Original Foreigner frontman Lou Gramm has been performing at select concerts with his old band in recent months, usually singing a few songs at the end of the shows at which he appears. Gramm also will be joining Foreigner during a run of eight concerts in December celebrating the recent release of a deluxe reissue of the group’s chart-topping 1981 album, 4.
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Meanwhile, the 75-year-old Rock & Roll Hall has other big musical plans lined for 2026. In a recent interview with American Songwriter, Gramm revealed that he’ll be releasing a new solo album next year.
According to Lou, the album is titled Released, and he’s expecting it to come out in February. The record will mark Gramm’s first solo collection since his 2009 Lou Gramm Band album. Lou also released successful solo album in 1987 and 1989, respectively titled Ready or Not and Long Hard Look.
Describing the sound of the new album, Gramm told American Songwriter, “It’s rock. It’s all good rock songs, and they’re all vastly different from each other. And the style, I think at this point, is almost uniquely my own, which I like. There’s shades of Foreigner in it, too, but I think it sounds more like my solo albums than anything else. And it’s well-written, good rock songs, and I can’t wait for the public to hear it.”
About How the Released Album Came Together
Gramm told American Songwriter that Released features a few tracks that were initially recorded during the Ready or Not and Long Hard Look sessions, but weren’t completed at the time.
“When you release an album, you have 10 songs on it, but there’s always three or four that are great ideas that don’t make the cut, you know, probably ’cause they’re not finished,” Gramm explained. “So I went back and listened to the multi-track of the Ready or Not album and the Long Hard Look album, and I found at least two, maybe three songs from each of those albums that [weren’t] finished.”
He continued, “[F]ortunately, we had 10 good songs to release. So the other three songs, as good as they were, they kind of evaporated into thin air. But I had the foresight to go back and listen to the almost-made-it songs, and I finished them. And now they’re on my [new] album.”
Gramm also noted that Released includes “a number of new songs too.”
About Gramm’s Solo Band
Lou said he recorded the album with the member of his current solo group. They include his brother Ben Grammatico on drums, Jeff Jacobs on keyboards, Scott Gilman on sax, Tony Franklin on bass, and Gary Hoey on guitar.
About Hoey, Gramm said, “He’s got a lot of albums out himself. He’s a great guitar player and singer and songwriter, and he’s a great addition to the band. He’s got a great style, and he loves playing our songs with us.”
Franklin has played with many other famous rock artists over the years. He also was a member of the 1980s supergroup The Firm, alongside Jimmy Page, Paul Rodgers, and former AC/DC drummer Chris Slade.
“[T]he band is very strong, and we’ve gotten terrific response wherever we go,” Gramm noted. “And it’s fun to be playing these songs. I do my own songs and the Foreigner songs too. So everybody gets what they want.”
Besides his shows with Foreigner, Lou has a couple of confirmed upcoming solo concerts. According to StubHub, they’re scheduled for October 17 in Nashville and May 28, 2026, in Stamford, Connecticut. Gramm also will be taking part in the next ’70s Rock & Romance Cruise, scheduled for March 21-28, 2026.
Gramm Says He’s Planning to Retire in 2026
A year or two ago, Gramm reported that he was planning to retire from touring. He told American Songwriter that he now intends to make good on that plan in 2026.
Lou said that he intends to tour in support of the new album in early 2026, touring to promote that until early next year, “[a]nd then I’m gonna take my microphone and the cord and hang it up on a hook and turn my attention to other things that I’ve been waiting to do.”
More About Foreigner’s Concerts Promoting the Deluxe 4 Reissue
As previously reported, Foreigner’s special series of shows celebrating the deluxe 4 reissue run from a December 3-4 stand in Port Chester, New York, through a December 13 show in Williamsport, Pennsylvania.
The band has more than 40 other concerts scheduled, spanning from a September 27 show in Indio, California, through a July 2, 2026, performance in Munich, Germany.
Visit ForeignerOnline.com to check out the band’s full list of tour dates.
(Photo by Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame)
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