A classic rock singer from Upstate New York is set to release his first new album in 17 years.
Lou Gramm, the original voice of Foreigner, revealed in a new interview that his solo album, “Released,” will be out in March 2026. It will be his first full-length release of original music since The Lou Gramm Band’s self-titled LP in 2009.
Gramm said he’s been working on new material with longtime friend Bruce Turgon, who was in Gramm’s solo bands and also played bass in Foreigner for about a decade. According to Blabbermouth, some of the songs were originally written for other solo albums in the 1980s or Gramm’s side project Shadow King in 1991 but never finished.
“I’ve been working on this album for over two years, and I have been looking through my backlog of songs that were great songs but were unfinished and didn’t make it to the cut on my records and went back and finished some of them, and they’re awesome songs,“ Gramm said. ”So I’m taking some new songs that were written and some of the older songs that deserve to be on the album. I finished ‘em up, polished ‘em up, and they’re on the album. So it’s a little conglomerate of past and present.”
“Released” will be available March 20; fans can preorder it on vinyl via Amazon. Gramm said the first single is expected to be released in early February.
“It rocks hard, boy,” Gramm said. “I’m so excited to release them, because, to me, they sound great.”
According to American Songwriter, Gramm recorded the new songs with his current solo group, including his brother Ben Grammatico on drums, Jeff Jacobs on keyboards, Scott Gilman on sax, Tony Franklin on bass, and Gary Hoey on guitar.
Gramm was the original lead singer of Foreigner, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame group known for 1970s and ‘80s hits like “I Want to Know What Love Is,” “Hot Blooded,” “Feels Like the First Time,” “Waiting for a Girl Like You,” and “Cold As Ice.” Gramm, a Rochester native who currently lives in Webster, N.Y., co-founded the band with guitarist Mick Jones; they were also inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame together.
Gramm left Foreigner in 1990 and again in 2003, opting for a solo career. He released two solo albums, “Ready or Not” in 1987 and “Long Hard Look” in 1989, featuring songs like “Midnight Blue” and “Just Between You and Me.” He also performed with Black Sheep and Poor Heart; released albums with Shadow King (with Def Leppard’s Vivian Campbell) in 1991 and The Lou Gramm Band in 2009; and shared reissues and compilations of previously released material (like 1993’s “A Foreigner in a Strange Land (The Early Years)” and most recently “Questions and Answers: The Atlantic Anthology 1987-1989″ in 2021).
The 75-year-old singer has reunited with Foreigner as a guest vocalist at some concerts over the past year, including to promote a reissue of the 1981 album “4″ and to celebrate the band’s upcoming 50th anniversary. The current lineup features singer Luis Maldonado, bassist Jeff Pilson, keyboardist Michael Bluestein, guitarist Bruce Watson and drummer Chris Frazier; former lead singer Kelly Hansen stepped down in October after 20 years with Foreigner.
Luis Maldonado, Lou Gramm, and Jeff Pilson perform “I Want to Know What Love Is” during the Foreigner 4 The Deluxe Tour with Lou Gramm at The Capital Theatre on December 3, 2025 in Port Chester, New York. (Photo by Joy Malone/Getty Images)Getty Images
Jones is the only original member that’s still officially in Foreigner, though he hasn’t performed live since 2022 due to his battle with Parkinson’s disease.
Gramm told Ultimate Classic Rock in October that he plans to retire next year sometime after releasing his solo album.
“I’ve been doing this over 54 years,” Gramm told UCR. “I just feel like there’s some other things that I want to do. I want to spend more time with my children — my older children and my younger child — and spend more time playing with my cars while I’m still capable of driving.”
“[I’d like to] just stay off the road and enjoy my home, the surroundings and my family and friends, something that I’ve had to sacrifice for over 50 years,” he adds. “I’ve done all there is to do I feel. And being in the Songwriters Hall of Fame and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame are huge milestones for me. You know, I think in this business, you just know when it’s time.”
