An interview by John Johnson, File photo by Chaz D Photography
[ Sat. March 15th – 7:30 pm Foreigner at the Baycare Sound with 38 Special ]
Ticket link https://www.rutheckerdhall.com/events/detail/foreigner]

One of America’s most iconic rock bands comes through the Bay Area on Saturday and I was lucky enough to have the chance to speak with their lead singer. I refer to them as American because they were formed in New York City way back in 1976, but half of the six member band were actually British. Which is why founder Mick Jones, one of the British members, decided to name the group, Foreigner.

I was slated to have a phone interview with their lead vocalist, of the last 20 years, at noon on Wednesday. The interview was in preparation for the bands show at The Sound in Clearwater this weekend. I dialed the number I was provided, every 5 minutes starting at exactly 12pm EDT until 12:35, but to no avail. Being what some have called the groups farewell tour (it’s not exactly) I assumed my interview-y was simply stuck on the phone with another interviewer and being barraged with the same run of the mill questions I was probably about to ask. I plopped down with my PBJ for lunch and resigned myself to the fact that the call was not meant to be. However, at 1:04 my phone buzzed and the name on the screen read, Kelly Hansen.

“Hey, this is Kelly Hansen, are you still good to go?” And of course I was. He told me that he was on a call, as expected, and didn’t “click” over because he “didn’t know anyone from Tampa”. I joked that seeing the name John Johnson would make most people think it was a spam call and also a good reason not to answer. He lives in Burbank and he assured me that, luckily, he was not affected by the L.A. areas massive fires and was in Orlando currently after playing a private event the night before. Hansen, who turns 64 in April, is slender in build with a full head of hair and salt and pepper goatee. If you’ve been able to catch the band over the last couple of decades, you know that he hasn’t aged much, and he covers every inch of the stage during performances, and even sings atop a 30 foot riser amongst the audience during a few tunes. I tell him about my incident the previous night on my son’s One-Wheel where I had “eaten it in my driveway” and was now dealing with road rash and a couple of bruised ribs. I explain that “I tell you this, because in short, I am no Kelly Hansen.” He replies with a chuckle and confirms, “I do my best. It doesn’t get easier year after year.” I concur and suggest that he should keep doing what he’s doing, but don’t ride a One-Wheel anytime soon. He replied “I don’t plan on it.”

Along with his regiment of rock star aerobics on stage, he works out regularly, but more importantly he eats well and has become quite skilled in the culinary arts. “I do like to cook. When I’m not on the road, I cook every day”. When asked about following recipes or winging it, he replied “Yeah, I do my own thing and sometimes I’ll reference a couple recipes online and then I’ll just kind of, I won’t write it down, I’ll just go OK that’s how it goes and I just kinda do my own thing.” Apparently he honed his skills in the kitchen during covid when, during their limited appearances, he’d get boxed and/or bagged food with plastic utensils. That’s when he made the conclusion, “Yeh, this is not for me” and decided to start creating his own dishes.

Foreigner, who is creeping up on their 50th year since inception, has been rumored to be calling it quits after this tour. I ask him if there is any truth to that. “Well no, I mean the band isn’t going to just disappear off the face of the Earth” he said assertively “We’re just not gonna tour for nine months a year anymore.” I assure him that it’s good to hear they’ll continue to tour, even in a limited capacity, and he continued “I’ve been doing this for 50 years, and I put in my time. I wanna enjoy other things in life while I still can.” Before Foreigner, Hansen sang for a hair “metal” band in the mid 80’s called Hurricane. I tell him that I saw them perform at the Rockit Club “back in the day”, where he simply replied “Ok, right”. I assumed that means, like myself, he doesn’t remember a whole lot from that era.

