Lou gram

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Lou Gram (1979)

Lou Gramm (born Louis Andrew Grammatico ; * 2. May 1950 in Rochester , New York , USA ) is an American rock - singer . With interruptions he was a key musician of the rock band Foreigner until 2003 . He also works as a solo artist.

Musical career

Lou Gramm, whose childhood favorite band were the Beatles , began to sit behind the drums at a young age. From Gramm's point of view, this experience as a drummer was of great help to him as a singer and composer, as he internalized the all-important sense of rhythm. The musician was also influenced by other, great music interpreters, for example he describes Steve Marriott , Paul Rodgers , Marvin Gaye and Aretha Franklin as his great idols. The then fifteen year old Gramm made his first appearance with his band PHFFT when they were playing songs by the Beatles in a town hall. Although Louis' parents did not approve of their son's enthusiasm for music, the career of a great musician was emerging.

So he began as the drummer of the band Black Sheep, which released their debut album Black Sheep in 1975 and also worked on the second album Encouraging Word , before he was brought in by guitarist Mick Jones in his newly formed band Foreigner as a singer. He worked with Foreigner from 1976 to 1994 (with interruptions) on seven albums. His hits with the band include songs like Cold as Ice , Hot Blooded , Double Vision , Urgent , Waiting for a Girl Like You , Juke Box Hero and I Want to Know What Love Is .

In February 1987 Gramm released his first solo album Ready or Not , from which the singles Midnight Blue and Ready Or Not come. In the same year he contributed the song Lost In The Shadows to the soundtrack of the film The Lost Boys .

In October 1989 his second solo album Long Hard Look was released , on which such well-known musicians as Nils Lofgren , Vivian Campbell and the studio guitarist Dann Huff participated. Gramm left Foreigner for the first time in 1990 and founded the band Shadow King together with Vivian Campbell , who released their first and only album Shadow King in 1991 . At Foreigner, Gramm was replaced by Johnny Edwards for the album Unusual Heat .

Shortly thereafter, Gramm and Jones recorded three new songs for the September 1992 best of compilation Foreigner - The Very Best And Beyond ; with that the singer was back in the band. In November 1994 the Foreigner album Mr. Moonlight followed .

In 1997 Lou Gramm was diagnosed with a brain tumor, which was successfully removed in a lengthy treatment. As a result of chemotherapy and anti-cancer drugs, Gramm gained significant weight. His voice was also severely affected by the treatment, making it difficult for him to sing high notes for several years. In 1999, Gramm returned to Foreigner. After touring the US in 2003, Gramm decided to pursue his solo career.

He founded the Lou Gramm Band with his brothers Richard Grammatico (bass / guitar) and Ben Grammatico (drums), Andy Knoll (keyboards) and Don Mancuso (guitar / bass) and released the album The Lou Gramm Band in 2009 .

In 2013 Lou Gramm was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame along with Mick Jones .

On December 29, 2018, Lou Gramm announced at his concert in Schenectady that he wanted to end his career as a solo artist and thus "hang up the microphone". He made this decision together with confidants from the business and his wife Robyn. Nevertheless, he will not completely withdraw from the music business, but his solo concerts will be a thing of the past.

In 2019 the song Sometimes , which was produced by Alan Parsons , was released.

Discography

Studio albums

year title Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements
(Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) 		Remarks
DE DE AT AT CH CH UK UK US US
1987 Ready or Not - - CH28 (1 week)
CH 		- US27 (26 weeks)
US
First published: March 13, 1987
1989 Long hard look - - - - US85 (23 weeks)
US
First published: October 13, 1989

more publishments

  • 2009: Lou Gramm Band

Singles

year Title
album 		Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements
(Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes) 		Remarks
DE DE AT AT CH CH UK UK US US
1987 Midnight Blue
Ready or Not 		DE45 (9 weeks)
DE 		- - UK82 (3 weeks)
UK 		US5 (20 weeks)
US
First published: January 31, 1987
Ready or Not
Ready or Not 		- - - - US54 (12 weeks)
US
First published: May 9, 1987
1989 Just Between You and Me
Long Hard Look 		- - - - US6 (21 weeks)
US
First published: October 28, 1989
True Blue Love
Long Hard Look 		- - - - US40 (11 weeks)
US
First published: December 1989

With Foreigner

  • 1977: Foreigner (Atlantic)
  • 1978: Double Vision (Atlantic)
  • 1979: Head Games (Atlantic)
  • 1981: 4 (Atlantic)
  • 1984: Agent Provocateur (Atlantic)
  • 1987: Inside Information (Atlantic)
  • 1994: Mr. Moonlight (Arista / BMG)

With Black Sheep

  • 1974: Black Sheep
  • 1975: Encouraging Words

With Poor Heart

  • 1988: Foreigner in a Strange Land
  • 1993: The Best of the Early Years

With Shadow King

With Liberty n 'Justice

  • 2004: Welcome to the Revolution

Web links

swell

  1. ↑ Lou Gramm: "I stand by my musical past" | svz.de. Retrieved June 2, 2019 .
  2. ↑ RP ONLINE: Interview: Lou Gramm: I can sing Foreigner songs in my sleep. Retrieved June 2, 2019 .
  3. ↑ Songwriters Hall of Fame website , accessed February 12, 2018
  4. ↑ LOU GRAMM: Live solo career ended. Retrieved May 30, 2019 .
  5. ↑ ALAN PARSONS: 'Sometimes' feat. Lou Gramm in the stream. Retrieved May 29, 2019 .
  6. ↑ a b Chart sources: DE CH UK US
personal data
SURNAME Grams, Lou
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Grammatico, Louis Andrew (maiden name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American rock singer
DATE OF BIRTH May 2, 1950
PLACE OF BIRTH Rochester , New York , USA