Credit: Dale Wilcox
Foreigner guitarist/songwriter Mick Jones and the band’s original frontman, Lou Gramm, conduct their first on-camera interview together in more than 20 years during the latest episode of AXS TV’s The Big Interview, which airs tonight at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT. The one-time songwriting duo talk with host Dan Rather about their successful careers, their struggles with illness, and the conflicts that led Gramm to leave Foreigner in 2003.
In a preview clip, Gramm discusses the rift that formed between him and Jones.
“I think when we were supposed to be at our creative best, which was when we were writing songs, there seemed to be either miscommunication or sometimes no communication,” Lou maintains. “Someone would end up at the end of a day or two very unfulfilled, and you’d start putting a wall up.”
The singer adds that those fruitless songwriting sessions bred “resentment and anger,” and eventually, “you wouldn’t bother to get together to write songs.”
Jones, meanwhile, says that a competitive and stressful atmosphere developed within Foreigner because the band was so successful right out of the gate.
“We had a lot to prove,” Mick notes. “On our first album we reached four-and-a-half-million records…[T]hat was unbelievable and…there was a lot of pressure to come through and confirm that with more success.”
Jones also suggests that his substance abuse played a role in him allowing his relationship with Gramm to falter.
“I look back at that with regret,” Mick says, “because there were a number of years I think we could’ve carried on.”
Jones’ and Gramm’s relationship, of course, has warmed in recent years, with Lou taking part in several special Foreigner reunion concerts since 2017.
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