Foreigner’s list of hit songs rivals that of any other rock band in history, and the soulful and distinctive voice behind those tunes is the unmistakeable timbre of one Lou Gramm.
Gramm, along with Foreigner guitarist Mick Jones, penned some of the most iconic tracks in rock history. In 2013, the pair were inducted together into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, and after a delay that was entirely too long, Foreigner were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2024.
One of the band’s most memorable hits is their 1981 classic “Juke Box Hero,” taken from their iconic album, “4.” Lou Gramm told me the origin of the song when I spoke to him ahead of a solo show he played in Canton, Ohio.
Gramm said: “I live in Rochester, New York. We have a venue called the Rochester War Memorial where the big bands played. I remember a number of times going down there because I knew someone I liked was playing. I didn’t have the money to get a ticket. So I’d hang out by the back door where the guests would come in. Every time the security would open the door to let a guest in, I’d stick my head in there, and I’d see the stage, and bands like Hendrix and The Animals and just a bunch of different groups over a few years. So I was that kid in the song that was hanging by the door. It was very cool. So I had those thoughts, and I started putting it into a story. I played it for Mick, and he liked it. Once we got that ‘juke box hero’ chorus together, we knew we had something that was dynamite.”
Editor’s note: Web Is Jericho writer B.J. Lisko is digging into his archives from more than a decades worth of work as an entertainment writer for The Canton Repository and The Akron Beacon Journal for a new series, “Stories Behind The Songs.” Keep an eye out for many more articles like this right here on Web Is Jericho!
See also: “Sister Christian”: The Story Behind Night’s Ranger’s Biggest Song
