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List of Foreigner band members

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General referenceInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionSep 6, 2026
Entity authorityQ65068604 ↗
Source-derived summary

Foreigner is an American rock band from New York City. Formed in 1976, the group originally included lead vocalist Lou Gramm, lead guitarist, keyboardist and vocalist Mick Jones, rhythm guitarist and woodwind player Ian McDonald, bassist Ed Gagliardi, drummer Dennis Elliott, and keyboardist Al Greenwood.

The band's current lineup includes lead guitarist, keyboardist and vocalist Mick Jones (since 1976, and the only remaining original member), bassist and keyboardist Jeff Pilson (since 2004), keyboardist Michael Bluestein (since 2008), rhythm and lead guitarist Bruce Watson (since 2011), drummer Chris Frazier (since 2012), lead vocalist (and former guitarist and bassist) Luis Maldonado (since 2021), and guitarist and bassist John Roth (since 2025).

History

1976–1995

Foreigner was formed in April 1976 by former Leslie West Band guitarist Mick Jones on lead guitar, keyboards and vocals, with the original lineup also including former Black Sheep vocalist Lou Gramm on lead vocals, former King Crimson keyboardist and woodwind player Ian McDonald on rhythm guitar and woodwinds, bassist Ed Gagliardi, former Ian Hunter drummer Dennis Elliott, and keyboardist Al Greenwood. After two albums – 1977's Foreigner and 1978's Double Vision – Gagliardi left the band in April 1979 and was replaced by Rick Wills, formerly of Small Faces. Following the release and promotion of 1979's Head Games, McDonald and Greenwood were fired in September 1980. The group remained a quartet and released 4 in 1981. For the album's promotional tour, McDonald's vacated spot was taken by rhythm guitarist and woodwind player Mark Rivera, while Bob Mayo and Peter Reilich performed live keyboards. Foreigner's lineup remained the same for Agent Provocateur and Inside Information, before Gramm announced his departure from the band in May 1990 due to differences with Jones and to focus on his solo career.

Jones replaced Gramm with Johnny Edwards, formerly of Montrose, Buster Brown, King Kobra, and Wild Horses, who contributed to the group's next album, Unusual Heat.

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The public source identifies “List of Foreigner band members” as wikimedia list article. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around List, Foreigner and band.

Editorial reviewA practical starting point whose main value is the path it opens into stronger specialist and primary sources. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1976, 2004, 2008, 2011—that can be checked directly. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with List, Foreigner and band providing the first useful test.
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Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 6, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q65068604. The first chronological checks are 1976, 2004, 2008 and 2011.

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This entry incorporates text from “List of Foreigner band members” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.