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Foreigner
www.foreigneronline.c om

The rock band Foreigner was formed in New York City in 1976 by the band's leader and guitar player Mick Jones. Jones created Foreigner's sound by mixing R&B, pop, rock, and a progressive sound. Foreigner's main songwriters were Mick Jones and Rochester native Lou Gramm. The duo's first hit song as a writing team was "Cold As Ice".

In 1977 Foreigner released their self titled debut album. The record spawned three hit singles and ended up being certified platinum five times over. (An album is certified gold when it sells 500,000 copies and platinum when it sells one million copies. A platinum award is given for each additional one million copies sold.)

Foreigner's initial success of selling a multi platinum album only a year after forming speaks well for the band's musicianship and ability to work together. Foreigner's success is what some would term as an overnight success - a fact that is difficult enough to obtain at anytime and is a rarity in the music world today.

After such success with their debut album Foreigner fans eagerly awaited the band's next offering which came in the form of "Double Vision"; an album which once reaching the top 10 on the music charts stayed there for six months. "Double Vision" sold over seven million copies in the US alone.

Foreigner continued to see success with their album sales and from the subsequent albums they released; but the band has not been without share of problems. Lou Gramm left the band in 1989 to focus on a solo career, but he returned to the band in 1992. In 1997 Gramm was diagnosed with a non cancerous brain tumor which was removed. Gramm's recovery was slow, but he returned to the band in 1999.

After Gramm's return to Foreigner, the band teamed up with fellow rockers Journey for a tour.

Even though the band is still performing and touring Foreigner has not released any new material, but a number of compilation albums have been released and are still selling. Over the years of their recording career Foreigner released seven album and several hit singles which resulted in the band collecting 12 gold records - both singles and albums -, eight platinum, and 16 multi platinum awards with two of their albums "Double Vision" and "4" selling over six million copies each.

Learn more about this author, Sherrill Fulghum.
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