British-American band Foreigner goes on tour again, then goes on hiatus. The band announced this in an interview with Billboard. “I want to leave the band while the band is still at its peak,” said guitarist and founding member Mick Jones.
“I got the idea to eventually become an alien in 1974, and I was 30 at the time,” says Jones. “By the end of this farewell tour, it’s been over 50 years, which is a very long time to be on the road and doing shows.” Another foreigner’s tour of the United States will begin on July 6 next year. There is no set end date yet.
Kelly Hansen has been the frontman of the band since 2005, and told Billboard that the parting is something he and Jones have been talking about for a while. “It’s a tough decision to make,” says the 61-year-old singer. “I never thought in a million years that I’d still be singing songs in these stadiums at my age.” “And I don’t know how long I can keep doing it at the level I want myself to.”
Hansen and Jeff Bilson, Foreigner’s bass player since 2004, say Foreigner will be releasing some new music in the near future, too. “There are a lot of things in development that are definitely within the realm of possibility,” Hansen predicts. The band’s latest album, Can’t Slow Down, was released in 2009.
