Lou Gramm Describes Rock Hall’s ‘Fast One’ on Foreigner

Lou
Gramm
accused
the

Rock
&
Roll
Hall
of
Fame
of
pulling
a
“fast
one”
on

Foreigner
ahead
of
their

induction
ceremony
last
month.

The
original
singer
said
he,
along
with
fellow
co-founders
keyboardist
Al
Greenwood
and
bassist
Rick
Wills,
had
believed
they
were
going
to
be
a
major
part
of
the
performance
on
the
night.

But
he
claimed
they
only
discovered
hours
before
the
event
that
others
would
be
leading
a
set
of
cut-down
Foreigner
classics
instead,
including
current
band
members
and
guests

Sammy
Hagar,

Slash,

Chad
Smith,

Demi
Lovato
and

Kelly
Clarkson.

READ
MORE: How
One
Person
Saved
Foreigner
From
Obscurity

The
induction
went
ahead
in
the
absence
of
two
surviving
originals:
band
leader

Mick
Jones,
due
to
his
ongoing
illness,
and
drummer
Dennis
Elliott,
who,
Gramm
said,
refused
to
take
part
on
having
heard
earlier
that
he
wouldn’t
be
allowed
to
perform.

“The
thing
for
me
is
I
am
first
and
foremost
a
rock
singer,
and
it’s
the
Rock
Hall
of
Fame,”
Gramm
told
Eddie
Trunk
in
a
recent
interview
on

SiriusXM.
“And
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.”

He
said
he’d
been
told
“time
restraints”
were
the
reason
behind
the
organizers’
decision,
to
which
Trunk
pointed
out
that
“if
someone
else
is
singing”
the
same
time
was
still
being
used.

“I
don’t
think
anybody
else
sang
‘Juke
Box
Hero,’”
Gramm
added.
“But
I
know
they
did
‘Hot
Blooded’
and
‘Feels
Like
the
First
Time.’
…
I
thought
an
edited
version
of
‘I
Wanna
Know
What
Love
Is’
into
an
edited
version
of
‘Juke
Box
Hero’
would
have
been
okay…
but
he
didn’t
explain
to
me.
He
just
said,
‘No,
it’s
not
gonna
work.’”

Turning
to
Elliott’s
no-show,
the
singer
explained:
“The
reason
Dennis
didn’t
come
was
because
he
found
out
from
management
a
number
of
days
before
Rick,
Al
and
I…
that
we
weren’t
gonna
play.”

Lou
Gramm
Questions
His
Own
Rock
Hall
Attendance

“As
soon
as
Dennis
found
out
that
we
weren’t
performing
on
our
night,
he
decided
he
wasn’t
gonna
come,”
Gramm
continued. “And
we’re
just
going,
‘Dennis,
come
on…
We’re
gonna
play.’
…
And
then
we
found
out
the
afternoon
of
the
show
that
we
weren’t
performing.

“We
thought
we
were
gonna
be
performing,
and
Dennis
was
gonna
be
there,
and
we’d
have
the
guitar
player
from
the
new
Foreigner
play
mixed
parts
and
play
a
couple
songs.
And
then
we
found
out
at
the
last
minute
that
it
was
the
new
Foreigner
who
was
gonna
be
playing
and
Rick
and
Al
would
be
standing
there
singing
background
vocals.”

Asked
if
he’d
have
attended
if
he’d
known
about
the
performance
plans,
Gramm
replied:
“I
don’t
know.
I
didn’t
know
sooner…
and
when
I
found
out
that
that’s
why
[Elliott]
didn’t
come,
I
even
got
more
angrier
–
but
not
at
him.
It
was
almost
like
there
was
a
fast
one
being
played.”

Listen
to
Lou
Gamm
on
SiriusXM