Foreigner’s lead singer Kelly Hansen announced he will not join the band for their Latin American tour this spring, but a special guest will take his place.
“Some issues have forced me to limit appearances outside of the USA this year, and this means, unfortunately, I will miss Foreigner’s South American run,” Hansen said in a statement via blabbermouth.net. “However, our incredible bandmate Luis Maldonado has been recording some of our hits in Spanish and he will be handling most of the vocals along with [original Foreigner singer] Lou Gramm, who will be guesting with Foreigner for those shows. I know they will smash it!”
The tour is set to start on April 28 in Mexico City. The specific “issues” preventing Hansen’s international appearances remain unspecified.
Previously, it was announced that Hansen would also not appear with the band for their Canadian performances in October and November. Foreigner’s publicist commented, “Circumstances prohibit Kelly from spending too much time outside of the U.S., so he will be sitting this one out. Geordie [Brown] will be appearing at all shows in this tour.”
The last time Gramm performed with Foreigner was on March 15 in Clearwater, Florida, where he joined the band for the encore, singing “I Want to Know What Love Is” and “Hot Blooded.”