Foreigner’s new lead singer reflects on Lou Gramm, Mick Jones and ‘the real rockstar’ of the band

It seems like a dream gig, but it wasn’t easy to convince Luis Maldonado to take on the role of Foreigner’s frontman. 

Already its guitarist, Maldonado had been asked to try out to be the legendary rock band’s lead singer. But even after he agreed, Maldonado worried the band’s chemistry could wither without longtime frontman Kelly Hansen, who had announced his intent to retire last year after 20 years at the helm.

“Not once did I position myself to be the singer,” Maldonado said in an interview with The Spokesman-Review. 

Maldonado even went to Hansen to try to get him to reconsider – multiple times. 

“I mean, we’re in a really great place; it feels like the band is still growing,” he recalls telling Hansen. “He was pretty clear on what he wanted to do, so I was like, OK, you’ve got to respect that … There’s a point in life when you’re like, ‘I have to live my life.’”

But, just as the line Maldonado now sings to crowds across the country says, “That was yesterday,” and he’s been belting out the songs made famous by original lead singer Lou Gramm since last year. 

“All I’d wanted to do was be a good dad and take care of my family,” he said with a laugh. “These guys are really my brothers, and so for me, my whole motivation was to keep this band together. That was purely my motivation, was like, ‘There’s so much to do here, and these guys are so great, and this management is so great, and this crew is so great.’ I just couldn’t see it dispersing.”

The band on its farewell tour doesn’t have any original members performing, but co-founder, songwriter and former guitarist Mick Jones is still actively involved behind the scenes – including by approving each member to join, Maldonado’s role as frontman no exception. The tour stops at the Spokane Tribe Resort & Casino in Airway Heights on Friday. 

“They’re right up there with the original band,” said John Lappen, Foreigner’s head of marketing. “The band’s in great hands.”

Maldonado was already a singer in his own right; the self-described “very high tenor” once snagged a record deal and was having fun singing Foreigner’s songs in acoustic brewpub sessions while taking breaks from playing guitar on stage. 

But being an internal hire didn’t do him any favors in nabbing the frontman gig; much like on “The Voice,” management approached Jones with a recording of an unidentified lead singer candidate, and Jones gave the OK without having any idea it was Maldonado. 

“I was blown away that Mick believed in me and Mick chose me and said, ‘You’re the guy.’ He’s very meticulous, he’s very careful. Even at its inception, Mick carefully chose every person to be in this group,” Maldonado said. “And so when he offered it to me, I was like, ‘OK, this guy believes in me; he believes I can do it, so I’m gonna do it.’ That was a real big thing for me, was having his support.”

Maldonado enjoys the support of Gramm, too. The two Foreigner singers took turns as frontman on a tour of South America recently.

“We just had a great time. It was about music, it was about the songs; because at the end of the day, the real rockstar of Foreigner are the songs,” Maldonado said. “I think there was this synergy that happened between, you know, Lou and … the band and management and everybody involved in Foreigner that the songs were so important, that it wasn’t about one person; it was about the music. We realized it really was about the music.”

That music runs the gamut, from randy rock tunes like “Hotblooded,” angsty breakup anthems like “Cold as Ice” and the yearning ballad “I Want to Know What Love Is,” which the band will play with backing from the Mt. Spokane High School Chamber Choir. 

Switching between the emotional themes each one requires is a little like driving a stick-shift, Maldonado said. 

“My headspace was, I’ve got to sing all these songs with intention and quality and performance,” he said. “So there was no less effort in any song; all of the songs are demanding your best. And they’re all so different, and they all have a different effect on people.”

For Maldonado, it’s hard to pick a favorite tune, but he’s currently cycling between “Cold as Ice,” “Hotblooded” and “That Was Yesterday.” 

“You become the instrument,” Maldonado said. “It’s one thing to just sing the song, do all the lyrics and notes. But it’s a different thing when you’re actually trying to connect that song to the audience. Because at the end of the day, music’s about connection. I’m kind of just the messenger, and I’m a messenger having fun, and I want people having fun and the guys on stage having fun.”