Foreigner’s Kelly Hansen Balks at Band’s Rock Hall Exclusion

For so long as the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame has existed, there have been music followers protesting that their favourite artist has been excluded.

A band like Foreigner, which has bought tens of thousands and thousands of albums and has been a traditional rock establishment for many years, is a first-rate candidate for this type of dialogue. Recently, a fan who’s intimately acquainted with the interior workings of the group got here to its protection: present singer Kelly Hansen.

The 62-year-old vocalist, who’s fronted Foreigner since 2005, balked at the truth that the band has by no means been nominated for the Rock Hall, regardless of being eligible since 2003. “As an entity, I find it unusual that a group of people can have an arbitrary standard from which they decide who is in this substantial sounding-titled Rock & Roll Hall of Fame,” Hansen not too long ago advised the Houston Press.

“They cite as one of their criteria as ‘influence.’ Well, how many people have picked up a guitar and tried to learn ‘Cold as Ice’ or ‘Hot Blooded?’ Or sing ‘I Want to Know What Love Is’ in a karaoke bar?” he continued. “This band has sold 80 million-plus records. And that’s real records, not streams or downloads! That is the definition of influence!”

Hansen made his case although he would probably not be included in Foreigner’s Rock Hall induction, because the establishment sometimes sticks to classic-era members. In the lead-singer place, that honor would go to Lou Gramm, who helmed Foreigner’s most profitable albums and left the band for the ultimate time in 2003.

Classic-era members are few and much between on Foreigner’s ongoing farewell tour, with co-founding guitarist and sole unique member Mick Jones showing sometimes as his well being permits. “We always want him to be there whenever possible. Mick is still the architect of this band and is there whenever he can be there,” Hansen mentioned. “And any past member is also welcome to come on and jam with us. We’re kind of making a statement about the legacy and history of this band.”