Lou Gramm
Gramm on the Ready or Not album cover
Background information
Birth name	Louis Grammatico
Born	May 02, 1950 (1950-05-02) (age 57)
Origin	Rochester, New York, U.S.
Genre(s)	Rock
Occupation(s)	singer, songwriter
Years active	1973 - present
Associated acts	Foreigner
Website	Official website

Lou Gramm (born Louis Grammatico on May 2, 1950 in Rochester, New York) is an American rock music vocalist and songwriter best known for his role as the lead vocalist for the rock band Foreigner. He also had a successful solo career. CD cover from American performer Lou Gramm This is an album cover. ... May 2 is the 122nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (123rd in leap years). ... Year 1950 (MCML) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Nickname: Motto: Rochester: Made for Living Location of Rochester in New York State Country State County Monroe Government [1]  - Mayor Robert Duffy (D) Area  - City  37. ... Motto: (Out Of Many, One) (traditional) In God We Trust (1956 to date) Anthem: The Star-Spangled Banner Capital Washington D.C. Largest city New York City None at federal level (English de facto) Government Federal constitutional republic  - President George Walker Bush (R)  - Vice President Dick Cheney (R) Independence from... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... For other uses, see Rock music (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Singer (disambiguation). ... A songwriter is someone who writes the lyrics to songs, the musical composition or melody to songs, or both. ... Foreigner is a hard rock band formed in New York City in 1976 by veteran musicians Mick Jones and ex-King Crimson member Ian McDonald, along with then unknown vocalist Lou Gramm (Louis Grammatico). ... May 2 is the 122nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (123rd in leap years). ... Year 1950 (MCML) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Nickname: Motto: Rochester: Made for Living Location of Rochester in New York State Country State County Monroe Government [1]  - Mayor Robert Duffy (D) Area  - City  37. ... For other uses, see Rock music (disambiguation). ... In music a singer or vocalist is a type of musician who sings, i. ... A songwriter is someone who writes the lyrics to songs, the musical composition or melody to songs, or both. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Foreigner is a hard rock band formed in New York City in 1976 by veteran musicians Mick Jones and ex-King Crimson member Ian McDonald, along with then unknown vocalist Lou Gramm (Louis Grammatico). ...

Biography

Pre-Foreigner Era

Louis Grammatico attended Gates-Chili High School in Rochester, New York, graduating with the class of 1968. He is also an alumnus of Monroe Community College in Rochester. Monroe Community College is a college located in Monroe County, New York with two campuses, one located in the Town of Brighton (a suburb of Rochester, New York) and another, the Damon City Campus, in the city of Rochester. ...

Grammatico began his musical career in his mid-teens, playing in local Rochester bands, including St. James Infirmary (later The Infirmary), and PHFFT. He later sang harmony vocals in another local band, Poor Heart. Grammatico then went on to sing and play drums, and to eventually become front man for the band Black Sheep. Black Sheep had the distinction of being the first American band signed to the Chrysalis label, which released their first single, "Stick Around" (1973). Soon after this initial bit of success, Black Sheep signed with Capitol Records, releasing two albums in succession [S/T (1974) and Encouraging Words (1975). They were the opening act for KISS when an icy accident with their equipment truck on the New York State Thruway suddenly ended the band's tour on Christmas Eve, 1975. Unable to support its albums with live performances, Black Sheep came prematurely to a screeching halt. Black Sheep, a Rochester, NY-based 1970s rock music band, was vocalist Lou Gramms second working band (the first was Poor Heart, which broke up c. ... Kiss is an American rock band formed in New York City in 1973. ...

A year earlier, Lou Grammatico had the opportunity to meet his future bandmate Mick Jones. Jones was in Rochester performing with the band Spooky Tooth, and Grammatico had given Jones a copy of Black Sheep's first album (S/T). It was early in 1976, not long after Black Sheep's truck accident, when Jones, in search of a lead vocalist for a new band he was assembling, expressed his interest in Grammatico and invited him in a phone call to audition for the job of lead singer. Mick Jones (born Michael Leslie Jones, December 27, 1944 in Horsell, Surrey, England) is a guitarist, songwriter and record producer, best known as a member of the rock band Foreigner. ... Spooky Tooth was an English progressive rock band from the late 1960s. ...