I query him about the setlist for this tour, and the possibility of playing more than their hits. “There’s all kinds of variables on showtimes and set length and you have multiple bands on a bill sometimes the sets will have to be shorter.” He continues regarding their current Vegas residency “Or when we’re playing in Vegas, when we stay set up for a couple weeks, we can kind of stretch out and do things differently and so it’s just gonna vary. In Vegas we do a few deep cuts, acoustically, or whatever and so it just depends.” We go back and forth on some Foreigner oldies they perform, and some they have yet to play, I mention a song off the Double Vision titled “Love has Taken it’s Toll”. He responds excitedly “We’ve never done that live, no yeah that’s a good one. That would be next in line for me if we were gonna add another one.” I let him know that I would totally be on board and that that’s a favorite of mine. “Is there any song that you consider a favorite?” I ask. “I’m not a favorite type of guy. I mean, I enjoy apples AND oranges. One day I want an apple, one day I want an orange. All of these songs are so good and they’re all hits and they’re all well known. It’s not like there’s any bad fruit in that bowl so it just depends on the day”.

Founding member, and guitarist, Mick Jones has been battling some health issues, so I ask him if there’s any chance of him popping up on this tour. “Well, you know we’re always hoping that he’s going to come in and play with us” “…he’s gotta go by how he feels and then what his doctor says, but from what I understand, he’s doing very well right now”. Not being able to expound much on Jones’ availability, we change gears and I ask Hansen his opinion on the growing AI epidemic. “Yeah it’s affecting everybody. Especially anyone who is creative really.” He continued at length about, how thankfully, their live shows are not being affected by AI, but how Spotify has a new feature that clearly, and understandably, makes him upset. “I’ll tell you one thing that popped up that I’m really not happy with is, and I think was Spotify. I just heard you can go in and you can mix your own song and take out the lead vocals by almost 100%.” He assertively concludes, “ That is like taking a famous painter and go, well I’m just gonna rearrange his painting, and I just think that’s really a crock.” I for one, wholeheartedly agree.

Another aspect of the live experience that AI can’t touch, and that something Foreigner has done for years, is when they bring a local choir on stage to sing their hit “I wanna know what love is”. It’s a special moment in the live show, not just because of the popularity of what is arguably their biggest song, but because of what it does for the students that are in the choirs. “We’ve been doing the choir thing for probably 15 years. We’re working with the Grammy Foundation and really it’s about raising awareness about the lack of funding for school music programs.” He emotionally continued “It’s a little way of giving back and we get to see the looks on these kids faces where it’s probably the first time ever being on a stage in front of thousands of people”. I concur that it is most assuredly a significant facet to their concerts, he went on lovingly. “ I get notes and texts or emails from choir directors and parents that tell me the affect that it’s had on their kids, which is really great. I think we get the better end of the deal but we do enjoy doing that.” Once again, I completely agree.

We continue our chat, covering varied topics like motorcycles (not One-Wheels) and his love of taking care of the handyman stuff around the house during his down time. “I like being able to do stuff around the house that I can’t do when I’m on the road, and you know I hate having to pay someone to do some work on my house, or on my car or on my motorcycle that I can do on my own. But sometimes, because of the schedule, you can’t do it yourself. So I look forward to being able to do all that stuff more.” This leads me back to our original topic, along with his being handy around the house, his physical abilities and energetic performances under the lights. I remind him that he’s be playing The Sound in Clearwater, one of the beginning shows on this tour. “I’m really happy to be doing the shows and be back out here on the road. We’re just starting up again and Florida is always great. The weather’s great…it’s nice to have warm weather and I look forward to seeing all those smiling Floridians.” I conclude by asking him if he plans on breaking out the 30 foot riser or if we will see his “64 year old ass hanging from the rafters” at any point. He laughs, “I don’t wanna say. I can’t reveal anything about the show. But who knows, we’ll see.” I know I certainly will see, as I’m covering Foreigner’s show, with opening act .38 Special this Saturday at Ruth Eckerd’s gem of an outdoor venue. I’d advise any music lover, of any age, to join me as both acts never disappoint.

Now go out and See, Hear, and Feel Live Music.