Foreigner just released their first new song in eight years, titled ‘Turning Back the Time.’ Lou Gramm and Mick Jones originally created the track, which is part of the band’s upcoming best-of compilation album, but it remained unreleased until now.
Gramm celebrated the new single in a recent video on X by sending a special message to his ex-bandmate. “Hi, I’m Lou Gramm, and I just had the opportunity to hear the new Foreigner single,” he said. “This is the new Foreigner single that Mick and I wrote a number of years ago and recorded. And we’ve been waiting a long time to hear it on the radio, and it sounds fantastic.”
“Mick, we did a good job. So, I’m hoping you guys run out and buy it or download it or whatever you wanna do. I think there’s gonna be more of that coming. So, just check it out, okay? Thanks.”
Have you heard our NEW single Turning Back the Time? #foreigner #newmusic PRE-ORDER here: pic.twitter.com/kUStEFcssw
— Lou Gramm (@GrammLou) August 29, 2024
Lou Gramm left Foreigner in 2003 because of communication issues between him and Mick Jones. The singer didn’t talk to the guitarist or other band members for years despite reuniting on a few occasions like 2013’s Songwriters Hall of Fame ceremony.
“I haven’t spoken to anybody,” he explained in April. “I’m going to be speaking to Phil Carson in about 25 or 30 minutes and I’m going to ask him if he thinks I should call the rest of the guys or not and he’s going to have to give me their phone numbers because I don’t have anybody’s phone number anymore. That’s how distant it is.”
Still, Jones made it clear to Billboard that there was no bad blood between the two. The guitarist was also fine with having Gramm at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 2024 for their induction.
“On a personal level, I have no hard feelings toward Lou,” he noted. “We did perform together at the 40th anniversary concert. It has been so many years now since Lou left Foreigner; I like to think that those ill feelings are in the past. There is power in letting go of hard feelings and getting on with your life.”
The Rock Hall ceremony will take place on October 19. Foreigner will release their full ‘Turning Back the Time’ compilation album through Rhino two weeks ahead of the event.