gramm.
1 His real name isn’t Lou Gramm
Like many rock stars, Lou Gramm adopted a stage name. He was born Louis Andrew Grammatico in Rochester, New York, then shortened and slightly altered his last name for simplicity when his music career took off.
2 Before Foreigner, he was KISS’s opening act
Before Mick Jones came calling, Gramm was the frontman for a band called Black Sheep that released a couple of albums in the mid-1970s. In an interview on the YouTube channel VRP Rocks, Lou talked about how the band caught a big break when they were asked to be an opening act for KISS. But disaster struck during the tour, when their equipment truck got into an accident and destroyed most of their gear. That ill-timed catastrophe didn’t just end the tour; it signaled the end of the band.
3 Mick Jones heard him on a record before he ever met him
Hulton Archive/Getty Images
Foreigner founder Mick Jones hadn’t seen Lou perform live with Black Sheep when he tapped him to audition. Instead, someone had given him a copy of the band’s first album. Jones was immediately impressed with Lou’s voice and invited him to audition for his new band, Foreigner, in 1976. The rest, as they say, is music history.
4 He probably wrote one of your favorite Foreigner tunes
While Mick often gets primary credit as the band’s main songwriter, Lou was his writing partner on nearly all of Foreigner’s major hits. Together, the two musicians wrote classics like “Cold as Ice,” “Hot Blooded,” “Double Vision,” “Head Games,” “Urgent,” “Juke Box Hero” and “Waiting for a Girl Like You.”
5 Lou had some pretty big hits on his own, too
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Lou launched a highly successful solo career in 1987 with the album Ready or Not. That LP contained the hit single “Midnight Blue.” He returned in 1989 with Long Hard Look, which featured another big hit, “Just Between You and Me.” According to a 2023 article on the website Ultimate Classic Rock, it’s worth noting that Lou had become frustrated with the increasingly softer sound of Foreigner’s music which resulted in him contributing less to the band as a songwriter. Of Foreigner’s last big hit, 1987’s “I Don’t Want to Live Without You”, in his 2019 autobiography Juke Box Hero: My Five Decades in Rock ‘n’ Roll, Lou described the situation as “punching the clock”.
6 He battled a serious brain tumor
In 1997, Lou was diagnosed with a type of brain tumor called a craniopharyngioma. Though not cancerous, its location required immediate and risky surgery. While the surgery was successful in removing the tumor, Lou’s recovery was quite long and impacted his ability to perform. Lou officially left Foreigner, for good, shortly after his recovery, in 2003.
7 He’s been inducted into more than one major musical Hall of Fame
Credit: Larry Busacca/Getty Images for Songwriters Hall Of Fame
Recognizing Lou’s major contributions to the world of rock music not just as a singer but as a writer, Lou (right), alongside Mick Jones (left), was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2013. (Lou and Mick are pictured with Billy Joel.) During that same interview with the YouTube channel VRP Rocks, Lou recalled how that particular event provided the two musicians with an opportunity to reconnect and reflect on their achievements. Sadly, when Foreigner was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2024, the two were not able to perform together again due to Mick’s on-going battle with Parkinson’s disease.
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