Foreigner Era

With the blessings of his Black Sheep bandmates, Grammatico flew down to New York to audition for the still-unnamed band. With his powerful vocals, he easily got the job. Lou Grammatico then became Lou Gramm, and, with the band initially known as "Trigger," and later renamed Foreigner, became one of the most successful rock vocalists of the late 1970s and 1980s. Foreigner is a hard rock band formed in New York City in 1976 by veteran musicians Mick Jones and ex-King Crimson member Ian McDonald, along with then unknown vocalist Lou Gramm (Louis Grammatico). ... The 1970s decade refers to the years from 1970 to 1979, also called The Seventies. ... The 1980s refers to the years from 1980 to 1989. ...

Gramm was the lead vocalist on many of Foreigner's hit songs, including "Feels Like The First Time", "Cold As Ice", "Hot Blooded", "Urgent", "Double Vision", "Juke Box Hero", "Head Games", "Dirty White Boy" and "Say You Will". The band achieved two of its biggest hits with the ballads "Waiting for a Girl Like You", which spent ten weeks at #2 on the 1981 American singles charts, and "I Want to Know What Love Is", which was a #1 hit internationally in 1984. Urgent is the title of a 1981 song by prominent American Rock band Foreigner, from their album 4. ... Waiting for a Girl Like You is a song by Foreigner. ... Picture Disc I Want to Know What Love Is is a power ballad recorded by the British-American rock band Foreigner. ...

Gramm and Jones had a volatile sort of chemistry that exploded into many a chart-topper, yet at times they clashed artistically. Following the band's second album, the wildly successful Double Vision, shifts in personnel began to take place. Following their next album, Head Games, Gramm and Jones jointly decided to reduce the band's lineup from six to four members. The next album, which Gramm has called the high point of his work with Foreigner, was aptly titled 4. Gramm wanted the band to remain true to its purer rock origins, favoring music with a solid drum and guitar structure, whereas Jones embraced the 1980s style of synthesizer ballads - a more lucrative approach at the time. Indeed, the next album, Agent Provocateur, would find Jones moving creatively in the opposite direction from Gramm, seeking out potential co-producers such as Trevor Horn, and then Alex Sadkin, which ended up giving Foreigner's sound that somewhat new-wavish, keyboard-dominant quality to it. For other uses, see Synthesizer (disambiguation). ...

Solo Era

By 1987, Foreigner continued to struggle with ongoing internal conflicts. During this period, Gramm released his first solo album, Ready or Not, which received critical acclaim and contained a top five hit single with "Midnight Blue". This was followed by a late 1987 Foreigner album Inside Information and, eventually, a second solo effort, Long Hard Look, that included the top ten hit, "Just Between You and Me", and "True Blue Love", which reached the Top 40. Gramm also performed the title song from the 1987 movie The Lost Boys, titled "Lost in the Shadows." Year 1987 (MCMLXXXVII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link displays 1987 Gregorian calendar). ... There are two kinds of trading that are referred to as insider trading: Trading of a security of a company (, shares or options) based on material nonpublic information. ... ‹ The template below (article) is being considered for deletion. ...

Encouraged by his solo success, and increasingly displeased with the direction in which Jones was taking Foreigner, Gramm left the group to form Shadow King with close friend and former Black Sheep bassist Bruce Turgon. The new group's 1991 self-titled album was released by Virgin Records in the UK and Atlantic Records in the U.S. Despite positive reviews, the group lacked cohesiveness. It also did not enjoy the level of marketing and promotional support necessary to sustain a new project. Shadow King soon disbanded. The same year, Foreigner released the album Unusual Heat, a relatively unsuccessful effort fronted by vocalist Johnny Edwards. Shadow King was a band featuring Def Leppard guitarist Vivian Campbell and Foreigner members Lou Gramm and Bruce Turgon. ... Bruce Turgon is a bassist who has played in the bands Showcase, Black Sheep, Shadow King, and Foreigner with singer Lou Gramm. ... Virgin Records was a British recording label founded by English entrepreneur Richard Branson, and Nik Powell in 1972. ... Atlantic Records (Atlantic Recording Corporation) is an American record label, and operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of Warner Music Group. ... Shadow King was a band featuring Def Leppard guitarist Vivian Campbell and Foreigner members Lou Gramm and Bruce Turgon. ... Unusual Heat is the eighth album by American rock band Foreigner, released in 1991 (see 1991 in music). ... Johnny Edwards is a singer who has sang for the bands Foreigner, Montrose, King Kobra, Buster Brown, Royal Jelly, and an early version of the band Wild Horses that Rick Steier and James Kottak were members of (not the band Wild Horses that bassist Jimmy Bain was a member of). ...

