What Was Foreigner’s Last U.S. Top-40 Hit?

No two situations are the same, of course, but the last big hit by a band often comes when its members aren’t quite seeing eye to eye. That animosity can lead to a split, which, if not completely finishing the group, can certainly stick a fork in its momentum.

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Foreigner‘s last U.S. hit was a pretty big one. But it revealed a schism between the two chief artistic forces in the band, one that has lingered over the decades since the song in question was released in 1987.

A Spotless Track Record

If you just looked at the commercial results delivered by Foreigner over the first decade or so of its career, you might wonder why there were ever any problems. They released five albums from 1977 to 1984, every one of which went Platinum (at least) and hit the Top 5. Crossover success was theirs as well, as evidenced by seven Top-10 singles in that span.

But while the level of success never wavered, the band did undergo a few changes during that span. They made a few lineup alterations along the way. In 1981, their album 4 found them embracing synths in a big way, to winning effect.

Perhaps the biggest change came in the material they were releasing. When Foreigner came out of the gates, they largely stuck to bluesy, strutting, uptempo rock and roll. But once ballads entered the Foreigner picture, it was difficult for the band to shake them, considering how successful they were. Which led to problems developing between singer Lou Gramm and guitarist Mick Jones.

Slow-Song Stress

While Jones and Gramm often shared songwriting credits, the former was largely responsible for deciding the artistic direction of the group. Gramm had sung the stuffing out of hit ballads “Waiting for a Girl Like You” and “I Want to Know What Love Is,” the latter of which gave the band their first No. 1 single.

But he much preferred songs with a rocking edge. He took the opportunity on the band’s mid-‘80s hiatus to deliver a successful solo album (Ready or Not) in 1987, which allowed him to pursue the direction he preferred. When he returned to the Foreigner fold that year for the making of the album Inside Information, he became frustrated by what he deemed an overreliance on ballads.

The first single from the record was the hard-charging “Say You Will,” which as was typical for the band, lodged in the Top 10. But Gramm didn’t care for the second single, “I Don’t Want to Live Without You,” a hazy ballad written solely by Jones. In fact, he later claimed his frustration led him to give a vocal performance he thought might damage the song’s commercial prospects.

The Aftermath

Gramm’s efforts as a clandestine saboteur didn’t work. Even giving a more restrained performance than usual, he still cast a soulful glow over “I Don’t Want to Live Without You.” The song was as adult contemporary as the band had ever drifted, but the public ate it up and it went to No. 5 on the pop charts when released as a single.

Gramm’s displeasure led to him departing the band briefly. Although he and Jones reconciled long enough for two more Foreigner albums in the first half of the ‘90s, none of the singles released made any headway in the era of grunge.

Sadly, Mick Jones and Lou Gramm seem at odds still after all these years. Foreigner replaced Gramm as lead vocalist and has long toured without him. The rockers vs. ballads debate rages on among the band’s fans. But at least “I Don’t Want to Live Without You” dented the charts while it was stirring up those old fissures.

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