Classic rock survivors Foreigner on lasting the course and finding new fans
Touring with Def Leppard, Journey and Whitesnake, making a 40th anniversary album, readying a Broadway-style musical – at 73, Mick Jones hasn’t been this busy in years.
More than three decades after Foreigner’s 1984 ballad I Want To Know What Love Is topped the charts in several countries, the group’s founder and sole original member says that – yes – he does know now.
“The amount of times I get asked that,” Mick Jones chuckles over the phone from Australia ahead of the Anglo-American band’s upcoming Hong Kong performance on November 3.
“The song took its own course. It ended up as a universal message of love thy neighbour, in a way. I think I know what love is now. I’m grateful for my family and my health, and for what’s happened to me in my career.”
And a lot has happened in the 73-year-old British-born guitarist’s career, from playing guitar on George Harrison’s Dark Horse album to producing albums for the likes of Billy Joel and Van Halen.
But he is best known for being the driving force behind the rock act Foreigner, one of the bestselling bands of all time, who will be performing many of their memorable hits next month at the Hong Kong Rugby Union Charity Ball at the Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre.