Edwards was not widely accepted by the Foreigner fan base. Gramm returned to the group in 1992 to record three new songs for the compilation, The Very Best of ... and Beyond, bringing a new energy back into the mix. Gramm also brought Bruce Turgon with him to join the Foreigner lineup at this point. Bruce Turgon is a bassist who has played in the bands Showcase, Black Sheep, Shadow King, and Foreigner with singer Lou Gramm. ...

In 1994, the group released the album Mr. Moonlight on the Rhythm Safari label which, although relatively successful in Europe, was not as widely marketed or distributed in the U.S. With the changing trends in popular music, this now-classic rock band came to suffer the inevitable slowing of their genre's momentum. Mr. ...

New Foreigner Era

In 1996, Mick Jones invited Gramm to perform backing vocals on a cover version of "I Want to Know What Love Is" he was producing for the Australian singer Tina Arena. The song went on to become a major hit again throughout Europe, although it was not to be found in many places in the U.S., if at all. In popular music, a cover version, or simply cover, is a new rendition (performance or recording) of a previously recorded song. ... Picture Disc I Want to Know What Love Is is a power ballad recorded by the British-American rock band Foreigner. ... Tina Arena (born Filippina Lydia Arena on November 1, 1967, in Moonee Ponds, Melbourne, Australia) is an ARIA award winning singer/songwriter. ... For other uses, see Europe (disambiguation). ...

In April 1997, two months after providing vocals for Christian rock band Petra's Petra Praise 2: We Need Jesus, and on the eve the band was to leave for a Japan tour, Gramm was diagnosed with a type of brain tumor called a craniopharyngioma. Although the tumor was benign, the resulting surgery damaged his pituitary gland. In addition, the recovery program had caused Gramm to gain weight, and likewise affected his stamina and voice. He continued to work with Jones throughout his illness and in 1999, Gramm was back touring with Foreigner playing summer festivals and smaller markets until late 2002. For the band, see 1997 (band). ... Petra, which means rock, massive in Greek, is a Christian Rock band formed in the 1970s. ... A brain tumor is any intracranial tumor created by abnormal and uncontrolled cell division, normally either in the brain itself (neurons, glial cells (astrocytes, oligodendrocytes, ependymal cells), lymphatic tissue, blood vessels), in the cranial nerves (myelin-producing Schwann cells), in the brain envelopes (meninges), skull, pituitary and pineal gland, or... Craniopharyngioma is a type of tumor that comprises 9% of all pediatric brain tumors and usually occur in children between 5 and 10 years of age. ... This article is about the year. ... Also see: 2002 (number). ...

The Lou Gramm Band

In 2003, Gramm once again split from Foreigner to rejuvenate his solo career with a band that included Bruce Turgon on bass, Rocket Richotte on guitar, Kevin Neal on drums, John Purdell on keyboards (who suddenly passed away very early during the tour), and Gary Corbett on keyboards. Following the death of both his father and mother, Bennie and Nikki Grammatico - - he a trumpeter and bandleader, she a singer for his Big Band - - Gramm and the initial lineup decided it best to take different paths. Fulfilling a lifelong wish of his parents that their three musical sons might someday make their music together, Gramm and his brothers, Ben and Richard, formed the current lineup of the Lou Gramm Band (also known as "LGB"). Year 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Bruce Turgon is a bassist who has played in the bands Showcase, Black Sheep, Shadow King, and Foreigner with singer Lou Gramm. ... John Purdell was a musician and record producer who is credited on such albums as the 1991 Ozzy Osbourne heavy metal album No More Tears and Dream Theaters 1994 album Awake. ... The abbreviation LGB may refer to: Lesbians, Gays, and Bisexuals. ...

