Jeff Pilson says Foreigner’s ‘moving forward’ after singer Kelly Hansen’s departure

Foreigner launched a farewell tour in 2023, but that was because frontman Kelly Hansen wanted to stop touring. Now that Hansen’s announced his departure from the band at the end of the summer and will be replaced by the band’s guitarist, Luis Maldonado, Foreigner isn’t going anywhere.

“There’s just a lot of forward movement, and the band is incredibly excited,” Foreigner bassist Jeff Pilson, who joined the band in 2004, tells Billboard. “What started off as being a farewell tour now ended up being Kelly’s last tour and (the band) moving forward.”

Regarding Kelly’s departure, Pilson notes, “We’ve had a great run together, and he deserves to have a wonderful life.” He says that Maldonado coming in as a replacement happened “organically.”

“Luis really had no intention of this,” Pilson says. “He was trying to talk Kelly into staying. And when it became clear Kelly really wants to live a life now … Luis just stepped up and, oh my God, that voice came through.”

And while there are currently no original members in Foreigner, original frontman Lou Gramm recently played some shows with the band and said he’d be open to doing more. Plus Pilson says founder Mick Jones, who no longer tours due to Parkinson’s disease, has been “really supportive” of the group.

“It’s creating a unified front,” Pilson says. “We’re able to integrate everything, not only with Lou but everything about Foreigner, into the present. Making this change, with Luis, with Mick and Lou’s endorsement and having the whole organization working more together, has been such a positive thing.”

Foreigner’s tour hits Arnolds Park, Iowa, on Friday. A complete list of dates can be found at Foreigneronline.com.

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