Iconic 1970s Rock Band Announces Lead Singer is Leaving
A rock band made a major announcement on Tuesday, May 20 — their lead singer is stepping down.
At the end of Tuesday's episode of The Voice, iconic 1970s/1980s rock band announced that lead singer Kelly Hansen is leaving the band at the end of the summer after fronting the band for two decades. Guitarist Luis Maldonado will be replacing Hansen as the new lead vocalist.
'Being the voice of Foreigner has been one of the greatest honors of my life,' said Hansen in a statement. 'But it's time to pass the mic. Luis has the voice, the energy, and the soul to carry these songs into the future. I couldn't be prouder to hand this off to him.'
'In 1976, my goal was to assemble the finest group of musicians I could find. Results have shown that it worked! About thirty years later, Jason Bonham encouraged me to do it all over again and create a brand-new Foreigner, and the magic was still there. I was especially fortunate in the choice of lead singer. Kelly Hansen is one of the best front men in our business and over the last twenty years he has breathed new life into our songs," said Foreigner founder Mick Jones.
Jones continued, "His boundless energy and flawless talent has helped us climb the mountain and set up the opportunity for Foreigner vocalist and guitarist, Luis Maldonado, to bring us home. I wish Kelly great happiness in his next endeavors after our summer tour, and I look forward to welcoming Luis to his new position. Luis was my choice as a guitarist and he has already shown us what he can do on lead vocals by fronting the band in South America to incredible reviews. He will soon lead the charge that will carry us forward to new heights.'
'This music has been part of my life for as long as I can remember,' said Maldonado. 'I'm ready to honor Foreigner's legacy and bring my heart to every performance.'
Hansen and Maldonado will continue to tour through the end of 2025 in a bit of a "passing of the torch" as the band celebrates its 50th anniversary in 2026.
In 2026, the band will also see 14 of its greatest hits debut in a stage musical called Feels Like the First Time in Long Island, New York.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Bloomberg
31 minutes ago
- Bloomberg
A Big, Pending Case Unites and Divides the Music Industry Over Fraud in Streaming
Hello, hello. Welcome back to Soundbite. Yesterday I spent part of the day at a conversation about fraud in the music business. It was partially put together by Katherine C. Reilly, the former head of the complex frauds and cybercrime unit for the US Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York. Previously, she helped bring the case against Michael Smith, who is accused of using generative artificial intelligence to make songs and drive streams to them to the tune of $10 million. The results of the case could set a major precedent in the streaming era. Smith's lawyers didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. During the conversation, Reilly gave some backstory on how the case came together, and the audience got a little heated over the current state of fraud prevention in the streaming world. We'll dive in. Also, my calendar is booking up pretty quickly, but if you'll be in New York next week for all the music industry and Tribeca happenings, let me know. I'd love to meet with some more people.
Forbes
an hour ago
- Forbes
‘Wicked: For Good' Trailer Reveals An Action-Packed Sequel With A Lot Of Heart
Wicked: For Good Credit: Universal Wicked is one of my favorite Broadway musicals and I was absolutely blown away by the film adaptation from Jon M. Chu and Universal Pictures last year. Despite the long run-time, I was completely engrossed throughout. I rank it as one of the best stage-to-film adaptations ever made, with award-worthy performances from Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande. It was a little disappointing that the movie was split into two parts, but on the plus side we get to look forward to the sequel, Wicked: For Good. The title is mildly awkward, though it's taken from the musical's final act banger track, 'For Good' which is effectively the culmination of the relationship between Elphaba – aka the Wicked Witch of the West – and Galinda – aka Glinda the Good Witch. She's not a bad witch, she's a good witch. Then again, so is Elphaba, even though the Wizard Of Oz's propaganda machine would have the citizens of Oz think otherwise. We see that at work in the new trailer, which highlights the relationship of the two witches but gives us glimpses of the anti-Wicked Witch Of The West campaign as well. We also see the Cowardly Lion, the Tin Man and the Scarecrow along with Dorothy from Kansas, as they approach the Great And Powerful Oz: Wicked: For Good Credit: Universal When you think about it, Dorothy is an awfully strange assassin for the Wizard to choose to send after his magical rival. Strange but effective, if The Wizard Of Oz is anything to go by, though without spoiling things, this is obviously a much different story than L. Frank Baum's book and the classic film adaptation. It's also a very different story from the novel Wicked by Gregory Maguire, which leans a lot darker and more cynical than the Broadway show and the films. It's quite the chain of adaptations. Baum's book (which was allegory for the silver vs gold standard debate at the time) to the classic Judy Garland film to the Maguire book to the stage show to the new pair of films. Will we get a Wicked video game next? I'd play it. I'm hopeful that the second film fleshes out some of the action in the second act of the stage show. For obvious reasons, that's a little truncated and glossed over in the musical. Film, as a medium, opens up some fun opportunities for bigger action set-pieces as well as intimate close-ups. This is definitely at the top of my most-anticipated films of 2025 list. Here's the trailer: Wicked: For Good releases on November 21st, 2025. Read my review of Wicked right here.
Car and Driver
an hour ago
- Car and Driver
View Photos of the 1978 Dodge Omni and Plymouth Horizon
Read the full review If you're gonna copy somebody else's work, it might as well be the smartest person you know.
