Foreigner Admits They Are No Longer on a Farewell Tour

In 2022 Foreigner said they will retire. Now, they say they won't.

In a new interview, bassist Jeff Pilson says that discovering a new lead singer within their ranks helped the band make up their mind to stay together.

"There's just a lot of forward movement, and the band is incredibly excited," Pilson told Billboard. "What started off as being a farewell tour ended up being Kelly's last tour and [the band] moving forward."

He's referring to the group's current singer, Kelly Hansen. When the farewell tour was first announced, one of the primary reasons given for the decision was Hansen's desire to go out on top, and to spend more time with his family.

"This catalog of songs, it's extremely challenging for a rock tenor vocalist like myself to sing," he explained. "I never would have thought in a million years I'd be singing these songs in the keys at this age, and I don't know how much longer I can do that at the level I need to."

Buoyed by their 2024 induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Foreigner has continually added more dates to their farewell tour. But last month Hansen announced that this summer's North American leg would be his last.

"Being the voice of Foreigner has been one of the greatest honors of my life," he declared. "But it's time to pass the mic."

Luckily, and seemingly surprisingly, a replacement was already in the band. When Hansen was unable to accompany Foreigner on a recent tour of Latin America, multi-instrumentalist Luis Maldonado - who joined the group in 2021 - stepped forward to serve as lead singer and wowed both his band mates and the fans. He will now serve as Hansen's successor.

“Luis really had no intention of this,” Pilson told Billboard. “He was trying to talk Kelly into staying. And when it became clear Kelly really wants to live a life now…Luis just stepped up and, oh my God, that voice came through."

Pilson joined Foreigner in 2004 and is their longest-tenured touring band member. He says founding guitarist and band leader Mick Jones, who is off the road after revealing a Parkinson's disease diagnosis last year, fully supports the decision to continue touring and recording.

Founding lead singer Lou Gramm, who has been making guest appearances at recent shows, has also promised to help in whatever manner he can. "Making this change, with Luis, with Mick and Lou’s endorsement and having the whole organization working more together, has been such a positive thing," says Pilson.