Gradually, Gramm's health and energy rebounded. The band has been touring the U.S., Canada, and Mexico steadily since January 2004, as well as occasional dates off the continent...and the touring continues.

Lou, Ben, and Richard, with friends Don Mancuso and Andy Knoll, play a retrospective of Gramm's work with Foreigner, his solo material, plus a few personal favorites of their own. In addition, the band will be taking on Christian rock. The Lou Gramm Band has plans to release an all-Christian rock album, which is currently in production. Don Mancuso was the guitarist in Lou Gramms Black Sheep from 1973 - 1975. ...

Discography

Solo Albums

• Ready or Not (1987) #27 US
• Long Hard Look (1989) #85 US

Solo Singles

“Hot 100” redirects here. ... The Mainstream Rock Tracks chart is a ranking in Billboard magazine of the most-played songs on mainstream rock radio stations, a category that includes stations that play primarily rock music but are not modern rock (that is, alternative) stations, which are counted in the Modern Rock Tracks chart. ... The Adult Contemporary chart lists the most popular songs weekly calculated by airplay and occasionally sales. ... “British Hit Singles” redirects here. ... See also: Musical groups established in 1987 Record labels established in 1987 // January 3 - Aretha Franklin becomes the first woman inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. ... See also: Musical groups established in 1987 Record labels established in 1987 // January 3 - Aretha Franklin becomes the first woman inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. ... See also: 1989 in music (UK) Musical groups established in 1989 Record labels established in 1989 // January 7 - Genesis 88 and Sunrise/Back to the Future stage large-scale illegal Acid House party in London January 14 - Paul McCartney releases Снова в СССР exclusively in Russia. ... See also: 1989 in music (UK) Musical groups established in 1989 Record labels established in 1989 // January 7 - Genesis 88 and Sunrise/Back to the Future stage large-scale illegal Acid House party in London January 14 - Paul McCartney releases Снова в СССР exclusively in Russia. ...

with Poor Heart

• Foreigner in a Strange Land (1988)
• The Best of the Early Years (1993)

(Note: These are actually releases of much older recordings.)

with Black Sheep

• S/T (1974)
• Encouraging Words (1975)

with Foreigner

• Foreigner (1977) #4 US
• Double Vision (1978) #3 US, #32 UK
• Head Games (1979) #5 US
• 4 (1981) #1 US, #5 UK
• Records (1982) #10 US, #58 UK
• Agent Provocateur (1984) #4 US, #1 UK
• Inside Information (1987) #15 US, #64 UK
• The Very Best of (1992)
• The Very Best of... and Beyond (1992) #123 US, #19 UK
• Classic Hits Live/Best of Live (1993)
• JukeBox Hero: Best of (1994)
• Mr. Moonlight (1994) #136 US, #59 UK
• The Platinum Collection (1999)
• Rough Diamonds No. 1 (1999)
• Hot Blooded and Other Hits (2000)
• Anthology: Jukebox Heroes (2000)
• Complete Greatest Hits (2002) #80 US
• The Definitive (2002) #33 UK

For the album by Cat Stevens, see Foreigner (Cat Stevens album). ... Double Vision is the second album by American rock band Foreigner, released in 1978. ... Head Games is the third album by American rock band Foreigner, released in 1979 (see 1979 in music). ... 4 is the fourth album by American rock band Foreigner, released in 1981 (see 1981 in music). ... Records is the fifth album by American rock band Foreigner, released in 1982 (see 1982 in music). ... An agent provocateur (plural: agents provocateurs) is a person assigned to provoke unrest, violence, debate, or argument by or within a group while acting as a member of the group but covertly representing the interests of another. ... There are two kinds of trading that are referred to as insider trading: Trading of a security of a company (, shares or options) based on material nonpublic information. ... Category: ... Classic Hits Live is Foreigners first live album. ... Mr. ...

with Don Mancuso

• D: Drive (2005)

External links

• Lou Gramm's Official website
• Foreigner's Official website
• Interview with Lou Gramm on The Joe Cook Program