Foreigner just announced the start of their Historic Farewell Tour, starting in the Summer of 2023. The North American leg of their final tour launches on July 6th in Alpharetta, Ga., and ends on September third in Holmdel, N.J. Foreigner will announce more dates scheduled to run through the end of 2024.
Mick Jones, co-founding guitarist and sole original member of Foreigner stated that, “Foreigner is a completely revitalized band with a whole new energy that has won the hearts of our fans all over the world, and I want to go out while the band is still at the top of its game, I had the idea that was to become Foreigner back in 1974, and I was 30 years old at the time. By the end of our farewell tour, over 50 years will have passed – and that’s a long time to be on the road.”
Lead singer Kelly Hansen stated that, “This catalog of songs, it’s extremely challenging for a rock tenor vocalist like myself to sing, I never would have thought in a million years I’d be singing these songs in the keys at this age, and I don’t know how much longer I can do that at the level I need do. You can drop keys and do this and do that, but I’m more of an old-school person. If I’m not doing it for real then I shouldn’t be doing it.” Hansen also added, “Mick does all the shows he can do with us as his health allows, and we’re cognizant of that, I can’t say that doesn’t have an effect [on the tour] … but that’s also a reality of life and time, so you take what you’re given and you make your decisions based on that. We’re at an era in life where a lot of bands from the ’70s are right on the ragged edge of still being able to do shows, I see other musicians sometimes that I go, ‘Wow, that was disappointing,’ and I don’t want to be someone that other people say that about. I want to do this band the way it’s supposed to be, and when it’s not like that I don’t want to be doing it.”
—
Randy Miramontez / Shutterstock.com