Kelly Hansen, lead vocalist for the rock band Foreigner, is ready to put away the microphone – only after the band’s farewell tour.
Hansen, who has been the lead singer of Foreigner since 2005, opened up to Fox News Digital about “wild” fan interactions, “very dangerous” concert trends, and becoming part of the band after Lou Gramm’s exit all those years ago.
“With the internet, there’s a lot of wackos and crazies out there,” Hansen explained. “And I’ve kind of backed off my social media because it was causing me so much stress. Because I had a lot of people who… were saying that, you know, I was their husband or that they were traveling to the United States because the imposter who said it was me told them to fly to L.A. to meet with me. And I just got so stressed out about that kind of stuff, it kind of freaked me out.”
Kelly Hansen and the rock band Foreigner are touring for the final time. (Getty Images)
“The really wild stuff is like weird fan stuff sometimes,” he added, before clarifying that he’s also had some “really, really great” interactions with fans.
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Hansen, along with the other members of Foreigner, launched their farewell tour on July 6 in Atlanta, which will run through 2024. Hansen thought this might be his last tour as he realized how “difficult” the catalog of songs is to sing each year.
“I’m 62 and these [songs] are in the high tenor range and every year gets a little bit harder, a little bit harder, and I have to give up a little bit more of something to kind of maintain my status quo,” Hansen told Fox News Digital.
“I don’t want to be one of those bands that goes out there and does the songs less than they should be,” he added. “It’s very important to me. I don’t want to go out there with tapes in the background or all kinds of, you know, fake stuff.”
The members of Foreigner, Thom Gimbel, Paul Mirkovich, Kelly Hansen, Jeff Pilson, Mick Jones and Jason Bonham. (Getty Images)
Throughout the years, Foreigner has released nine studio albums and sold over more than 50 million records worldwide, according to Billboard. However, Hansen’s key to success is knowing your limits.
“Clint Eastwood said, ‘Man’s got to know his limitations.’ And I think it’s very important that you understand your limits and that your band and your management and your agents understand that if I say I can do something, I can do it,” Hansen explained. “If I say I can’t do something, I can’t do it because everyone wants you to do more.”
“They want you to do more shows. They want you to do more days in a row,” he continued. “They want you to do something.” The rock singer emphasized that it’s important to know yourself and know when to put your foot down when it comes to protecting your voice.
Kelly Hansen and Bruce Watson of Foreigner perform at Ryman Auditorium on Aug. 18, 2021. (Getty Images)
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Kelly Hansen spoke to Fox News Digital about Foreigner’s final tour, which kicked off July 6. (Getty Images)
Foreigner’s final tour is accompanied by a collector’s album, “FAREWELL – The Very Best Of Foreigner.” The album features songs produced by Mick Jones with Jeff Pilson and only 5,000 albums were made.
For Hansen, he’s going to miss the audiences but also the “camaraderie” he built with his fellow Foreigner musicians. He is joined by Jones, Pilson, Michael Bluestein, Bruce Watson, Chris Frazier and Luis Maldonado. Jones is the only original member of the band.
Foreigner performs on the “Fox & Friends” Summer Concert Series at FOX Studios on July 22, 2022. (Getty Images)
“We enjoy each other’s company,” Hansen said. “We’ve we’ve all been around the block a few times. We all understand how amazing an opportunity this is, and we’re all very, very grateful for that. So that’s not lost on us.”
“We have a lot of fun together,” he added, before noting that the “toughest part” of ending their time together is how they won’t get to see each other as much.
Before Hansen joined Foreigner, Gramm was the lead singer. The former band member left in 2003 after continued conflict with Jones. However, Gramm has joined Hansen and the rock band on stage a handful of times, including the 40th anniversary shows in 2017 and 2018.
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Hansen, who has been a part of the music industry for nearly 50 years, had been an established musician when he took the leap of faith and joined the band.
“Coming in… it was not lost on me that I had to have a discussion with myself, basically, I said, ‘You know, some people aren’t going to dig you, and you have to be prepared. Are you prepared for that?’ And I said, ‘Yes, I am,’” Hansen recalled.
“And I said to myself, ‘You know, you haven’t been on the road in almost 15 years. Are you prepared to go on the road and do that?’ And I said, ‘Yes’. And I knew with my experience I’d know how to take care of myself and do that. So, I kind of had to have that conversation with myself about your whole world is going to change.”
Kelly Hansen became the vocalist for Foreigner in 2005 after the departure of Lou Gramm. (Getty Images)
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Before joining Foreigner in 2005, Hansen wasn’t traveling, instead staying home to work on producing, engineering, artist development and songwriting.
“At some point you have to have belief in yourself to say, ‘I think I can do this. I think I can deliver these songs the way they need to be delivered.’ And you have to have faith in yourself to jump off that cliff and take that chance.”
Hansen admitted it took “many months” for him to feel like he fit into the songs musically despite getting “really great feedback” as the vocalist for Foreigner almost right away. “It takes a while to really get yourself inside the skin of the songs and to where you feel like you really understand them.”
WATCH: FOREIGNER’S FRONTMAN EXPLAINS WHY NEW CONCERT TREND IS ‘VERY DANGEROUS’
Throughout his years on the road, Hansen has dealt with the increasingly popular concert trend of throwing items at performers. The singer explained to Fox News Digital why it’s “very dangerous.”
“When you’re standing on stage, and you have a spotlight on you, what it does is it blinds you,” Hansen said. “You can’t see the audience. So, you can’t see anything that’s coming at you. It’s very, very dangerous.”
Kelly Hansen of Foreigner performs at Fox Theater on Oct. 14, 2021. (Getty Images)
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Hansen recalled having full unopened cans of beer thrown at him while on stage. “It’s tough because… at the best, I can see something right at the last minute when it crosses the spotlight.” He called the trend a “bandwagon” that people just want to get on without thinking about the artist they’re hurting, “supposedly somebody… they’re there to see.”
