Foreigner Lead Singer Abruptly Quits Band After NBC The Voice Performance
The lead singer of legendary rock band Foreigner abruptly announced his departure just seconds after performing with his bandmates during the Season Finale of NBC's The Voice on Tuesday night.
Kelly Hansen, 64, had just sung the group's classic 1977 jam "Feels Like The First Time," when he shocked those in attendance and the rock group's fans watching at home that he would be passing the microphone.
"After 20 magical years fronting this band, this will be my last year with Foreigner," Hansen told the crowd gathered for The Voice's 27th Season Finale. "At the end of this summer, a new great voice will sing these songs for you; my friend Luis Maldonado." Maldonado has been Foreigner's lead guitarist since joining the band in 2021 and recently took over lead vocals during the band's Latin American Tour for a few dates.
FOREIGNER
Together, Hansen and Maldonado would then duet on the band's classics "Juke Box Hero," and "I Want To Know What Love Is," in the emotional aftermath.
Foreigner is one of the best-selling bands of all time, with over 80 million records sold across the globe and 35+ million in the United States alone. Hansen joined the band in 2005 after original vocalist Lou Gramm's departure.
"Being the voice of Foreigner has been one of the greatest honors of my life, but it’s time to pass the mic. Luis has the voice, the energy, and the soul to carry these songs into the future. I couldn’t be prouder to hand this off to him," Hansen continued.
THE VOICE CROWD WAS SHOCKED ABOUT HANSEN'S DEPARTURE
Hansen will continue with the band for their upcoming summer tour before moving on, which leaves only 80-year-old guitarist Mick Jones as the sole remaining original member. "In 1976, my goal was to assemble the finest group of musicians I could find. Results have shown that it worked," Jones told Rolling Stone after Tuesday's announcement.
For anyone that reads my music columns here on OutKick, I can't stress this enough - you need to see your favorite bands and artists while you can, because they aren't getting any younger.
Whether Tom Petty, Levon Helm, Prince or Lemmy from Motorheado, to Neil Diamond or Billy Joel have had recent health issues, or even Steven Tyler, who literally has no voice anymore and had to shockingly stop singing in an abrupt fashion, we are losing some of the greats. Hansen may not be the original singer of Foreigner, but 20-years is still a damn good run, and you can also still see Mick Jones do his thing on the guitar - at 80, nonetheless!
Speaking of longtime runs, how about The Voice STILL being around 27 seasons later after debuting in May, 2011?! How much longer do we think that's going to still have a run?
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