Whenever the Shriner's fundraising commercials come on TV, my husband stops to watch. He is mesmerized by the kid in the wheelchair who acts as spokesman. "He should be a news anchor!" Eric always says. Indeed, the kid is very, very good. Now he's in a music video with Foreigner, too! (He's at the 1:13 mark). This popped into my inbox yesterday and I just had to share. What a great thing for Foreigner to do for these kids.
TAMPA, FL (January 3, 2019) - FOREIGNER, the classic British-American rock band, has announced that it is donating proceeds from a new version of its hit song “I Want To Know What Love Is” to Shriners Hospitals for Children®. FOREIGNER recently recorded the song and created a new music video featuring Shriners Hospitals for Children patients. The new release is available for download on Google Play and iTunes now.
The single appears on a new album of live recordings, FOREIGNER LIVE IN CONCERT, available on February 15th both digitally and in stores via The Orchard. FOREIGNER is donating proceeds from both the single and the entire album to Shriners Hospitals for Children®.
The Mick Jones composition “I Want To Know What Love Is" hit the top of the charts all over the world when it was released in 1984 and is FOREIGNER’s biggest hit to date. It remains one of the band's best-known songs and is listed as one of Rolling Stone Magazine's greatest songs of all time.
“There is a spiritual undertone to ‘I Want To Know What Love Is,’ and when you apply the lyrics to a cause like Shriners Hospitals for Children, it brings a whole new meaning to the song,” said FOREIGNER founding member, lead guitarist and songwriter Mick Jones.
“It’s hard to put a dollar amount on the value of this gift, but this is truly a monumental donation in our mind,” said John McCabe, executive vice president of Shriners Hospitals for Children. “Participating in the music video will be an invaluable experience for our patients. The fact that sales proceeds from the download of this song will go to Shriners Hospitals for Children is a wonderful bonus.”
“FOREIGNER has been involved with Shriners Hospitals for ten years, and we’ve been looking for a way to make a more meaningful impact,” said lead singer Kelly Hansen. “The lyrics of this song really speak to the qualities we’ve observed in the children here at Shriners Hospitals. The kids show this amazing resilience and happiness that really makes one think how powerful love is.”
Amen KOZ . We give to St Jude’s monthly. My heart literally breaks for all those little dudes and dudette’s and their families. Kudos to Foreigner. Straight up classy move.
Agree with you both (or second you, Gary), this is a classy act. Nice to see things like this happening in the world.
I also think, live and on tape, that Hansen does an admirable job. He is also an enthusiastic showman. He obviously has the chops and learned the ropes in bands like Hurricane.
That said, and this is not to dismiss the job he/they did on this, there is something missing from his voice that Gramm supplied. I am not a musician. So I can't speak to what that "it" is exactly. But there is, to my dumb ears, a level of warmth and emotion that Gramm--in his day--had that stands out. It is like listening to Steve Perry or Udo Dirkschneider in their prime (I am kidding about one of them).
Again, not throwing stones or slagging the band (I save that for other topics). Just noting something that crossed my mind as I listened to this.
Though the Shriner’s commercials are a tad manipulative, there’s no denying their heartfelt authenticity and effectiveness for a very worthy cause. Maybe with Foreigner’s and others’ contributions to generate this kind of exposure and fundraising, even more children can be helped.
p.s. Haha!!, HIM! I hear you regarding Kelly Hansen. That tinge of inauthenticity, even genericicity, if you will, can be traced to his early days as a studio session singer. Still, there’s no taking away from his generosity and genuine motivations to help those kid’s. Contrarily, Dirkschneider’s authenticity rings true. He is about as far from generic as a human being can get, let alone, a singer and hasn’t lost even a stone of gravel in his voice as he continues to be one of THE greatest most original sounding Metal singers of all time. Accept’s “Metal Heart” goes down as my personal favorite album of all 80’s Metal!
Friday, January 4, 2019 at 07:24AM 
Reader Comments (4)
I also think, live and on tape, that Hansen does an admirable job. He is also an enthusiastic showman. He obviously has the chops and learned the ropes in bands like Hurricane.
That said, and this is not to dismiss the job he/they did on this, there is something missing from his voice that Gramm supplied. I am not a musician. So I can't speak to what that "it" is exactly. But there is, to my dumb ears, a level of warmth and emotion that Gramm--in his day--had that stands out. It is like listening to Steve Perry or Udo Dirkschneider in their prime (I am kidding about one of them).
Again, not throwing stones or slagging the band (I save that for other topics). Just noting something that crossed my mind as I listened to this.
Good job, guys. Nice support for a good cause!
p.s. Haha!!, HIM! I hear you regarding Kelly Hansen. That tinge of inauthenticity, even genericicity, if you will, can be traced to his early days as a studio session singer. Still, there’s no taking away from his generosity and genuine motivations to help those kid’s. Contrarily, Dirkschneider’s authenticity rings true. He is about as far from generic as a human being can get, let alone, a singer and hasn’t lost even a stone of gravel in his voice as he continues to be one of THE greatest most original sounding Metal singers of all time. Accept’s “Metal Heart” goes down as my personal favorite album of all 80’s Metal!