FOREIGNER Wraps Up First Leg Of Two-Year Farewell Tour Grossing Over $18M
September 14, 2023, a year ago
“Performed like a group in their prime rather than on their way to retirement,” says Michigan Live. “Magnetic, meaningful and memorable,” says Chicago Concert Reviews. “Nearly every song is a well-known rock staple,” says The Record Live. Foreigner, the band behind some of rock’s most timeless songs wrapped up the first leg of their Farewell Tour with a slew of sold-out shows, enthusiastic reviews, and box-office records.
The tour will continue through the fall with a string of sold-out indoor events that will bring the excitement to fans in secondary markets across the USA. Details can be found here.
The band reached hundreds of thousands of loyal fans as they rocked across the US and Canada on the first leg of their Farewell Tour, which grossed over $18,000,000, making it one of the most successful classic rock tours of the summer. Fans at the 32 tour stops were treated to some of rock and roll’s most enduring anthems including, “Juke Box Hero,” “Cold As Ice,” “Hot Blooded,” “Waiting For A Girl Like You,” “Feels Like The First Time,” “Urgent,” “Head Games,” “Say You Will,” “Dirty White Boy,” “Long, Long Way From Home” and the worldwide #1 hit, “I Want To Know What Love Is.”
The Farewell Tour, announced by Foreigner frontman Kelly Hansen in a sit-down interview with FOX & Friends in November 2022, launched at Atlanta’s Ameris Bank Amphitheatre on July 6, 2023. For the Live Nation amphitheater tour, Foreigner was joined by Loverboy, one of the 80’s biggest hit-makers. The spectacular show, also teased for millions of viewers on ABC’s hit show GMA3 this summer, thrilled audiences with stellar performances of more than 20 combined chart-topping songs. Kelly Hansen had this to say: “What a fabulous beginning to our Farewell odyssey. The fans have been amazing in expressing their joy for this catalog and this legacy. I very much look forward to continuing to play these amazing songs with this extremely talented band to these brilliant fans all over, and I am filled with humble gratitude.”
Live Nation’s Rick Franks said, “The first leg of Foreigner’s two-year Farewell Tour played to a nightly average of over 10,000 ecstatic fans. The amazing reviews and box office numbers made it one of the most successful classic rock tours of the summer. We are all looking forward to the band’s December announcement of forthcoming shows.”
As part of Foreigner’s long-time partnership with the Grammy Museum Foundation supporting music programs in our nation’s schools, Foreigner conducted a contest in each tour city that gave choirs the chance to open the show and win a PA System donated by Bose.
Launched exclusively during the Foreigner Farewell Tour was the companion album on vinyl, Farewell - The Very Best Of Foreigner, which debuted on the Billboard Current Album chart at #40.
Foreigner leader and founder Mick Jones said, “It has been heartwarming to read the reviews on social media from so many of our fans that attended the first leg of our Farewell Tour. Over the next year or so we hope to perform in most of the cities that Foreigner has played since the band was reformed.”
Foreigner will round out the first year of the Farewell Tour with 2024 shows to be announced in December including “Feels Like The Last Time”; a two-part residency at The Venetian Resort Las Vegas featuring sixteen shows taking place March 22nd – April 6th and October 25th – November 9, 2024. Tickets are available for purchase at Ticketmaster.com, VenetianLasVegas.com, and any box office at The Venetian Resort, or by calling 702.414.9000 or 866.641.7469.
Mick Jones continues to elevate Foreigner’s influence and guide the band to new horizons with his stylistic songwriting, indelible guitar hooks and multi-layered talents while lead singer Kelly Hansen, one of rock’s greatest showmen, takes Foreigner into the digital age inspiring a whole new generation of fans. Bassist Jeff Pilson; Michael Bluestein on keyboards; guitarist Bruce Watson; Chris Frazier on drums and guitarist Luis Maldonado provide an unprecedented level of energy that has resulted in the re-emergence of the astounding music that speaks to Foreigner‘s enduring popularity.
With more Top 10 hits than Journey, as many as Fleetwood Mac, and ten multi-platinum albums, Foreigner is universally hailed as one of the most popular rock acts in the world with a formidable musical arsenal that continues to propel sold-out tours and album sales, now exceeding 80 million. Responsible for some of rock and roll’s most enduring anthems including “Juke Box Hero,” “Cold As Ice,” “Hot Blooded,” “Waiting For A Girl Like You,” “Feels Like The First Time,” “Urgent,” “Head Games,” “Say You Will,” “Dirty White Boy,” “Long, Long Way From Home” and the worldwide #1 hit, “I Want To Know What Love Is,” Foreigner still rocks the charts more than 40 years into the game with massive airplay and continued Billboard Top 200 album success. Streams of Foreigner’s hits are approaching 15 million per week.
(Photo - Kamal Asar)
