"We found out last minute that it was the 'new Foreigner' who was gonna be playing... it sticks in my craw": Lou Gramm slams the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame for snubbing the original Foreigner members

Lou Gramm speaking at the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame induction ceremony (Image credit: Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame)

Former Foreigner singer Lou Gramm has revealed that the original band members were not allowed to perform a medley of hits at their induction into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame this year.

In an interview with SiriusXM, Gramm says the organisers denied his request to perform a medley, and instead selected younger performers Kelly Clarkson and Demi Lovato – in addition to Sammy Hagar – to perform on their behalf.

"The thing for me is, I’m first and foremost a rock singer and it’s the Rock Hall of Fame," says Gramm. "Somehow, I couldn’t sing a rock song at the Rock Hall of Fame when I’m being inducted? It doesn’t make any sense to me, and it sticks in my craw."

Gramm, who fronted Foreigner for two stints, from 1976 to 1990 and again from 1992 until 2003, did appear at the ceremony during a performance of I Want To Know What Love Is, when he duetted with Clarkson.

During the interview, Gramm also shed some light on founding drummer Dennis Elliott's decision to shun the ceremony. It appears that Elliott, who was originally rumoured to have backed out because band members' spouses were reportedly not allowed to walk the red carpet before the show, had prior knowledge of the organisers' decision to sideline the founding members.

"I didn’t know sooner," says Gramm. "When I found out that’s why he didn’t come, I even got more angrier, but not at him. It was almost like there was a fast one being played. The Rock Hall insisted that 'time restraints' kept it from giving Foreigner a meaningful amount of time.

"We found out last minute that it was the ‘new Foreigner’ who was gonna be playing, and Rick and Al [original bassist Rick Willis and keyboardist Al Greenwood] would be standing there singing background vocals."

Fellow founding member Mick Jones, the band's longtime creative leader, did not attend the ceremony as he is battling Parkinson's Disease.

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Online Editor at Louder/Classic Rock magazine since 2014. 40 years in music industry, online for 27. Also bylines for: Metal Hammer, Prog Magazine, The Word Magazine, The Guardian, The New Statesman, Saga, Music365. Former Head of Music at Xfm Radio, A&R at Fiction Records, early blogger, ex-roadie, published author. Once appeared in a Cure video dressed as a cowboy, and thinks any situation can be improved by the introduction of cats. Favourite Serbian trumpeter: Dejan Petrović.